NOAA expert says shark attacks are extremely rare

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Shark sightings in the Florida Panhandle are especially common during the summer, according to experts.

“This is the time of the year that sharks are found close to the beach. A lot of the kinds of sharks that we have here in the Florida Panhandle, they move into the coastal areas to give birth to their young,” said Dr. John Carlson, a research biologist with NOAA.

Carlson said the water near Tyndall Air Force Base, St. Joe Bay, and Apalachicola Bay are nursery areas for shark species.

“In some of the species, they just move inshore and offshore when it gets cold. When the water temperature gets down, but other species have very broad migration, some species migrate all the way to South Florida to southern areas in the Gulf,” Carlson said.

Although it is common to see sharks, Carlson said it is extremely rare to be injured or attacked by one.

“The reality is, the likelihood is very low, you’re more likely to be injured by your lawnmower, you’re more likely to be injured by getting bit by a dog, there’s more likelihood of you being hit by a television set than you being attacked by a shark,” Carlson said.

Carlson said swimmers should still take precautions during this time of year.

“If the water is cloudy or turbid, generally try to avoid that, and also at times of the day like dawn or dusk when the visibility is low, because a shark mistakes a human for its natural prey,” Carlson said.

Carlson said in cloudy or murky water, sharks sometimes mistake the bottom of feet for fish. He advised people not to swim in areas where people may be fishing off the beach. If someone encounters a shark, Carlson said to remain calm.

“Just slowly and calmly work your way out of the water and make your way back to the beach,” Carlson said.

Fishermen at the M.B. Miller County Pier in Panama City Beach said they see sharks around the beach while fishing very often.

Carlson said humans have many close interactions with sharks without realizing it, but the probability of one attacking is very rare. Two years ago, a teenager and a woman were injured in two separate shark attacks on the same day in Walton County.

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