“When I say this is going to be a sharky summer, what I should also say is it’s going to be a stingray summer as well, and we’re probably going to have record numbers of stingray injuries to people,” Lowe said.
Along the Atlantic coast, researchers from Florida Atlantic University observed similar distributional shifts, tracking blacktip sharks further north toward Long Island, New York.
“They are just like us.
They like our air-conditioned temperature,” said Dr. Stephen Kajiura, a Florida Atlantic University professor who has studied blacktip sharks for about 15 years.
Kajiura pointed out that water temperatures around 72 degrees Fahrenheit create ideal conditions for blacktip shark migration.
“Our room temperature is 72 or so. [That's] the perfect temperature for these blacktip sharks,” Kajiura said.
Because blacktip sharks travel within 50 meters of the shoreline, researchers emphasized that they frequently overlap with human recreational zones.
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“These are the ones that are in close proximity to the surfers and the swimmers,” Kajiura said. “That's the species that's most likely to have encounters with people.”
A recent study in the Journal of Coastal Research also indicated that beach nourishment projects create murky water, which may alter shark hunting patterns and increase accidental encounters.
“What’s striking is how closely the distribution of blacktip sharks overlaps with areas impacted by turbidity events,” Kajiura said in a Florida Atlantic University news release.
Despite the changing migration patterns, Kajiura maintained that actual shark attacks remain extremely rare.
