Vero Beach & Sharks??

[mackeyapp]

My DH was out on a job today and ran into a gentlemen who frequents an area close to Vero annually. DH told him we were going down for the first time this year and he told him to stay out of the water because there are a lot of sharks on that side. Now dh is concerned and feels we best use the beach only for walking and relaxing. Is this a legitimate concern or is someone over reacting. I was also wondering if the beach is supervised by lifeguards who would be on the look out. Thanks for your help.

 

[tammymacb]

I can't remember the last time a person was killed by a shark in Florida. ( Though I'm sure someone will google it and let us know )

I can promise you, it wasn't at VB, regardless.

If you're afraid of sharks, the last thing you want to do is look out of the window of a low flying plane, you'll see many sharks swimming in shallow waters with bathers who are completely unaware.

The last shark I saw up close was scuba diving at 120 feet in Grand Cayman. All he wanted was to get away from me...Took off like a shot.

We have overfished the shark population to the point that there is about a 90% decrease in numbers. The sharks have a very real reason to be afraid of us...Us..not so much.

 

[madcoco]

I can't remember the last time a person was killed by a shark in Florida. ( Though I'm sure someone will google it and let us know )

No googling/cheating here. LOL Seriously it's been almost a decade in the area. A boy was attacked and killed about 10 years ago off Ocean Beach south of the Resort. Most shark bites in FL happen up around New Smyrna Beach up in Volusia Cty and in the panhandle. They are out there but 99.9999 % they are not going to come near you. Don't swim at night/or venture way out on your own. When you see schools of baitfish running, stay out a predator is usually right in the middle of it.
Don't wear your gold and diamonds in the water. Barracuda and Tarpon think they are baitfish and may nip by mistake. November is a prime time of the year for migratory/predatory fish to be moving through the area. Have been in the water often in the area and when the winds are up imo you have to worry a bit more about riptides than being chased by a big fish. Try not to worry too much and let it affect your stay. Depending on the time of year you may spot a whale or manatee. Enjoy VB

 

[DisDaydreamer]

I think this person must be thinking of New Smyrna beach up around Cocoa & Cape Canaveral.

I have been an aavid ocean go'er at VB for 8 years and I think there has been 1 report of a shark bite (in VB) in that time. I will be there at the same time as you all (arriving a few days earlier). I will be the one furthest out waiting for the big one (wave not shark).

Of course there are sharks everywhere in the ocean, but this is not a hot spot and this will not be migration time. You will be much, much, much, more likely to get hurt travelling to Vb than getting it's ocean area. Truly.

See you there soon

I'll be the one you cringe for when you see me mistime a big wave and get slammed down and tumbled like in a front load washing machine.

 

[lovinthemouse]

We were there over Spring Break '07 and the ocean was cleared due to some type of fish swimming close to shore. We were told that these type of fish are food for shark so to be "cautious" they cleared the water. Though they kept assuring us there were no shark sighted.

 

[alldiz]

I think this person must be thinking of New Smyrna beach up around Cocoa & Cape Canaveral.

I have been an avvid ocean go'er at VB for 8 years and I think there has been 1 report of a shark bite (in VB) in that time. I will be there at the same time as you all (arriving a few days earlier). I will be the one furthest out waiting for the big one (wave not shark).

Of course there are sharks everywhere in the ocean, but this is not a hot spot and this will not be migration time. You will be much, much, much, more likely to get hurt travelling to Vb than getting it's ocean area. Truly.

See you there soon

I'll be the one you cringe for when you see me mistime a big wave and get slammed down and tumbled like in a front load washing machine.

Are you still wearing your suit when you come up

Agreed....I would go wade in the ocean and have a good time. Statistics are on your side
Kerri

 

[mackeyapp]

Thank you all for the help. I will be sure to show all your comments to DH.

We look forward to seeing you on the beach Rob. We will be the stark white family of 4 from chilly Nova Scotia.

I think someone forgot spring for us in Cape Breton. It was a balmy high of 5 degrees c today and rain yet again. Florida can't come soon enough!!

Cheers
Joan

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Are you still wearing your suit when you come up

Kerri

Uhhh... there was one time... woah baby... I keep my suit tied much tighter now and stop many times to re-tie it as necessary.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Thanks you all for the help. I will be sure to show all your comments to DH.

We look forward to seeing you on the beach Rob. We will be the stark white family of 4 from chilly Nova Scotia.

I think someone forgot spring for us in Cape Breton. It was a balmy high of 5 degrees c today and rain yet again. Florida can't come soon enough!!

Cheers
Joan

Hey Joan,

We are quite white too. Me, DD, & DDIL are bright white. DW & DS tan at the mention of sunshine. I however, will start (tomorrow) a 4 week pre VB ritual of going to the tanning bed daily. Otherwise I would burn like bacon as much time as I spend on the beach and in the water. It really does work.

See you all there.

 

[MiaSRN62]

When we were there last in 2000 there was a shark attack in Satellite beach. I know it's about a 45-60 min drive in a car to there from Vero, but I think it's probably alot shorter in "shark time". We had been swimming waaay out all day that day. It was a 13 yo boy who was bitten on the foot. The local TV news suspected a spinner shark I believe they said.

I did just see this recent news article :
http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/state/story.aspx?content_id=84c1f854-330b-4862-8eb0-b306eea9356a

So we still plan on swiming this Aug when we're at Vero, but just going to try and stay out of the water during the dawn/dusk hours.

Looks like 1998 was the last fatal attack in Vero (and a tiger shark no less ! Didn't even think this was their area) :
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/04/25/state/n105911D16.DTL

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Looks like 1998 was the last fatal attack in Vero (and a tiger shark no less ! Didn't even think this was their area) :
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/04/25/state/n105911D16.DTL

Googler....

 

[CarolMN]

There are lifeguards at the pool, but not on the beach.

There is (or used to be) a public beach just to the north of the resort. You can easily walk to it. They have (or used to have) lifeguards there for certain hours.

 

[Yoanny]

last june when we went down we think we saw some sharks swimming around some feeder fish. our oldest ds was really enjoying himself watching the "sharks" swim around. all we could really see where some fins, or what looked like fins.
this is the only picture that i was able to sort capture, and to be honest i don't know what that is as it never resurfaced

the picture was taken from our balcony one morning as i watched the sunrise! so beautiful!!!!!

 

[MiaSRN62]

Googler....

I totally am Rob.....I confess.

But truthfully, I've always been facinated by sharks. I am very afraid of any potential encounters and just try to be smart about being in the water. But I also enjoy reading about them.....watching Discovery channel etc. I have several relatives that live in FL and very close to the Atlantic Ocean---so when we visit them, we are always visiting the FL east coast beaches.

One year while visiting the aunt and uncle who live in Flagler Beach, the kids were swimming in the ocean. Kind of casually, my uncle said to me, "Maria...you might want to keep a close eye on the kids. They spotted several sharks right off shore this morning". You never saw me move so fast to get the kids out of the water They are just about 20 min north of Daytona Beach.

Then, a couple years later, we visited that same aunt and uncle. While wading in the surf with the kids (only about knee deep), some fishermen on the nearby pier (and I'm saying about 500 feet away), reeled in a 5 foot spinner shark !!! They drug it right up on the beach near us ---alive. One of the guards in the area ordered them to release it back into the ocean. But not after we got a few photos of it. My kids were scared right out of the water. Then in 2000, while at Vero and hearing about the shark attack the same day we were out swimming (had been jet skiing and the CM's make you swim waaay out to get on the jet ski), we are well aware it could happen. We don't want to have any false sense of security about it.

Having seen this shark first-hand right up close, my youngest does have hesitations about going in the water. We snorkeled in St Thomas and St Martin this past Oct on a disney cruise. One person on our excursion asked about shark encounters and my dd nearly didn't want to go in the water. It took ALOT of coaxing on my part.

I have MANY websites that I've googled over the years in my file storage. I have several FL news websites in my files saved as well.

I don't have an overwhelming fear of encountering a shark while swimming in Vero or anywher else.....but definitely like to keep a healthy cautious eye out for any strange-looking fins

 

[DisDaydreamer]

I totally am Rob.....I confess.

But truthfully, I've always been facinated by sharks. I am very afraid of any potential encounters and just try to be smart about being in the water. But I also enjoy reading about them.....watching Discovery channel etc. I have several relatives that live in FL and very close to the Atlantic Ocean---so when we visit them, we are always visiting the FL east coast beaches.

One year while visiting the aunt and uncle who live in Flagler Beach, the kids were swimming in the ocean. Kind of casually, my uncle said to me, "Maria...you might want to keep a close eye on the kids. They spotted several sharks right off shore this morning". You never saw me move so fast to get the kids out of the water They are just about 20 min north of Daytona Beach.

Then, a couple years later, we visited that same aunt and uncle. While wading in the surf with the kids (only about knee deep), some fishermen on the nearby pier (and I'm saying about 500 feet away), reeled in a 5 foot spinner shark !!! They drug it right up on the beach near us ---alive. One of the guards in the area ordered them to release it back into the ocean. But not after we got a few photos of it. My kids were scared right out of the water. Then in 2000, while at Vero and hearing about the shark attack the same day we were out swimming (had been jet skiing and the CM's make you swim waaay out to get on the jet ski), we are well aware it could happen. We don't want to have any false sense of security about it.

Having seen this shark first-hand right up close, my youngest does have hesitations about going in the water. We snorkeled in St Thomas and St Martin this past Oct on a disney cruise. One person on our excursion asked about shark encounters and my dd nearly didn't want to go in the water. It took ALOT of coaxing on my part.

I have MANY websites that I've googled over the years in my file storage. I have several FL news websites in my files saved as well.

I don't have an overwhelming fear of encountering a shark while swimming in Vero or anywher else.....but definitely like to keep a healthy cautious eye out for any strange-looking fins

I have to admit in 2006 I was way out there (up to my neck) waiting for a nice wave and a school of little fish just swam through me (practically) and at first my thought was... "wow! How cool is this" then I thought... "crap... this is not a good place to be". Nothing happened. I moved a little closer to shore the rest of the day.

 

[MiaSRN62]

How cool is this" then I thought... "crap... this is not a good place to be".

I can just imagine the few milliseconds of panic you must have experienced I had a similar experience while snorkeling in Oct when I came face-to-face with a barracuda You never saw someone snorkel backwards so fast

 

[PamOKW]

The advice your husband was given isn't totally off base. There have been sharks in Vero -- the young boy who was killed in waist deep water and other bites. Should you panic? No. Should you treat Mother Nature with respect? Yes. There are no lifeguards at the resort beach but, as mentioned, there is a public beach next door. They also post surf conditions on the Vero boardwalk which would include shark warnings. If you see small fish in the water, the better part of valor is to head for the pool.

A more recent bite -- the referenced park is in the southern part of Vero roughly 15 miles south of the Disney resort.

Indian River, Florida (Jan 6, 2006 00:00 EST) A shark bite Thursday afternoon near a South County public beach sent an out-of-town surfer to the hospital, officials said.

The 21-year-old man was floating on his surfboard about 4:45 p.m. just south of Round Island Park when the shark bit his right hand and wrist, said John Frazier, lifeguard captain for Indian River County. The shark only bit once and let go of the surfer.

The incident happened while the surfer was by himself about 75 yards from the coast and 15 yards south of the lifeguard tower. An on-duty lifeguard noticed him shaking his arm vigorously while coming out of the water, he said.

 

[floridafam]

They closed 2 of the beaches a couple of weeks ago due to shark sightings. These were both in South Vero.

Yes, they do have them here. You just have to be careful. I see a lot of dolphins and if it's the right time of day, they look like sharks at first.

Honestly, I don't let my kids go in the water very far. I'm sure that will change as they get older but for right now we have plenty of fun at the beach without actually going very far out in the water.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

I can just imagine the few milliseconds of panic you must have experienced I had a similar experience while snorkeling in Oct when I came face-to-face with a barracuda You never saw someone snorkel backwards so fast

Just came off my chair... How do you snorkel backwards?

 

[bobbiwoz]

I can just imagine the few milliseconds of panic you must have experienced I had a similar experience while snorkeling in Oct when I came face-to-face with a barracuda You never saw someone snorkel backwards so fast

My! I felt a similar rush when I realized the head sticking out from the coral I was admiring was a morey eel!

Bobbi