Vero Beach & Sharks??

[MiaSRN62]

How do you snorkel backwards?

Rob..............
With mucho difficulty and no grace whatsoever !

Yoanny....very pretty photo. I can just barely make out the shape in the water. Did u ever see the photo that someone staying at Vero snapped a while back ? It appeared to be some sort of a pilot whale not far from shore. The photo showed a very large tail sticking out of the water. The person who took the pic was staying in one of the beach cottages. Very cool photo---but also scary to think something so big was so close to shore. Makes you stop and think. A couple years ago, on our local TV news, I know there were a couple different encounters of fish/mammals at the Jersey shore. One incident involved swimmers being knocked around by a school of blue fish (these guys are pretty big). Then another cool story of swimmers being surrounded by a pod of dolphin. So one just has to keep their wits about them.

bobbiwoz.....I know my dh had an experience with a morey eel in Grand Caymen while snorkeling ---we were on our way to Stingray City---made a pit stop to snorkel and he dove down deeper than I did and came face to face with one. So I can imagine you felt a rush....I know dh did as well

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Did u ever see the photo that someone staying at Vero snapped a while back ? It appeared to be some sort of a pilot whale not far from shore. The photo showed a very large tail sticking out of the water. The person who took the pic was staying in one of the beach cottages. Very cool photo---but also scary to think something so big was so close to shore.

It was taken by DVCconvert from their BC and posted on the 2007 Adoration thread... Very cool.

 

[Yoanny]

we did see that and that is why i was on the look out for "things" in the water last year!

 

[MiaSRN62]

It was taken by DVCconvert from their BC and posted on the 2007 Adoration thread... Very cool.

Yep ....this is it ! So there are sea creatures, big and small out there......also some Man-O-War have been spotted and washed up on shore. They post warnings for those as well at Vero.

 

[limace]

Yep ....this is it ! So there are sea creatures, big and small out there......also some Man-O-War have been spotted and washed up on shore. They post warnings for those as well at Vero.

Well, as a friend of mine used to say, "When you get in the ocean you enter the food chain...and we're somewhere in the middle, not at the top where we're used to being" LOL

I've got a bit of a shark phobia myself, but I guess if I snorkel and swim in Maui, I'm probably just as safe as VB. And a surfer was just bitten by a great white in Florence, Oregon, near where we live, last year (and right where my husband surfs). In that case, the experts said that it's probably best to avoid being in the water during the salmon run, when the sea lions come to eat the fish and even bigger things come to eat the sea lions.

 

[MrsNick]

As other posters have suggested, just give Mother Nature her due respect.

Last July, we rented the jet ski and at the end, I "parked" it while DH tied the rope to lash the jet ski so it didn't float away once I turned it off. After we got on shore, DH told me, "oh by the way, while I was tying up the jet ski, I saw two sharks, about six - seven feet long DH mentioned it to the young men staffing the VB rental kiosk, and they confirmed that sharks are frequently present (but for the most part, they want no part of us - no pun intended).

I think you'll have less to worry about with sharks, and more to worry about with riptides, and the way the ocean floor drops off, so that the water is deep rather suddenly. Those who aren't strong swimmers should stick close to shore.

IMO, children should be CLOSELY supervised at VB (or any other beach for that matter).

 

[JimMIA]

I'm usually the one who busts Maria's chops for being concerned about sharks, but there actually have been some attacks lately. I didn't Google it, but if memory serves me, there were three attacks in the New Smyrna Beach area (between Titusville and Daytona, about 105 miles North of Vero) in the same week about 2-3 weeks ago.

None of the attacks were fatal -- or even life-threatening. I'm always a little leery about minor shark attack reports on the Florida East Coast, because it's a prime migratory route for many species of fish. Both Kingfish and Bluefish often bite swimmers as they attack bait fish schools, and either can give a pretty nasty bite. But they're not sharks. Those bites are often initially reported as shark bites, but then legitimate medical authorities look at the bites and say, Naw!

Don't be concerned about the big fish tail photo -- it's a Dolphin! If you are ever lucky enough to be in the water close to dolphin (the mammal, not the dolphin fish), remain motionless in the water and they might swim right up to you! They won't hurt you...but they're very affectionate animals and fall in love easily...

There are sharks everywhere in Florida waters, but we rarely see them. OTOH, whenever I've helicoptered over the coast, I've always seen dozens, often hundreds, of large sharks very near the shore. They're usually just at the edge, where the beach states to drop off, or just outside a sandbar.

I'm a native Floridian, and I have NEVER snorkled in the Florida Keys without seeing barracuda up close and personal. They look gruesome, but they don't normally bother humans. We ignore them, even when they follow us around (they're very curious fish). I've snorkled right next to very large schools of large barracuda without incident.

However, barracuda have awful eyesight and it's not adviseable to snorkle around them in murky water.

It's also a bad idea to dangle your foot in the water around barracuda. We had an underwater archeologist bitten down at Dry Tortugas National Park (many years ago) when she spashed the water with her feet off the back of a research boat.

 

[MiaSRN62]

They look gruesome, but they don't normally bother humans. We ignore them, even when they follow us around (they're very curious fish). I've snorkled right next to very large schools of large barracuda without incident.

Wow Jim.....I have a newfound respect for you Very brave !

I'm usually the one who busts Maria's chops for being concerned about sharks

And just for the record....I'm cool with this Jim I understand where you're coming from (most of the time )

 

[JimMIA]

They look gruesome, but they don't normally bother humans. We ignore them, even when they follow us around (they're very curious fish). I've snorkled right next to very large schools of large barracuda without incident.

Wow Jim.....I have a newfound respect for you Very brave !

Actually, no. I'm just used to them and know what to expect.

I know a lot of experienced scuba divers who pay no more attention to sharks than they do to snapper, but I'm not in that group. Sharks make me uneasy, and I get out of the water if I see anything other than a nurse shark.

 

[garnet1240]

Last July, we rented the jet ski and at the end, I "parked" it while DH tied the rope to lash the jet ski so it didn't float away once I turned it off. After we got on shore, DH told me, "oh by the way, while I was tying up the jet ski, I saw two sharks, about six - seven feet long

I think I would just about run on top of the water!! We are headed back to VB in October after our first stay this April. Hubby was looking forward to trying out the jet ski this fall...there goes that idea...the waters a bit colder, but guess us chickens will stay with jet skiing on Lake Ontario in NY!! Not too many fish over two feet there!

 

[castoff50]

There was a shark attack in 1993 and if I remember correctly it was at Wabasso Beach. Right next door. A lifeguard, 6 months pregnant was swimming laps when she was attacked by a 10 foot Bull shark. The bite happened just as she pulled her leg up to her stomach which she felt protected her baby. Mother and baby survived.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

it was at Wabasso Beach. Right next door. A lifeguard, 6 months pregnant was swimming laps.

Now... that's a big pool to be doing laps in..

 

[castoff50]

Laps was easier to write than "back and forth parallel to shore but within the confines of the Indian River County Beach patrol area"