A species of shark considered more dangerous than the Great White has been spotted off the coast of Jupiter, and the rare encounter was caught on camera. Teens taking in the last days of summer by fishing off the coast of Jupiter reeled in the images of a lifetime: an oceanic white tip shark circling near their boat.
Jim Abernethy runs a shark encounter dive company in Lake Park, and he says he’s envious.
Oceanic white tips are not as famous as great whites or as common as bull sharks. However, famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau described them as the most dangerous of all. In the past few weeks we have seen everything from Great White sharks to now Oceanic White Tips off our coast, and Florida Atlantic University professor of marine biology, Dr. Stephen Kajiura, said that’s because Palm Beach County is the easternmost point in all of Florida.
So, if Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast are such magnets for sharks, why don’t we have more shark bites? Kajiura says the water here is much clearer than elsewhere, meaning fewer cases of “mistaken identity” by sharks.
