Florida Fishermen Nab 6-Foot Bull Shark During First Weekend of Reopened Beaches
Everybody wanted to get to the shore last weekend when the state of Florida reopened its beaches.
But one of the beachgoers who came in for some extra attention was a six-foot-long bull shark caught near Navarre Beach, according to WKRG-TV.
Video shot by Shelley Goudy of Fort Walton showed several men gathered around the shark as they struggled to free it from their line and send it back out to sea.
“The bull shark was caught by kayaking their line out around 200 yards. Excitement began when we saw it was something big, guessing six feet. Interesting was the cobia fish following the shark to shore,” Goudy said.
She added that as the fishermen were freeing the shark, which exceeds the Florida limit anyone can keep, their one request was “get pictures and video.”
Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson said since the beaches reopened with time restrictions, visitors have been following the rules, according to the Pensacola News Journal.
Navarre Beach Reopens pic.twitter.com/wYToOQ7TPe
— Navarre Beach (@BeachNavarre) May 1, 2020
“The beach went very well. The first day we opened, there was slight traffic, because everybody wanted to get to the beach for the first time in a while. Compressing the time (from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m.) also makes it even worse for traffic getting on and off [the beach],” Johnson said.
“Everybody on the beach was very cordial and kept their distance; everything went fine. With that many people on the beach for that many days, we haven’t made any arrest, which is pretty nice.”
Good to be back! We missed you! #NavarreBeach @spann pic.twitter.com/fEZlVujEr7
— Sean Lusher (@LushSean) May 3, 2020
Santa Rosa County has since lifted restrictions on Navarre Beach.
“All of our hospitals have plenty of capacity. They’re not seeing an influx of patients,” Brad Baker, emergency management director for the county, said. “Our flu-like symptoms are going down, our COVID symptoms are going down. … We do have plenty of [personal protective equipment] on hand if a surge does come out.”
National Geographic has described bull sharks as animals that are “aggressive, common, and usually live near high-population areas like tropical shorelines. They are not bothered by brackish and freshwater, and even venture far inland via rivers and tributaries.”
“Because of these characteristics, many experts consider bull sharks to be the most dangerous sharks in the world. Historically, they are joined by their more famous cousins, great whites and tiger sharks, as the three species most likely to attack humans.”
During the time when stay-at-home orders kept many Americans indoors, wildlife reclaimed many of the spaces normally overrun by humans,
Florida was no exception, according to WTVJ, which quoted the nonprofit Miami Waterkeeper as saying sightings of marine wildlife spiked while beaches were free of humans.
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