Ever since the 1975 film “Jaws” people have become obsessed with sharks. While shark attacks are infrequent, they do occur. So before you loaded up the family and beach gear for a fun vacation, it pays to know the places with the most sharks.
Sharks are a plentiful species, with habitats all over the earth , both near the shore and out in the depths of the open oceans. Unlike most animals, sharks are not territorial. They go where the food is, changing their habitat as needed.
Many species, among them the white sharks, can be found swimming the length of the United States west coast. The Marko sharks are found from the United States-Mexico border to Washington State. The blue sharks lives along the west coast of Mexico to Canada.
Florida has the reputation of being the most likely place in the world to encounter sharks. New Smyrna Beach and Daytona Beach in Volusia County are known as for attracting sharks. Palm Beach finds itself home to great hammerheads, usually in the fall and winter months.
The Outer Banks of North Carolina with its large number of shipwrecks attract fish, which then attract sand tiger sharks. The Channel Islands of California is known as the place to find blue sharks, horn sharks and Pacific angel sharks that lurk in sea caves and around shipwrecks. The waters north of San Francisco are the home to many great white sharks who feed on the seals and sea lions that congregate in the area.
The Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia is home to black tip reef sharks among others. The barriers reefs take up over 1,400 miles.
The KwaZula-Natal coast of South Africa is the place for diving with great white sharks along with tiger sharks and bull sharks. There are also great tours of seeing these sharks up close and personal. If you decide that you want to, don’t be scared to incorporate shark viewing with your south african safari.
Fear of shark attacks is more common than attacks themselves. There have been many fascinating non-fatal encounters with sharks by scuba divers and scientists. There are a lot of divers who enjoy swimming with the sharks and have never been attacked.