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CNN Live At Daybreak

School of Sharks Spotted Off the Coast of Florida

Aired August 15, 2001 - 08:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: Take a look at what's in the monitor here behind me. This is not school of marlins; it's hundreds of sharks off the Florida coast right near Tampa Bay. Is this making you nervous? Well, shark experts have taken a look. They say it's not as unusual as you might think. Maybe that makes you nervous.

In any event, you be the judge as I introduce Bob Heuter and Jeffery Swanagan. Bob is the director of the Center for Shark Research and Jeffery is the executive director of the Florida Aquarium.

Gentlemen, thank you both for being here.

Bob, let me start with you. I mean I think that probably gives a lot of people the goosebumps seeing that. These guys are, what, about a hundred feet from the shore in less than six feet of water? How unusual is that?

DR. BOB HEUTER, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR SHARK RESEARCH: Really not unusual in terms of this particular species because this is a shallow water common shark that's in our area in the summertime. And these black tip sharks, which we think are really the majority of the species that are out there, use this area all summer long. They use it to give birth to their young, they feed. They're going to be here for probably about another month. And then as the temperature of the water starts to go down, they're going to start migrating south and probably set up shop in the Florida Keys this winter.

MCEDWARDS: And, Bob, is that the only reason why they're there? I mean is it -- is it the food supply or what exactly is it?

HEUTER: Well, these sharks commonly come together in groups like this. The fisherman know that. The commercial fisherman target black tip sharks and they go after big schools like this. So it -- this is a relatively common thing. But what's not common, obviously, is to catch it on video and see it so close to shore. And that's what we're kind of excited about, as shark biologists, that we're going to have an opportunity to study these animals and go up again today in a helicopter and see if they're still there.

MCEDWARDS: And, Bob, how do you know what kind of sharks? How do you know they're black fins? What have you been able to learn from them just by looking at them so far? HEUTER: When I look at them on the video, I can tell very, very clearly that they're black tips. It's possible they might be something else. One or two other possibilities, but I'm about 90 percent certain. There probably are some other species of sharks that are going through the schools, some larger sharks like hammerheads, maybe bulls, but this looks to be predominately the black tip shark which is not a man-eater, it's a man biter but it's not a man-eater, and it's not especially dangerous along our coasts.

MCEDWARDS: All right, Jeffery, I want to bring you in here. I mean is it -- are -- Bob just said they're not dangerous in these numbers, but would you go swimming out there?

JEFFERY SWANAGAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FLORIDA AQUARIUM: Well, no I don't, but I do have a group of biologists out there today and Bob will be going up in a helicopter, and we do want to get a little closer view of what's happening in the situation. And I should say that at the Aquarium, we have these black tip sharps and they're smaller sharks. They rarely get up to 6 1/2 feet.

But we put volunteer divers in the tank with them and I'm -- certainly in captivity it's a little bit different than if you're diving with them out in the wild. But you know, these tend to be more nippers and you know, they all do sample bites, you know a finger or a foot, and yes, that can give you some damage. I don't want to underestimate it. I mean you know of -- it's a shark, it's got a mouth and it can do some serious damage. But they're, as Bob said, they're not one of the more aggressive species that we generally see that you get lethal injuries or something like that from it.

MCEDWARDS: What are their population numbers like, Jeffery? I mean we heard the suggestion earlier on the program that they're protected, that there's been a bit of a population explosion. What's going on?

SWANAGAN: I would say, and in a minute I'm going to throw this to Bob because...

MCEDWARDS: Sure.

SWANAGAN: ... I think he's critical in an answer on this, but this is one of the more common species of sharks that you're going to find in our waters. But I'll let him comment about the overall decline of shark populations over the -- over the years.

MCEDWARDS: Bob, go ahead.

HEUTER: We have been managing the shark fisheries in federal waters since 1993. And someone asked me earlier is this big school a sign that sharks are coming back and my answer is I hope so because we depleted sharks in -- along the southeast coast by as much as 80 percent and we've been trying to rebuild these populations for a couple of reasons. One is to make a sustainable fishery last and the other is to -- is to maintain the ecological balance that these animals exert in the ocean environment. MCEDWARDS: All right. Bob Heuter, Jeffery Swanagan, we've got to leave it there. Thank you both for helping us understand a little more about what's behind a really awesome sight. Thanks so much.

SWANAGAN: You're welcome.

HEUTER: You're welcome.

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