Huge shark in Key West- Bull shark, white shark?

[HalcyonDaze]

Impossible to say without a photo or a detailed description. There are a lot of shark species in South Florida that can get to a "respectable" size; in Jupiter we might see as many as 7 or 8 species in one day. A great white would not be impossible, but I don't think you need to be an expert to recognize one of those - they're just about impossible to confuse with anything else underwater. Likewise, a hammerhead can't be mistaken for anything else. Tigers also stand out and lemons are pretty easy to recognize. On the other hand, it takes practice to distinguish between all the requiem shark species out there - we have bulls, sandbars, blacktips, spinners, duskies, silkies, and reefies - and to this day I can get some of them mixed up.

This is a good reference collection: The Shark and Ray Field Guide: shark pictures and information about sharks and rays

 

[diversteve]

could've been...

Massive shark spotted off Florida coast

A 30-foot long basking shark was spotted off the coast of Panama City Beach, Florida. (March 23)

 

[CaribIan]

No way a tiger. I've seen tigers without the stripes, so that is no indicator of a tiger. Also, definitely not a white. Not like a nurse shark either as the double dorsal doesn't look correct. From the location of the dorsal behind the pectoral, my guess is a spinner, though I'm not 100%.

 

[diversteve]

No way a tiger. I've seen tigers without the stripes, so that is no indicator of a tiger. Also, definitely not a white. Not like a nurse shark either as the double dorsal doesn't look correct. From the location of the dorsal behind the pectoral, my guess is a spinner, though I'm not 100%.

Johnoly is not the person who saw it, just posted that photo as a reference for the original poster. We know that one is a Basking Shark.

We don't have a working photo so all this is speculation.

 

[Bottom Boy]