PCB Jetties Shark Inhabitants

[mike_s]

ok.. We've had some fun with this thread....

but there have been real shark sightings at PCB at St Andrews Jetties. (No I'm not kidding this time.

I got this pic from someone. It was a recently taken photo.

As you can tell, those are HAMMERHEADS's swimming in the tidal pool.

Wanted to verify it, so started looking via google and found this.


This story was published about it in the news..

Panama City: Hammer time? | making, chances, panama

Hammer time?
St. Andrews shark photos still a mystery
By JOHN McDONALD, Florida Freedom Newspapers
2008-07-01 16:24:00

PANAMA CITY BEACH - The photos have been making the rounds. Chances are, you have gotten them via e-mail and wondered:

What are sharks doing in a popular swimming area for children?

Are these sharks dangerous?

And just who was it who took these photos?



"Nobody seems to know who took them," said Vivian McKibben-Steele, spokeswoman for the Friends of St. Andrews State Park Inc.

In the photos, three hammerhead sharks appear in St. Andrew Bay and on the west side of the eastern jetty of St. Andrews State Park. The photos have been sent to The News Herald, via e-mail, many times and from many senders since June 19, under the subject lines "Kiddie pool/St Andrews Park" and "Sharks in kiddie pool at St. Andrews!"

As McKibben-Steele notes, just the mere association of sharks and kids might be keeping the photographer anonymous.

"It's going to scare people away," said McKibben-Steele.

Corliss Burke, a park ranger at St. Andrews State Park, said the area in question is known as the jetty pool. And Burke said she had not seen any sharks swimming in those waters.

"I've seen some stingrays," she said.

The sharks in the photos appear to hammerheads, which have been categorized as aggressive predators.

Pam George, Gulf World Marine Park spokeswoman, said the Panama City Beach theme park did not have any hammerheads on site.

"I have seen them in the gulf before," she added.

Hammerheads' distinct look make them easy to identify. The species is a popular resident at the Georgia Aquarium, where it is pictured on the main page of the Atlanta attraction's Web site.

"They're often found in packs," said Dave Santucci, director of communications for the Georgia Aquarium. "But they don't do anything unless provoked."

After seeing the photos, Santucci and his team of experts at the aquarium said the sharks were "exhibiting normal behavior."

"It looks like they are probably foraging for fish ... probably looking for some stingrays to eat."

At St. Andrews State Park, a jetty - or wall of rocks - is situated next to the pass, an all-purpose entry point for St. Andrew Bay.

Those familiar with the terrain note that it is possible the sharks were caught in a ship's current and swept into the jetty pool.

Lee Schlesinger, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman, said the photos had made it to his office.

"They're pretty cool," he said.

Schlesinger recalled taking his son to the jetty pool years ago.

"The water is so clear there, you can see a lot of things," he said.

When sharks appear, Schlesinger said, common sense should take over.

"People need to understand that's their environment ... they live there," Schlesinger said.

Overall, those interviewed for this article agreed that Florida's beaches, by and large, are safe.

"Shark attacks are rare, especially hammerheads," said Santucci.

And, with the photographer hard to find, there is a chance the pictures could be a big computer hoax.

"That's the other thing," McKibben-Steele said. "My husband fiddles with Photoshop from time to time."​

The news reports did a follow up story that the photos were REAL

Shark photographer surfaces : NewsHerald.com

Shark photographer surfaces
Rising Arnold senior's pictures of hammerheads at state park circulated on Web, e-mail
July 03, 2008 06:10:00 AM
By John McDonald
News Herald Writer

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Logan Darling doesn't consider himself a famous photographer.

"It was a normal day at the beach," said Darling, 17, a rising senior at Arnold High School.

One day in early June, Darling said, he and his girlfriend, Krista Dalton, were fishing from the west jetty at St. Andrews State Park. That's when three sharks were spotted swimming in the pool area between the jetty and land.

"You see that sign in the picture," Darling said. "They were circling that sign."

According to George H. Burgess, a director of shark research at the University of Florida, the sharks are scalloped hammerheads, which typically are not aggressive toward humans.

Burgess, who also serves as curator of the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History, examined the photos taken by Darling and rendered this conclusion at the behest of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission: "A basically harmless fish and crustacean eating species," Burgess wrote in a report to the FWC.

Darling said he wasn't scared of the sharks.

"They were pretty long," he said. "They had to be 8 or 9 feet."

While most people around him headed for dry land, Darling grabbed a digital camera and got as close to the sharks as he could.

"He's a little daredevil," said David Darling, Logan's father. "He was showing off for his girlfriend."

When he returned home, Logan put the photos on his MySpace Web page.

"I thought they were pretty cool," he said.

His father did, too, and began e-mailing them to friends, thus triggering a chain reaction which circulated across cyberspace.​

 

[Hetland]

OMG! Sharks in the water! With Kids! What are we going to do?!?!?!?

I saw a bee yesterday. Bees kill people. Perhaps I should have taken a pic of the bee and mailed it to Faux News.......

 

[LIVES4SHARKS]

Beautiful aren't they? Looking at their size, they are very young sharks. More than likely, there is a nursery close to that area, likely similiar to what we have in Fernandina. Hmmm I think a roadtrip might be in the works!

Thanks for sharing Mike!
Carolyn:sharks:

 

[jupitermermaid]

I often see sharks on my diving expeditions. They are not interested in humans and will swim away from you more often than not, unless you are enticing them with fresh kill or blood. Sharks have a bad reputation that is undeserved. I wouldn't worry about them, but that's easier said than done if you have a natural fear of them. Respect them and they'll ignore you most likely.

 

[Tom Smedley]

That is obviously the kiddie pool at St Andrews but the timeline seems fishy to have been taken this past June. Is it just me or should there be a line with floats marking the swimming boundary along those signs??????

 

[mike_s]

Tom... I zoomed the pic in like 500% and dont' see any swim lines/floats anywhere...

there is a poster above that saw this also in June and a different thread on a South Walton board about it also. plus the newspaper articles. seems like it's real to me. (maybe I'm wrong)

 

[Capt Grumby]

Beautiful aren't they? Looking at their size, they are very young sharks. More than likely, there is a nursery close to that area, likely similiar to what we have in Fernandina. Hmmm I think a roadtrip might be in the works!

Thanks for sharing Mike!
Carolyn:sharks:

Carolyn, I have heard from a reputable source that these particular sharks were run-aways from the near-by nursery (Kinder-Shark, I think). It seems that the director, a cranky old Bull of a shark, was molesting the younger sharks, and these three had had enough .....


Hopefully they will put in an appearence the weekend of the "EGG Dive" (19-20 July).

 

[MRXRAY]

I took my wife diving at the Jetties two weekends ago. She hasn't dove in salt water for 15 years after she discovered that the area we dove in Northern California was full of Great Whites. Ironically she wouldn't leave the "safety" of the kiddie pool during our dives. Holy crap she would have crapped herself if she seen 3 hammerheads...... I'm going to have to keep this info on the down low!

 

[LIVES4SHARKS]

Carolyn, I have heard from a reputable source that these particular sharks were run-aways from the near-by nursery (Kinder-Shark, I think). It seems that the director, a cranky old Bull of a shark, was molesting the younger sharks, and these three had had enough .....


Hopefully they will put in an appearence the weekend of the "EGG Dive" (19-20 July).

LOL! That is just wrong! LOL!

Carolyn:sharks:

 

[Tom Smedley]

When I was down there the weekend of June 21 and 22 Gomez and them were talking about the pictures. Then when I got home they were in my e-mail. The sharks themselves and the ripples on the water seem to perfect to be photoshopped unless the operator was really good. But, like I said, there are landmarks missing.

It could be twue but it could be something like a friend's brother's sister-in-law's cousin's husband's grandmother's grandson seen it all.

I think it's a ruse by the Panama City Chamber of Commerce to attract Carolyn to rush down there.