Thread: Water temperature vs sharks

Just wondering if anyone has figured out how low the water temperature has to drop before the sharks stop their nuisance behavior or depart for a warmer locale?

They will probably leave when it no longer makes any difference---once all the mackerel are gone.

Yep. They follow the bait, mullet aand macs

I read something the state had on one of their fishing brochures that made me wonder. Something about "between the months of 5 and 9 only swim from 9 to 5. So, I wondered if the water temps during those months were more to the sharks liking.

Originally Posted by fordguy

I read something the state had on one of their fishing brochures that made me wonder. Something about "between the months of 5 and 9 only swim from 9 to 5. So, I wondered if the water temps during those months were more to the sharks liking.

I think that the suggestion about only swimming between 9 and 5 speaks to the fact that shark attacks on humans usually happen during lower-light conditions. It's a statistical link, since May - Sept. is when most people are in the water. As pier fishermen can attest, sharks can be very active during the daytime.

Dare I venture to say that the shark movements and activities we observe from the GSPPier are just a microcosm of the overall picture of several shark species with worldwide distributions.
And as Mr Wire noted "They will probably leave when it no longer makes any difference---once all the mackerel are gone."
To me it seems as much (or more) a relocation of their seasonal 'easy' food source as a change in water temp that triggers their comings and goings.
It may also help explain their frequency fluctuations throughout the tropical months.
By my observation a large percentage of sharks observed from the GSPPier are Spinner sharks.
Read carefully the paragraph "Feeding" @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinner_shark

A quick search of "spinner shark water temperature preference" revealed this interesting study:
http://wormlab.biology.dal.ca/public...arine-ecology/

Though the study pertained to juvenile shark distribution in the NE GoM, it may be close enough for comparison.
Page 8 has this graphic which shows Spinner sharks as having the most frequent distribution in shallow water and widest temperature range...


Bull sharks were not included in this study, but have been positively ID'd as a species frequenting the GSPPier, though they appear to be much less numerous than Spinners or Blacktips.
Their migratory habits seem to be inclined more toward salinity levels for reproductive purposes and respond generally to increases and decreases in water temperature.

I see a positive correlation (and not just coincidence) that shark interaction is relatively low on the first day or two of a mackerel bite at the pier and increases rapidly thereafter in subsequent days until it becomes almost impossible to land mackerel at all even when there are some present. Then (after a few days of lessened fishing pressure) the numbers of sharks observed from the pier sharply drop off and the whole process repeats...

The main factors changing in that equation are the numbers of live mackerel in the water and the number of carcasses put into the water by an increasing number of anglers attracted to the activity (sortof like the sharks ;-)

That makes sense. As a northerner, most of my trips to the gulf have come in the winter and most of my swimming has been in December/January. We (our family from Michigan) pretty much had the water to ourselves. I only remember seeing a shark once on our winter trips as a kid when my older brother lost a bluefish to a 4 footer in pcb.

Originally Posted by fordguy

That makes sense. As a northerner, most of my trips to the gulf have come in the winter and most of my swimming has been in December/January.
We (our family from Michigan) pretty much had the water to ourselves. I only remember seeing a shark once on our winter trips as a kid when my older brother lost a bluefish to a 4 footer in pcb.

Sorry I couldn't help but think of George Castanza when reading that ;-) LOL


I wunder if sharks are subject to "Significant shrinkage." ROFLMAO

#r, where do you come up with this stuff? Does it just pop into you head?

By by the way, I've seen numerous black tip and Atlantic Sharpnose shark in and around the pier.

Loved Seinfeld even the reruns !