I swim alone every morning around 6:30am by Miami Beach, FL and no matter what, I am having a hard time concentrating as I am always afraid of sharks, I keep on looking around and backwards, and find it difficult to keep on the breathing and the pace... Are my fears really exaggerated? Should I really be concerned? Any tips? I know at damn I am at a higher risk, but this is the only time I can due to work...
I also swim in Miami Beach a lot (hello neighbor! I'm at mid-beach), and the shark thing is always in the back of my head. But I wouldn't worry too much about it. Stay fairly close to shore (I generally swim about 40m out from the shore) and I think you'll be OK. Honestly, at this time of year, I'm far more terrified of that other species commonly found in Florida: spring breakers on jet skis. Not that they're awake at 6:30 am.
Let me know if you want a swimming buddy occasionally.
I just spent a week in the Bahamas putting together a 22 mile swim along the south coast of Eleuthera. The end of the route crossed a marina which is frequented by bullsharks. This was cause for concern, but we had a few days to observe things prior to the swim that I found quite useful.
Bulls are attracted by sound. Tossing a handful of pebbles into the water would attract one without fail. They would swim up to the spot, look around, and swim off.
On another day, a research team set a few baited lines in the marina to tag sharks. Two nurse sharks took the bait imeadiately. The bulls swam up to the bait, and swam away. We were told that bullsharks almost never take the bait. From these two experiences, we concluded that: 1. Bulls are picky feeders. 2. Bulls like to visually identify their food. 3. Murky water is the one thing to avoid, as they will be attracted to the noise, and be unable to identify me as “not food”.
The water was clear throughout the entire swim... 13hrs 40min +/- and night had fallen by the time we passed the marina.
No issues.
Take from this what you will.
