DELRAY BEACH, Fla., March 17 (UPI) -- Lifeguards are keeping swimmers out of the water in Delray Beach, Fla., because of hundreds of sharks spotted just off shore.
Officials said they wanted to prevent the spinner and blacktip sharks, some of them five feet long, from mistaking swimmers for food, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Thursday.
George Burgess, director of shark research at the Florida Museum of Natural History, said the appearance of the sharks is an annual event.
He said they gather off Palm Beach Copunty in March and April to feed on sardines, herring, anchovies and other fish. They then migrate as far north as the New Jersey shore.
He said they don't usually bother humans, but in the past they have mistaken splashing and jewelry for fish.
Paul Milne, ocean rescue supervisor at Delray Beach, said no one has been injured so far this year.
But he said, "We don't want to tempt fate."
