‘Aggressive’ circling shark seen ramming jet skis off Florida Panhandle, video shows
.png "Andrew Cady said the shark circled and then rammed the Sea-Doos off Grayson Beach in the Florida Panhandle.")
Bull sharks chasing bait fish have been blamed in three attacks off Florida’s Panhandle, and a group of people experienced the feeding frenzy firsthand when a shark began ramming their Sea-Doos.
Andrew Cady reports the alarming encounter occurred Sunday, June 9, in the Gulf of Mexico — two days after a woman and two teen girls were bitten off Walton County.
“Shot this video just a couple hours ago about 150 ft offshore in Grayton beach. Very aggressive bull shark rammed my jet ski multiple times,” Cady wrote on Facebook.
“Was wild man. ... That thing was circling us and kept charging. Dozens of people and kids in the water within a couple hundred feet.”
The video shows the shark circled multiple times, bumped the water craft with its nose and even jumped out of the water.
Cady, a Walton County mortgage broker, said the group “did nothing to provoke this shark.”
The shark’s species has not been confirmed by experts.
Cady’s video has been viewed more than 700,000 times on Facebook and topped 1,000 reactions and comments as of June 12, including some who were surprised to see a shark jump out of the Gulf.
“This is terrifying. I’d be crying hysterically and that would probably be my last time in the ocean,” Ashley Miller posted on Facebook.
“Was he hitting it hard enough to knock y’all off? Essentially, I’m wondering if it is even safe to be out there on a Jet Ski,” Lori Turner Sims wrote.
Bull sharks can reach 11 feet and “are more aggressive than most shark species,” according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. They are believed to be responsible for most unprovoked shark attacks on humans.
”They prefer shallow coastal water, which means they can often come into contact with humans,” the National Wildlife Federation reports.
“Bull sharks are often considered to be the most dangerous sharks to humans because of their aggressive tendencies and ability to migrate up rivers.”
It’s believed the three attacks on the afternoon of June 7 were the result of bull sharks chasing schools of menhaden between sandbars at the same time people were swimming in the channels.
Walton County is about a 90-mile drive east of Pensacola.
This story was originally published June 12, 2024 at 4:39 AM with the headline "‘Aggressive’ circling shark seen ramming jet skis off Florida Panhandle, video shows."