Sharks in Florida: Common Species, Seasons and Real Risk

How many kinds of sharks live off Florida?

Several dozen shark species live in Florida’s Atlantic and Gulf waters, from small coastal sharks under 1 m (3.3 ft) to giant whale sharks offshore. Most people only ever meet a handful of them: the fast coastal requiem sharks that hunt in the surf, the bottom-dwelling nurse shark of reefs, and the small bonnethead of seagrass flats.

Lengths are commonly cited adult ranges; individuals vary.

Blacktip and spinner sharks

The blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) is a sleek gray shark with black tips on most of its fins. It feeds on schools of small fish such as mullet and menhaden close to shore, often in water only waist-deep. The spinner shark (Carcharhinus brevipinna) looks similar but has a longer, more pointed snout and a black-tipped anal fin. It is famous for charging up through fish schools and leaping out of the water while spinning.

Every winter, huge numbers of blacktips and spinners migrate south along the Atlantic coast to the warm waters of southeast Florida. Aerial surveys by Florida Atlantic University researchers found that blacktip numbers off Palm Beach County peak from January to March and drop to about 1% of that peak in summer. In strong years, researchers have reported counts of around 15,000 sharks close to the Palm Beach County shore. As the water warms in spring, the sharks move back north toward Georgia and the Carolinas.

Bull shark

The bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) is a stocky, blunt-nosed shark that can live in salt, brackish and fresh water. In Florida it uses estuaries such as the Indian River Lagoon as nurseries and enters rivers, canals and harbors. Adult females average about 2.4 m (8 ft) long and males about 2.25 m (7.4 ft).

Because it hunts in murky, shallow water where people swim, the bull shark is considered one of the three species most often involved in serious bites worldwide, along with the tiger shark and the white shark. Even so, serious bull shark incidents in Florida are rare.

Nurse shark

The nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) is the easy-to-spot brown shark resting on the sand or under coral ledges in the Florida Keys and on reefs along both coasts. It has two fleshy barbels on its snout, small eyes and a long tail. By day nurse sharks often rest in groups; at night they search the bottom for crabs, lobsters, octopus and fish, sucking prey out of crevices.

Nurse sharks are calm and slow, but they have strong jaws and can hold on when they bite. Almost all nurse shark bites happen when divers or snorkelers touch, grab or pull them.

Lemon shark

The lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris) is named for its yellowish-brown skin. It has a short, broad snout and two dorsal fins of almost equal size. Young lemon sharks grow up in shallow mangrove lagoons, and adults hunt fish and rays around reefs and sand flats. Each winter, groups of adult lemon sharks gather off Jupiter and other parts of southeast Florida, where scientists study their movements with acoustic tags. The species is protected from harvest in Florida state waters.

Bonnethead and other hammerheads

The bonnethead (Sphyrna tiburo) is the smallest member of the hammerhead family, with a rounded, shovel-shaped head. Usually 80–90 cm (2.6–3 ft) long, it is common over seagrass in Florida Bay, Tampa Bay and other shallow Gulf waters, where it eats crabs, shrimp and small fish. A 2018 study found that bonnetheads digest a large share of the seagrass they swallow, making them the first known omnivorous shark.

The great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran), the largest hammerhead, is seen around the Keys and along the southeast coast. It has a tall, curved first dorsal fin and a nearly straight front edge to its “hammer,” which helps it pin down stingrays, its favorite prey. Scalloped and smooth hammerheads also occur off Florida. All three large hammerheads have declined steeply worldwide; the IUCN lists the great and scalloped hammerheads as Critically Endangered. Learn more in our profile of the great hammerhead.

Tiger shark

The tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) is a large, wide-headed shark with dark vertical bars that are boldest in young animals and fade with age. Adults commonly reach 3.5–4.7 m (11.5–15.5 ft). Tiger sharks eat an unusually wide range of prey, including sea turtles, seabirds, fish, rays and carrion. They usually stay in deeper water but come close to shore at night, especially in South Florida and the Keys.

Great white sharks in Florida

Great white sharks are not year-round residents, but they do visit. Satellite tracking by research groups such as OCEARCH has shown that many white sharks from the northwest Atlantic spend the winter and early spring off the southeastern US, including waters off northeast Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico. Most stay well offshore, and white sharks are rarely seen from Florida beaches. By late spring they head north to cooler waters off New England and Atlantic Canada. For size and life history, see our great white shark profile.

Other sharks off Florida

The Atlantic sharpnose shark, usually under 1.1 m (3.6 ft), is one of the most abundant small sharks along the Gulf coast. Sandbar, blacknose and finetooth sharks are common in nearshore and shelf waters, and silky, dusky and shortfin mako sharks live farther offshore. Whale sharks, the largest fish in the world, are occasionally seen offshore in summer. The smalltooth sawfish of Florida’s mangrove coasts looks like a shark but is actually an endangered ray.

When and where sharks are most common

Sharks live in Florida waters all year, but their numbers shift with the seasons. In winter, blacktips and spinners crowd the southeast coast from about Palm Beach to Miami, while lemon sharks gather off Jupiter. In late summer and fall, the mullet run brings big schools of baitfish along the Atlantic beaches, followed by feeding sharks. Shallow bays and lagoons serve as nurseries for young blacktips, bull sharks, lemon sharks and bonnetheads through the warm months.

Shark bites in Florida: what the numbers show

The International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History confirmed 65 unprovoked shark bites worldwide in 2025, nine of them fatal. The US had 25, the most of any country, and Florida had 11, more than any other state but below its recent five-year average of about 19 a year. None of Florida’s 2025 bites was fatal. Volusia County, home of New Smyrna Beach, had six.

Florida’s high numbers mostly reflect how many people use its water: millions of swimmers, waders and surfers share the surf with large numbers of small coastal sharks. Most Florida bites are single, quick bites to a hand, foot or leg, thought to be mistaken identity by sharks chasing fish in cloudy water. Fatal bites in Florida are rare, and far fewer people in the state die from shark bites than from lightning strikes. To put the risk in context, see How often do sharks attack humans?.

How to lower the already small risk

• Swim at guarded beaches and stay close to shore and to other people.
• Avoid the water at dawn, dusk and night, near inlets and fishing piers, and where baitfish are jumping or birds are diving.
• Stay out of very murky water, and leave shiny jewelry on the beach.
• Never touch, feed or grab a shark, including a resting nurse shark.
• Leave the water calmly if you see a shark. If someone is bitten, call 911 immediately and get them to emergency medical care.

Conservation

Many of Florida’s sharks are far less common than they once were because of overfishing worldwide. The blacktip, spinner, bull, nurse and lemon sharks are all listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, the bonnethead and sandbar shark as Endangered, and the great and scalloped hammerheads as Critically Endangered. Florida prohibits the harvest of several species in state waters, including lemon sharks, tiger sharks, great white sharks and great, scalloped and smooth hammerheads.