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Researchers: Less black-tip sharks migrating south

Posted at 7:09 PM, Mar 02, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-03 12:46:45-05

The videos are surfacing of what looks like  a lot of sharks migrating south.

However, researchers say the video actually indicates a trend of fewer sharks in our ocean waters.

Dr. Stephen Kajiura, a shark researcher at Florida Atlantic University has been studying black-tip shark migration for eight years now.

He shot video off Singer Island earlier this week, showing thousands of sharks.

He says it's significantly less than years past.

"Shark abundance has been declining over the past few years," said Kajiura. "When I started this study, the water temperatures were like less than 20 Celsius. Last year they never got below 23 and we had far fewer sharks."

Kajiura is also studying the impacts less sharks may have on South Florida.

"We don't know the impact so it's important we have this data now," said Kajiura.

He says sharks are not making it south of Central Florida.