ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A group of anglers fishing 25 miles out of the St. Augustine inlet had a surprise when a white shark circled their boat Thursday.
Captain Alex Miller from Drop Down Sport Fish Charter had an active morning hooking red snappers when the curious 15 to 16 foot white shark surfaced and circled the boat.
Capt. Miller has been fishing the area since 2006 and never saw a species like this locally.
The people on the boat didn't notice any satellite tag on the dorsal fin and the video shows no other tags that could identify it as a shark tracked for research.
This wasn't the same white shark was in area last month that had been tracked on the OCEARCH website.
That 12.5 foot white shark called Hilton pinged in the Gulf of Mexico this week.
Hilton first swam north close to St. Augustine in early March and then swam farther offshore St. Johns county eventually headed south by the end of March.
Capt. Miller reported the water temperature at 71° which is the upper side of the Atlantic white sharks preferred temperature range.
White sharks were scarce this winter when chilly water temperatures dipped below 55°.
There have been several reports this spring of white sharks off the east coast of Florida since the warm up.