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Two recent shark plan of attack on a beach in Florida lead to a flood of societal media rumour linking the cases to the presence of orcas in the Gulf of Mexico . But this " does n’t make any sense , " marine biologistJesús Erick Higuera - Rivas , told Live Science .
On June 7,three mass were injured in two shark attacksoff the coast of Walton County , between Destin and Panama City Beach . victim included a 45 - year - old charwoman who was burn near Watersound Beach , as well as two teen who were injure later the same solar day , around four miles east of the first blast .
A bull shark underwater off the coast of West Palm Beach, Florida.
The same bull shark ( genus Carcharhinus leucas ) was probably responsible for for all three attacks , Walton County Sheriff ’s Office representative Corey Dobridniatold USA Today .
late sightings of orcas ( Orcinus Orcinus orca ) in the same neighborhood led some citizenry to conjecture that the killer whale were driving papal bull shark closer to the shore , where they were attacking the great unwashed . Orcas had beenseen on June 4 just in the south of Destin , about 75 miles ( 120 kilometers ) from where the shark attacks pass .
However , Higuera - Rivas says that the two case are " not plug in . " Higuera - Rivas studies orca behavior at the Pelagic Protection and Conservation Civil Association in Mexico , including their interactions with sharks and rays .
It’s unlikely orcas played a role in the recent shark attacks in Florida, experts say.
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Despite observance of someorcas hunt great white sharks(Carcharodon carcharias ) off the coast of South Africa and pursue bull sharks in the Gulf of California , Higuera - Rivas says that the latest attack are more likely due to the increase in human activity near where bull sharks fertilize near shoring .
likewise , the sightings of orcas in the part are also due to the rise in eco - touristry . " You see more images online about orcas being in [ the Gulf of Mexico ] , but it ’s not because the orcas are appear more and more often , " he tell . Rather , they ’re just being remark more .
Because orcas have likely always been in the region , but are only now being snap more , Higuera - Rivas consider the Florida attacks are improbable due to their front .
Gavin Naylor , the Director of the Florida Program for Shark Research at the University of Florida , also agrees .
Naylor told Live Science that orcas sometimes target sharks , but this tend to happen quite far off - shore . " There are so many place for sharks to hide off from orcas along the sea-coast , " he said , adding that it ’s unclear why the shark would be driven to human - inhabit coast , specifically . It seems especially unlikely that shit sharks would accumulate near the shoring due to orca activity because the sharks also have the power to hide in freshwater ecosystems .
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Instead , Naylor suggests that thebull shark attacksare likely due to the bait fish moving closer to the shoring , thus draw the sharks in .
Recent live , juiceless conditions in Florida may mean that fresh water output from estuaries has fallen . " When there ’s less estuarine end product , then the saltwater can fall closer to the shoring than it would commonly do , and that institute with it the plankton and the bait fish that eat them , " he said .
With the bait Pisces the Fishes derive the Taurus sharks , Naylor said .
