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Sharks Relish Warm Water Off New Smyrna Beach

Photo courtesy Kem McNair
Photo courtesy Kem McNair

Dozens of sharks are gathered off New Smyrna Beach.

The sharks are about a quarter-mile south of Ponce De Leon Inlet.

Kem McNair has surfed these waters for 50 years. And while coming in from surfing he saw a cluster of them and grabbed his camera. McNair says up to 40 sharks have been swimming near Ponce De Leon Inlet since Monday.

"Them being babies, maybe a year old, they're very curious about all of their environment. So they come up and check things out and basically, if you move your little toe or any kind of movement you make it scares them, and they just dart away I mean like 100 miles an hour, just incredibly fast."

McNair believes the sharks are on a stop-over as they migrate north from south Florida.

Volusia County is known for having one of the highest rates of shark attacks in the world, but McNair says these baby sharks aren't aggressive.

Amy Green covered the environment for WMFE until 2023. Her work included the 2020 podcast DRAINED.