Hundreds Of Sharks Swarm Florida Canal To Escape Red Tide

Lemon, blacktip, bonnethead and nurse sharks have crowded into the waterway in Buttonwood Harbor.

Hundreds of coastal sharks have flocked to a Florida canal in what experts said is an effort to take refuge from a catastrophic algal bloom that has wreaked havoc on ocean life in the region. In recent weeks, canals in Buttonwood Harbor, near Sarasota, have been teeming with sharks, including bonnethead, black tip, nurse and lemon sharks, leaving area residents stunned. “You literally could have walked across the canal on the backs of sharks — that’s how many there were,” Longboat Key resident Janelle Branower told WFLA-TV.