"SHARK SENSES: Sharks have all the senses we have (smell, taste, touch, eyesight, and hearing). They can also sense electricity and vibrations in the water.
SMELL: A shark's primary sense is a keen sense of smell. It can detect one drop of blood in a million drops of water (25 gallons or 100 liters) and can smell blood 0.25 mile (0.4 km) away. Its paired nostrils are on the underside of its snout. Water continually flows through the nostrils, giving the shark olfactory information. Unlike humans, shark nostrils have nothing to do with breathing - they are not even connected to the mouth."
Spear fishing would put a lot of fish blood into the water, and since they were in a high powered fishing boat they were offshore in fairly deep water. I lived in that area for 7 years, and had my little Cape Dory sailboat in a marina in St. Pete. In all my weekend jaunts out on the open water, or swimming at the beach all those years, I never once saw or knew someone who had seen sharks near swimmers or at the beach. I really think that it's the spearfishing, or blood in the water that brings any sharks around. What I remember reading most about in the local papers were the stories of people who lost an arm duking it out with an alligator who came running out of a pond and tried to gobble up their little dog.
Shaggy, I'm not saying what you said isn't true. I'm sure it is. I just don't know where you were in Florida. Are you sure they weren't nurse sharks. One of my old Florida friends, Bill, has like hundreds of photos of himself grabbing some poor nurse shark by the tail and taking a photo with it. I figure they must be a pretty tame shark just to put up with having their pictures taken with him all the time.
But I never saw sharks in the years I lived there. Not even when friends and I were in a catamaran that capsized in a storm (off St Pete beach), and we were stranded out in the middle of the ocean treading water for a couple of hours hoping to be rescued by the coast guard. That was scary. But luckily for us, no sharks. You feel very vunerable out in deep water like that with your legs kicking around making a big ruckus just trying to stay afloat.
jlwquilter, I think you should go, enjoy yourselves and have a good time. If you are still worried, choose an beach area with lots of people (safety in numbers). If you are worried about your daughter make sure you or spouse are in the water with her, and stay closer to shore. Talk to locals for more info. The Rod & Reel is closer to the deep water of Tampa Bay. If you asked the locals, they could tell you the safest areas/beaches.
--- Rene