{"id":100655,"date":"2025-12-31T00:55:31","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T00:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/100655\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T00:55:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T00:55:31","slug":"shark-steals-the-show-off-honeymoon-island-in-once-in-a-lifetime-sighting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/100655\/","title":{"rendered":"Shark steals the show off Honeymoon Island in once-in-a-lifetime sighting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>DUNEDIN, Fla. \u2014 It wasn\u2019t a dolphin that stole the show on a Saturday morning dolphin cruise off Honeymoon Island. Instead, it was a roughly 10-foot shark.<\/p>\n<p>Charter captain Jordan Sandlin, owner of <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/clearwakewatersports.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ClearWake Watersports<\/a>, believes the visitor was a juvenile great white.<\/p>\n<p>WATCH: Shark steals the show off Honeymoon Island in once-in-a-lifetime sighting<\/p>\n<p>Shark steals the show off Honeymoon Island in once-in-a-lifetime sighting<\/p>\n<p>Sandlin spotted the shark after noticing a pod of dolphins acting strangely.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were acting really funny,\u201d he said. \u201cI saw commotion in the water, and then, all of a sudden, it stopped, and the dolphins started to move away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Moments later, the shark\u2019s dorsal fin broke the surface.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe pulled right up on it, and it was every bit of at least 9-10 foot,\u201d Sandlin said.<\/p>\n<p>WATCH: Video from Nick Spiridis<\/p>\n<p>Shark steals the show off Honeymoon Island in once-in-a-lifetime sighting<\/p>\n<p>Sandlin\u2019s friend and fellow charter boat captain, Nick Spiridis, was also in the area and also got a chance to see the shark. Both are convinced the creature was a great white shark, which is rarely seen in Florida waters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll never forget it. And I\u2019ll have something to tell my grandkids and everybody about it,\u201d said Spiridis, owner of <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reelrunnergulfadventures.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Reel Runner Gulf Adventures<\/a>. \u201cThe thing got within like inches of my boat. That\u2019s how close he was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both captains were running dolphin tours at the time. Their passengers were left in awe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI told my group that what you just saw was a needle in a haystack times a hundred,\u201d said Sandlin. \u201cI\u2019m a Shark Week fanatic, so it was an experience that I will never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1767142530_317_.png\" alt=\"Screenshot 2025-12-29 214659.png\"  width=\"774\" height=\"1029\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Jordan Sandlin<\/p>\n<p>Eric Hovland, an animal care specialist and the \u201cShark Guy\u201d for The Florida Aquarium, reviewed videos and pictures of the sighting. He said the shark could be either a juvenile great white or a shortfin mako, which can look similar from above the water.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEither one of those sharks would be, you know, such a rare treat to see in our waters out near Honeymoon Island,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>While it\u2019s not unheard of for juvenile great whites to venture near Florida\u2019s coast, larger great whites usually stick to deeper waters with bigger prey.<\/p>\n<p>According to OCEARCH, a nonprofit that conducts shark research and tracks sharks globally, six tracked great white sharks have pinged in the deep waters off Florida over the past month.<\/p>\n<p>Hovland says beach-goers should not be alarmed by the sighting. He said, statistically speaking, the most dangerous part of going to the beach is the drive.<\/p>\n<p>While at the beach, he says common sense is key: swim near others, avoid swimming at dawn or dusk, and don\u2019t venture too far from shore.<\/p>\n<p>            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1767142530_695_.png\" alt=\"COURTESY JORDAN SANDLIN 6.HEIC\"  width=\"767\" height=\"1030\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Jordan Sandlin<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Sandlin, Spiridis, and their clients are still buzzing about the sighting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll never forget it,\u201d said Spiridis. \u201cAnd I\u2019ll have something to tell my grandkids and everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the thrill, it\u2019s also a reminder of how rare and remarkable the animals are.<\/p>\n<p>According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), both great white and shortfin mako sharks are considered threatened. Great whites are listed as vulnerable, and shortfin makos are listed as endangered.<\/p>\n<p>Share Your Story with Chad<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mediaassets.abcactionnews.com\/image\/ContactBanners\/ChadMills.png\"\/><br \/>Chad Mills calls Polk County home and has witnessed the area\u2019s growth firsthand. He keeps his eye on the City of Lakeland, our agriculture community, and helping you navigate everyday expenses. Use the form below to share your story ideas with Chad.<br \/>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mediaassets.abcactionnews.com\/image\/VideoModule\/Trending_Video_TampaBay28.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Hillsborough County woman nearly loses $10k to elaborate sheriff&#8217;s office phone scam<\/p>\n<p>Sheri Amarillas was sitting in her car on a Tuesday morning, about to walk into an appointment after dropping her kids off at school, when she received a voicemail that would lead to an hour-and-a-half ordeal with sophisticated scammers.<\/p>\n<p>Hillsborough County woman nearly loses $10k to elaborate sheriff&#8217;s office phone scam<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DUNEDIN, Fla. \u2014 It wasn\u2019t a dolphin that stole the show on a Saturday morning dolphin cruise off&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[205,52800,1339,52801,52802,4785,1618,52803,52804,52805,52806,135,137,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-100655","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-abc-action-news","9":"tag-charter-fishing-captain","10":"tag-clearwater","11":"tag-clearwater-dolphin-cruise","12":"tag-dolphin-cruise","13":"tag-dunedin","14":"tag-fla","15":"tag-great-white-shark","16":"tag-honeymoon-island","17":"tag-honeymoon-island-state-park","18":"tag-juvenile-great-white","19":"tag-tampa","20":"tag-tampa-headlines","21":"tag-tampa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}