Scary situation.
Several beaches along the coast of Florida near Palm beached have been closed due to a wave of thousands of sharks migrating past.
Seemingly aware of their intimidating presence, the sharks reportedly have been spotted a mere 30 feet from the shoreline.
According to researchers at Florida Atlantic University, there have been approximately 15,000 sharks migrating south in recent weeks.
What do these high alerts mean for students spending their spring break in Florida? According to lifeguards, it means that everyone is out of the water.
City leaders response to the uncertainty of the animals behavior are wise to be aware of the perceptual danger of sharks in the area. Shutting down the beaches as a safety precaution is costly but necessary when compared to the danger of a potential shark attack.
“When you start seeing fins in the water and they come closer to the beach, you’re whistling, getting people out of the water and putting up the double red flags,”
Vacationers will simply have to enjoy the warm weather by the pool and wait out their natural migration. Unfortunately for the local areas, they will have to wait it out as migration is likely to last for another week or two.
On the brighter side of the situation, scientists are taking advantage of the migration situation and have successfully tagged the first Great White Shark. It is believed that this research will aid in the prevention of the Great White Shark extinction.
Check out a video about the beach closures and shark migration here: http://bit.ly/YgcTSe
karithelight 
I think you are right that the most important thing is for city leaders to avoid the potential crises of shark attacks. At the same time, the majority of the places that sharks have been spotted very close to shore are on those beaches without a sandbar. Typically sharks stay further out to sea when there is a sand bar, and beyond that, I have heard the statistic that every time a swimmer enters the ocean, he or she is usually spotted by two different sharks. (http://news.msn.com/us/florida-beaches-on-high-alert-for-shark-migration). There is a fine line being walked between hurting tourism by being too strict and allowing for tourists to be put into risky situations.
The sharks migrating up the shore are black tips and spinners. Black Tip sharks have been characterized as more aggressive, and are accountable for several recent shark attacks, so wise action should be taken. I don’t think the beaches should be totally closed down though. (http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/03/07/shark-migration-florida.html)
Certainly, signs should be put up depicting sharks, warning swimmers of the greater than usual numbers of sharks off the coast, and making them aware of the risks. However, I have personally gone swimming multiple times in the ocean on several continents, often near sharks – I have never been bitten. I remember what one Aussie surfer told me when I was first getting on a surfboard. He said, “You probably won’t see any sharks, but they probably will see you. As long as you don’t bother them, they probably won’t bother you.”
Media has demonized sharks, and so the perceptual nature of this threat seems to be much greater than the real nature of the threat. When you get down to it, sharks are just carniverous animals with teethy grins that occasionally mistake people for the fish and other marine animals they usually eat. Frankly, JAWS was nothing any more real than a lifeless, mechanical, movie production ploy. Sharks can be dangerous, and people can be stupid, but is there really a need to close all the Florida beaches over spring break? Or is that an overreaction?
Here is an interesting related video: (http://www.newsy.com/videos/thousands-of-migrating-sharks-shut-down-florida-beaches/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+newsy-allvideos+%2528Newsy.com+Videos+Feed%2529)