The sharks, up to 5ft long, showed up off the Florida Panhandle along the Gulf of Mexico last week and officials can’t figure out why. 
‘We really have no idea,’ said Jack Mobley, a wildlife biologist at Tyndall Air Force Base, where about 50 sharks, mostly blacktips, had washed up. ‘There needs to be tests done before that can be determined.’
Traces of blood in the nostrils and gills of some of the sharks suggested an infection could be the cause, said Mike Brim, an ecologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Lack of oxygen in the shallow waters has also been blamed, and the dumping of shark carcases by fishermen who sell shark fins for food. Also reported in the area last week was red tide, an algae bloom which is toxic to fish. But the strange thing is that other species of fish have apparently not been affected.
Helicopter pilot Skip Franck said, after flying over the bay, ‘When we flew over it was bubbling with fish. Why would these sharks be dead and the fish be alive?’
CBS News
