Last Friday, three people were bitten by sharks in Walton county beaches, both of which happened just hours apart. Now, wildlife experts are looking into shark behavior in Florida.
"We understand that as tragic as this is, there are always sharks and we have to be careful," Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson said at a news conference on Friday.
The latest attacks
South Walton Fire District and Walton County Sheriff's Office responded to two shark related incidents Friday afternoon. Two people were critically injured, and one other person suffered minor injuries.
The first victim, a 45-year-old woman, was bitten by a shark as she was swimming past the first sandbar near Watersound Beach.
SWFD lifeguards and WCSO deputies arrived on-scene and found the woman sustained critical injuries on her hip and an "amputation of her lower left arm." The patient was airlifted to a local trauma facility to receive further treatment for her injuries.
The second incident took place near Seacrest Beach at approximately 2:55 p.m., Friday afternoon, four miles east of the first incident. Two female teenagers, 15 and 17-years old, were injured in the attack. Officials said on Friday the two girls were with a group of friends inside a sandbar at about waist-deep water.
One teen had "significant" injuries to the upper leg and one hand and was transported by air to a local hospital. The other female had minor injuries on one foot and is in stable condition.
BEACH FLAG UPDATE: @WCSOFL will have a boat in the Gulf and will be monitoring the shoreline throughout the day.
— Walton Co. Sheriff (@WCSOFL) June 8, 2024
We ask beachgoers to be aware of their surroundings and remember we are guests in the Gulf. Stay vigilant. https://t.co/yn6LDpJXgV
What experts are saying?
Gavin Naylor is the Director of the Florida Program for Shark Research. He told WFSU in an interview Wednesday, shark attacks are down this year, but said it's "pretty rare" to have multiple attacks happen on the same day.
“Sharks tear through the little channels between the sandbars and there’s a whole bunch of people splashing around," explained Naylor.
In 2023, Florida accounted for 44% of the total unprovoked shark bites in the U.S., according to the International Shark Attack File.
"Sharks feed on baitfish," said Naylor. "You've got a high density of people at the beach in shallow waters where the baitfish are, and the sharks follow them. If there's lots of people in the way, the sharks get distracted and bite somebody."
Beaches in Walton and Bay counties were closed Friday and reopened Saturday morning with purple flag warnings to make beachgoers aware of dangerous marine life.
