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It was only a few weeks ago that we were talking about the “shark attack capital of the world” when a dad captured the moment a shark stalked his children at the beach. Drone footage caught a shark within feet of children in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Now, there is news that three people were bitten at the same beach, justifying New Smyrna Beach’s moniker as the shark attack capital of the world.
Three people were bitten by sharks at New Smyrna Beach in Volusia County on the Atlantic coast of Florida over the course of 24 hours this past weekend.
On Saturday, 20-year-old surfer Emily Comfort was bitten on her left hand and wrist. She was taken to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach. The surfer received stitches and her injuries were not considered to be life-threatening.
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Only a half an hour later, another surfer was attacked at New Smyrna Beach. This time it was 21-year-old surfer Riley Petrovich, who had his right foot bitten. Petrovich declined to be taken to the hospital.
Then on Sunday morning, 51-year-old Peter Bourbeau was bitten by a shark while he was standing in knee-deep water. He described the animal as a 4-foot-shark, As soon as he kicked the shark with his left foot, it swam away. The Florida man was treated at the scene for his minor wound.
Gavin Naylor, the director of the Florida Program for Shark Research at the Florida Museum of Natural History, said that there is a lot of bait fish in the area near the New Smyrna Beach pier, which attracts the sharks.
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The area is known to have sharks such as blacktips, spinners and juvenile sandbar sharks. There have also been sightings of hammerhead and tiger sharks according to Naylor.
The area is also known for its tremendous surfing breaks that attacks many surfers to the area. Occasionally, the surfers and sharks meet and there are shark attacks.
“If you like to surf and you surf in this particular spot, the chances are high that you have been within 10 feet of a shark,” Naylor said. “The surfers all know this. They routinely report seeing sharks in the area. While it may be news to the non-surfing community, it is widely known to scientists and surfers.”
Since records were kept on shark attacks in 1837, there have been 1,441 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks in the United States. Florida dominates the country with 828 recorded shark attacks. The next closest state is Hawaii with 162 attacks.
Since 1882, Volusia County has had 303 shark attacks, the most in the United States. The second closest is Brevard County, Florida, with 147 shark attacks according to the International Shark Attack File.
There have been 17 suspected shark bites in Florida this year.
You can read more news about sharks HERE.
[NYP]