WFCN –
At least four people were injured, with one person critically damaged, in shark attacks in Florida and Texas this week, as many went to the seaside for Fourth of July celebrations.
Sharks attacked two humans on Thursday off the coast of southern Texas, according to authorities.
Two individuals were attacked by sharks at South Padre Island, while two others “encountered” the predator but were unharmed, according to a statement from the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.
Two bitten victims were sent to a Brownsville hospital for treatment; the agency reported that one of the victims was airlifted to another location for additional medical attention.
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Authorities suspect that a single shark, approximately 6 feet long, was involved in all four incidences, according to Game Warden Captain Chris Dowdy, who spoke with The Associated Press. This belief is based on information from witnesses and photographs shared on social media.
It has been five years since there was a reported shark attack in the area, according to Dowdy.
According to Texas officials, shark attacks on people are extremely uncommon.
Shark bites are typically the result of the predator mistaking a human for prey, according to Texas Parks & Wildlife.
The department issued a statement advising people to quietly exit the water and wait for predatory species to pass if they observe big schools of bait along the coast or if they spot a shark in the sea.
There were two incidences involving shark bites in the region on Thursday; the first injured a beachgoer off the Florida coast. The second incident occurred later that day.
According to an email statement from Volusia County Beach Safety interim director Tamra Malphurs, a 21-year-old guy was taken to the hospital at New Smyrna Beach at 4 p.m. on Thursday after suffering non-life-threatening injuries from a shark biting his right foot. He’d been playing football with water up to his knees.
According to Malphurs, a 26-year-old guy was bit on the left foot by a shark on Friday at approximately 4 p.m. at the same beach while wading in an inner tube in water that was about 5 feet deep. Volusia County reports that he was sent to the hospital after receiving treatment at the scene; his injuries were not considered life-threatening.
The International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida reports that there were 69 reported cases of shark attacks last year that did not include any human intervention. The United States was the site of nearly half of such assaults. That’s up from 57 attacks in 2022, but it’s still the same as the yearly average of 63 attacks during the past five years.
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Florida Museum of Natural History director Gavin Naylor told the Daytona Beach News-Journal that the uptick in shark attacks last year does not necessarily indicate a developing trend.
I would have thought the variability would be substantially higher given that these are natural processes, random occurrences that occur when humans are in the sea and sharks are there. He did, however, say that it is remarkably constant.
He did say that there are times and places where shark attacks are more common, though.
“Shark bites only occur in situations where there are numerous humans and sharks in the water, feeding on prey, and visibility is poor,” Naylor explained.