This image provided by the Texas Department of Public Safety shows a shark off the coast of South Padre Island, Texas, on Thursday.
Texas Department of Public Safety/AP
hide title
Switch title
Texas Department of Public Safety/AP
Shark attacks in Texas and Florida left at least four people injured, one seriously, as Fourth of July celebrations drew crowds to coastal waters this week.
Two people were injured Thursday in a shark attack off the coast of south Texas, local officials said.
Two people were bitten by sharks on South Padre Island and two others had “encounters” with predators but were not seriously injured, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said in a statement.
Two of the people who were bitten were taken to a hospital in Brownsville for treatment, and one was transported elsewhere for further treatment, according to the department.
Game warden Capt. Chris Dowdy told The Associated Press that authorities believe all four incidents involved a shark about 6 feet long, based on witness information and social media images.
Dowdy said the last reported shark attack in the area was five years ago.
State officials say shark attacks on humans are rare in Texas.
“When shark bites do occur, it is often due to mistaken identity while the shark is searching for food,” Texas Parks and Wildlife said.
“If you see a lot of bait near the coast, it’s usually [is] The department advised in a statement that if there are signs of a predator nearby or if you see a shark in the water, calmly exit the water and wait for predatory wildlife to pass.
Also on Thursday, another beachgoer was injured in a shark attack off the coast of Florida, the first of two shark bites in the area in one day.
Tamra Malphurs, interim director of beach safety for Volusia County, said in an emailed statement that a 21-year-old man was struck in the right foot by a shark on New Smyrna Beach around 4 p.m. Thursday. The bite was not life-threatening. He was sent to the hospital for treatment. He had been playing football in knee-deep water.
Malfoyth said a shark bit a 26-year-old man on his left foot just after 4 p.m. Friday at the same beach as he was wading in about 5 feet of water. He was treated at the scene and hospitalized for further treatment, according to Volusia County. His injuries were also not life-threatening.
According to the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File, there were 69 unprovoked shark attacks worldwide last year. Nearly half of those attacks occurred in the United States, up from 57 attacks in 2022 but still on par with the five-year average of 63 attacks per year.
Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Shark Research Program at the Florida Museum of Natural History, told the Daytona Beach News-Journal that the increase in shark attacks worldwide last year does not necessarily mean an upward trend..
“These are natural processes, random events, happening with people in the water, with sharks in the water – I thought the variance would be much higher. But in fact, it’s very stable,” he said.
He told the publication that sharks are indeed more likely to attack under certain conditions.
“Shark bites only occur when there are a lot of people in the water, a lot of sharks in the water, sharks trying to prey and visibility is poor,” Naylor said.
