Authorities are using boats to patrol the ocean and warning swimmers about sharks this weekend along Florida’s Gulf Coast, where a woman and two teenage girls were hurt in two separate shark attacks on Friday.
The attacks off beaches in the Florida Panhandle led authorities to temporarily close several beaches to swimmers on Friday. Beaches were reopened Saturday, with flags warning of high hazards.
“All I can say is that these incidents are very rare,” said Demian Chapman, a scientist and director of the Center for Shark Research at the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Sarasota, Florida.
“It’s even more rare to have two events in one day involving three people,” he told The Associated Press on Saturday. “That’s astronomically low odds of that happening.”
In Walton County, the sheriff’s office, fire department and the state’s wildlife agency were working together to patrol the water with boats and the shore with vehicles, the South Walton Fire District said in an update Saturday. Both of Friday’s attacks happened in Walton County.
“Please swim carefully today, respect the Gulf, stay hydrated, and look out for your loved ones,” the fire department said on social media.
Read the full story from the Associated Press
