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Three individuals assaulted by sharks in Florida and Texas

Sharks assaulted three individuals on beaches in Texas and Florida on Thursday as the Independence Day weekend got underway, according to officials, adding to a growing list of such occurrences in the U.S. this summer.

A 21-year-old Ohio man was bitten on his foot while standing in knee-deep water at Florida's New Smyrna Beach, said Tamra Malphurs, interim director of Volusia County Beach Security Ocean Rescue. He was dealt with at a healthcare facility for non-life-threatening injuries.

On the same day at South Padre Island on the Gulf Coast of Texas, 4 individuals encountered a shark and two were bitten, according to a press release by Texas Parks and Wildlife. The 2 victims were required to a medical facility, but their conditions were unidentified.

There have been 28 reported shark attacks in the U.S. so far this year, according to site Tracking Sharks. At least three others, in addition to Thursday's attacks, have actually happened because June 2, consisting of a California male who was injured by a terrific white shark and a male in Hawaii who was eliminated by a shark.

Three ladies were injured by what authorities believed to be a bull shark in Walton County, Florida, the state where shark attacks are most frequent, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History's International Shark Attack File.

The museum discovered that unprovoked shark attacks and fatalities around the world rose somewhat in 2023, when there were an overall of 69 attacks, 10 of which were fatal.

The U.S. had one of the most occurrences in 2015 with 36 attacks and 2 deaths. The variety of shark attacks have trended downward since they surged in 2021 with 47 attacks, the most ever taped by the museum.

Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Museum of Natural History's shark research program, said that while the numbers may oscillate year by year, reported shark bites have dropped slightly years by decade. He attributes the pattern to business fisheries decreasing global shark populations.

But the number of people on beaches keeps going up. And as a couple of more shark populations are beginning to recuperate, I believe in the next 10 years we may see a boost in occurrences, stated Naylor.

(source: Reuters)