They warn about sharks on Florida beaches after recent attacks

SEACREST, Fla. (AP) — Authorities are conducting maritime patrols in boats and warned beachgoers about the presence of sharks this weekend off Florida’s Gulf Coast, where three people were injured Friday. two shark attacks.

Attacks on beaches in the Florida Panhandle forced authorities to temporarily close several beaches to swimmers on Friday. The beaches reopened on Saturday, with flags warning of the danger.

In Walton County, police, fire and the state wildlife agency worked together to patrol the water with boats and the shoreline with vehicles, the South Walton Fire Department reported Saturday. Both of Friday’s attacks occurred in Walton County.

Please swim carefully today, respect the Gulf, stay hydrated and take care of your loved ones,” the Fire Department said on social media.

Red and purple flags were used Saturday to warn beachgoers of the dangers.

“Purple flags indicate the presence of dangerous marine life and individual red flags indicate high danger conditions,” Bay County Police detailed in a social media post Saturday.

Small fish travel in schools near shore this time of year, which could have been a contributing factor to the attacks, Bay County police said.

The first attack occurred Friday afternoon, when a woman was bitten by a shark near WaterSound Beach, Walton County police reported. South Walton Fire Chief Ryan Crawford explained at a news conference that the woman had serious injuries to her abdomen and arm, and that part of her arm had to be amputated. She was airlifted to a trauma center.

Less than two hours later, firefighters responded to another beach about 4 miles east of the first attack “after receiving multiple reports of a teenager injured by a shark,” county police reported.

Two teenagers were with a group of friends in waist-deep water when they were attacked, South Walton Fire Rescue said.

“When lifeguards and police officers arrived at the scene, they discovered that one of the girls had serious injuries to the upper part of her leg and hand,” the firefighters detailed in a statement. She was taken to a trauma center. The other teenager had minor injuries on one of her feet.

“To have two such incidents occur on the same day is very unusual,” Crawford said.

A Walton County sheriff’s deputy, Michael Adkinson, said the timing of the attacks, mid-afternoon, was also anomalous. Adkinson added that officers often warn people to be on the lookout for sharks in the early morning and evening, their usual feeding times.

Also on Friday, in Hawaii, a woman was seriously injured in an apparent shark attack in the waters off the island of Oahu, according to authorities.

According to experts, shark attacks are rare.

Last year there were 69 unprovoked bites worldwide, 10 of which were fatal, according to the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida. This figure is higher than the recent average of six deaths annually.