NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Volusia County is on track for a record year in shark bites and some residents wonder if some local construction has been increasing the risk. Dredging boats were working off Cunningham Drive in New Smyrna Beach on Monday and not too far away is where most of this year's shark bites have happened.

A few miles away from the shark bite capital in Daytona Beach, it's not unusual to see sharks, but that's the difference. There is clear, clean water. You can see them and they can see you, which is not the case in New Smyrna.

Every wave that breaks in New Smyrna Beach is clouded with dingy brown sand and somewhere in that dirty water, unseen, are the sharks responsible for all the bites on the now infamous beach.

"Zero visibility water, they're still there trying to hunt and they run into people," said Scott Petersohn, Volusia County Beach Patrol.

This spring, with shark bites on a record pace, there may be something adding to their inability to see what they're biting. A major dredging project in the area is churning up endless amounts of silt and sand. During every outgoing tide, some of that filth makes its way into the waves, where surfers and swimmers are drawn.

There was minor dredging done in 2006, a year where 12 bites were recorded. In 1995, during another project, 13 bites were recorded. The totals are far from the record of 22, but that year there was a similar, natural change in the water.

"I remember that as being a chilly year and having that murky, lots of sediment, really smelly water from deep down," Petersohn said.

Because so many things contribute to bites, the water, the weather, the people, Beach Patrol said it can't be sure if this year will stay on record pace for bites, but the dredging is expected to continue well into the busy summer months.