BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A surfer was bitten by a shark in Melbourne Beach Tuesday morning, making him the third shark bite victim along Central Florida beaches in three days.
WFTV's Lori Brown asked ocean rescue officials what could be behind the recent shark incidents.
As a 32-year-old man paddled out to surf Tuesday morning off Coconut Point Park he felt something clamp down on his hand. The victim said he didn't see what bit him. He managed to paddle back to shore.
A lifeguard treated him at the scene for puncture wounds, but the man did not go to the hospital.
The lifeguard determined the wounds were likely caused by a shark, making it the first shark attack in Brevard County this year. Other surfers were not deterred.
"Yeah, you see them out there a lot. But people don't get bit that often," said surfer Abe Stephens.
But there have been a total of three shark bites within the past few days.
"I know there are sharks out there all the time. I've been surfing a long time. (I) just keep my fingers crossed," said Stephens. "I try to keep my hands close to my board and not flounder around so a shark doesn't think my hand is a fish."
The upcoming change in seasons could be the reason behind the bites.
Experts say sharks migrate in the spring and the fall.
"They return from wherever they are living from where they vacationed in the summer," said Derek Swor, Ocean Rescue captain.
Florida shark attacks are rarely deadly. The last deadly attack in Central Florida dates back to the 1930s in Brevard County.
Swor said the waves pose a deadlier bite than most sharks.
"The biggest danger is the rip currents; the storm last weekend created new sand bars and moved a bunch of sand around," said Swor.
One similarity between all three bites this week is that strong surf conditions have made it hard for people to see the sharks coming and also likely hard for the sharks to see that what they are biting is not a fish.
WFTV
