Florida beach gets marine patrol after 3 shark attacks

US News

By Steve Janoski

Police in the Florida panhandle are on high alert after three shark attacks in a single day left a woman seriously mutilated and two teenage girls injured on the same stretch of coastline.

Authorities have temporarily closed beaches and are patrolling the waters after the clashes left a 45-year-old woman with serious injuries that led doctors to amputate part of her left arm.

They have since reopened – but cops say swimmers need to stay vigilant.

“The Walton County Sheriff's Office Marine Unit continues to monitor the shoreline and beaches Saturday following Friday's shark incidents in Walton County,” the department said in a Facebook post.

“Deputies spotted a 14-foot hammerhead shark east of South County Highway 395 in Santa Rosa Beach from the boat this morning – which is NOT uncommon,” the post continues. “We would like to reaffirm that sharks are still present in the Gulf. Swimmers and beachgoers should use caution when swimming and be aware of their surroundings at all times.

Authorities displayed red and purple flags on the beach to warn swimmers – red for high hazards and purple for dangerous marine species.

In another Facebook post, the sheriff's office asked visitors to be aware of their surroundings and “remember that we are guests in the Gulf.” [of Mexico].”

The 45-year-old woman who suffered the most serious injuries was swimming with her husband at Watersound Beach in Walton County around 1:15 p.m. Friday when the shark struck, the South Walton Fire District chief told reporters , Ryan Crawford.

The attack caused “significant trauma” to the victim's body, and part of his left arm was later removed, the chief said, according to ABC News.

She was airlifted to HCA Fort Walton-Destin Hospital in critical condition.

About an hour and a half later, a shark attacked two teenagers who were swimming with their friends in waist-deep water near Inlet Beach, about four miles away, authorities said.

The girls – aged 15 and 17 – were both injured, with one suffering “significant injuries” to her upper leg and hand, Crawford said.

Two doctors who were on holiday together were in the water during the attacks and provided potentially life-saving treatment to the injured girl.

Ryan Forbess and Mohammad Ali were bodyboarding in the water with their children when they heard panic on the shore, according to News 5 WKRG.

“We all started running out of water,” Forbess said. “I grabbed my son; he grabbed his daughter, then I looked to the left as we got to the beach, and saw murky red water from the shark attack.

When medics reached the sand, they worked with other paramedics and trauma nurses who were on scene to help the desperately injured girl.

“When I looked at her and saw the severity of the injury, I realized that anyone with medical knowledge should help her,” Ali told the channel.

They applied tourniquets to his upper leg and hand, and kept pressure on the bleeding wounds.

Although Forbess and Ali said they did not know the other medical experts they worked with, they worked together seamlessly.

“We might as well [have] I worked with them for years,” Forbess said.

“It was incredible,” Forbes added. “Somehow…it was God’s will that everyone was there to help at the same time.”

The victim was flown to Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola Hospital in critical condition.

EMS workers took her friend – who had only minor injuries to her foot – to a local hospital for treatment.

“It’s an anomaly…from the number of three victims to the situation,” Walton County Sheriff Michael A. Adkinson, Jr. told reporters. “All we can do is react, control and mitigate what we can. »

Adkinson Jr. said the last shark attack in the county was in 2021. The last fatal attack was in 2005.