Officials reported that on Friday, sharks attacked three swimmers, including two teenagers, in two separate incidents on the beaches of Walton County, Florida.
Around 1:20 p.m., a shark bit a 45-year-old woman who was swimming with her husband near a sandbar at Watersound Beach, according to South Walton Fire District Chief Ryan Crawford.
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Crawford said the unidentified woman suffered “significant trauma” to her stomach and had part of her left arm amputated. HCA Fort Walton-Destin Hospital received her in critical condition.
A shark injured a 15-year-old girl and a 17-year-old girl about 90 minutes later near Seacrest Beach, which is only four miles from Watersound Beach, according to Crawford. They were with a group of friends near the first sandbar in waist-deep water.
According to Crawford, one victim was bitten by a shark and had “significant injuries” before being transported to Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola Hospital in serious condition.
The second victim received stable treatment at Ascension Bay Medical Center after suffering flesh wounds on her foot.
Walton County Sheriff Michael A. Adkinson, Jr., told reporters that officials ordered beaches closed following the initial incident, but the order was not fully implemented before the teens were attacked.
Authorities also stated that replacing the beach caution flags around the coastline would have taken approximately an hour and a half.
According to Sheriff Adkinson Jr., the county’s latest shark attack was in 2021, and the last shark-related fatality occurred in 2005.
“This is an anomaly, everything from having three victims to where it’s at,” stated the sheriff. “All we can do is respond, control, and mitigate what we can.”
Sheriff Adkinson Jr. stated that Walton County authorities had contacted ocean wildlife experts at Mote Marine in Pensacola, Florida, to assist in the investigation of the incident.
