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Florida Shark Attack: Teens Bitten In Cocoa Beach And New Smyrna Beach

By Dustin Wicksell
Published on: 03:37 PST, May 30, 2015

Florida’s shark attack season appears to be in full swing, as several beachgoers were bitten in Cocoa Beach and New Smyrna Beach on Friday, less than a week after a 13-year-old girl was attacked.

The first shark attack of the day involved a 19-year-old woman who was swimming in waist-deep water in New Smyrna Beach, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The shark struck the woman’s foot around 1:45 p.m., causing minor injuries that were treated by safety officials on the beach. The woman did not observe the shark as it approached her, and the species responsible for the attack wasn’t readily identified.

Roughly an hour later, a 14-year-old girl was attacked by a shark near the International Palms Resort and Conference Center in Cocoa Beach. The girl was visiting Florida from Ohio, and while she was also bitten on her foot by a shark, the extent of her injuries proved to be more severe. After witnesses to the attack ran to a nearby lifeguard station, Brevard County Ocean Rescue Captain Dakota James and several other lifeguards helped the victim to the beach parking lot from where she was transported to Cape Canaveral Hospital, according to Florida Today.

“She didn’t say much,” James recalled. “She was in a lot of pain. I think she was still in shock.”

Major Scott Rosenfeld, a Cocoa Beach police spokesman, noted that the girl’s injuries were “serious but not life-threatening.” Authorities believe she was standing in the water, rather than swimming, when the shark attacked her. By the time lifeguards arrived, the shark had departed the area, making identification of the species similarly impossible.

The attacks come less than a week after another young girl was struck by a shark at Cocoa Beach. As the Inquisitr previously reported, 13-year-old Alysa Whetro was attacked last Sunday while she swam just off the beach. The shark attacked her foot, in a similar fashion to the other incidents, leaving a pool of blood next to the girl, who didn’t see the animal that injured her.

“When it bit me, I felt like a pain, like a sharp pain and then I pulled my foot up,” Alysa noted.

A runner, Whetro underwent surgery following the shark attack, which placed a graft on her Achilles tendon in order to repair the damage.

Incidents like these are common in Florida, and while fatal attacks are very rare, shark bites occur every year. New Smyrna Beach, in particular, is considered the “shark attack capital” of not only Florida, but also the world.

[Photo by Spencer Platt / Getty Images]

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