So far the month of September has turned out to be a pretty sharky one in New Smyrna Beach, Fl. There have been three reported shark bites, two of which occurred within one minute of each other. Notice I said shark "bites" and not shark "attacks". None of the three that encountered the animals were taken to the hospital by ambulance, they all went of their own accord.
Twenty-five year old Marco Edmundo Cardiel was standing in waist-deep water on September 7th, when a 3-4 foot gray shark swam up and bit him on the shin. Apparently the shark thrashed for a few seconds and then released him. A few hundred feet away, forty-three year old John Graham jumped off his surf board and right on top of a 3-4 foot long shark. It was not confirmed whether or not the shark that bit Graham was the same shark that bit Cardiel. Graham admits he may have spooked the shark resulting in a bite to his foot. "It was kind of like stepping on your dog when getting out of bed. It nips at you," Graham said. "It happened because I jumped on him." A few days later, on September 12th, a thirteen year old girl was wading in about 3 feet of water when she was bitten on the heel. She was treated at the scene and then taken to the hospital by friends. Authorities determined that the presence of bait fish is what brought the sharks to the area.
I cannot stress this enough, if you're going to get in the water in an area notorious for sharks (or any ocean for that matter) please be aware of your surroundings. If the water is murky, if there are a large number of bait fish, or if the water is unusually cold, know that you are swimming at your own risk. These are all tell-tale signs that there could be sharks swimming nearby.If you're paying attention, you could save yourself and the sharks from having a bad day.
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