As the weather gets warmer, interactions between wild animals and humans start to increase.
Whether it’s looking for food or a mate, many animals are simply behaving as nature intended.
And Florida swimmers are nervous after several shark attacks happened in a short span.
Florida panhandle saw three shark attacks in one day
Authorities in the panhandle of Florida are on high alert after there were three shark attacks in one day.
One of the attacks left a woman badly injured and two teen girls were also injured on the same stretch of coastline.
Authorities closed the beaches temporarily and started to patrol the waters, but they have since reopened and police warned swimmers to remain on high alert.
In one attack, a 45-year-old woman was left with severe injuries.
Doctors had to amputate part of her left arm.
The Walton County Sheriff’s Office Beach Marine Unit posted a warning on Facebook about the attacks.
“Deputies spotted a 14-foot hammerhead east of South County Highway 395 in Santa Rosa Beach this morning from the boat – which is NOT uncommon,” the post said. “We want to reiterate that sharks are always present in the Gulf. Swimmers and beachgoers should be cautious when swimming and be aware of their surroundings at all times.”
Red and purple flags were posted along the beach to warn swimmers.
Red is for high-hazard conditions and purple represents dangerous marine life.
The sheriff added a separate post to Facebook and asked visitors to be aware of their surroundings.
“Remember, we are guests in the Gulf,” he said.
The woman who suffered the most serious injuries was swimming with her husband at Watersound Beach in Walton County when the shark attacked her.
According to ABC News, the shark attack caused “significant trauma” to the woman’s body.
The chief said part of her left arm was removed after being airlifted to HCA Fort Walton-Destin Hospital in critical condition.
Approximately one-and-a-half hours later, a shark attacked two teenagers who were swimming with their friends in waist-deep water near Inlet Beach, which is around four miles away.
According to South Walton Fire District Chief Ryan Crawford, both of the girls were hurt and one girl had “significant injuries” to her upper leg and hand.
Some of the victims were lucky
Fortunately, two doctors on vacation together just happened to be in the water during the attacks on the teenage girls.
Ryan Forbes and Mohammad Ali were boogie boarding in the water with their children when they heard the chaos occur near the shore.
“We all started running out of the water,” Forbes said. “I grabbed my son, he grabbed his daughter, and then I looked over to the left as we were getting to the beach, and I saw cloudy red water from the shark attack.”
The doctors worked with other EMTs and trauma nurses who were nearby to help the injured girl.
Ali told the local news station that when he “saw the severity of the injury, I realized that anybody with any kind of medical knowledge needed to help.”
One of the victims was airlifted to Ascension Sacred Heart Pentecostal Hospital and the other had minor injuries to her foot and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Patriot Political will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
