3 swimmers, including 2 teenagers, attacked by sharks off the Florida Panhandle

A woman had to have part of her arm amputated and two other teenagers were hospitalized Friday after two consecutive shark attacks off the Florida Panhandle, local authorities said.

The 45-year-old woman was swimming at Watersound Beach in Walton County around 1:20 p.m. when she was bitten by a shark while she and her husband were just past the sandbar, South Walton Fire District Chief Ryan Crawford told reporters.

The shark bite caused “significant trauma” to her midsection and part of her left arm had to be amputated, Crawford said, according to ABC News. She was flown by helicopter to HCA Fort Walton-Destin Hospital in critical condition.

Just 90 minutes later, about four miles down the beach, two girls, ages 15 and 17, were attacked while swimming with friends in waist-deep water, officials said.

One of the girls suffered “serious injuries” to her thigh and hand and was flown by helicopter to Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola Hospital in critical condition, Crawford said.

The other teenager had minor injuries to her foot and was also taken to a nearby hospital by the emergency services.

“This is an anomaly … everything from the 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.”

After both incidents, the authorities decided to close the sea to swimmers.

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