Florida man in critical condition after shark attack | Florida

In a shark attack off Florida’s Atlantic coast on Friday, a man was “severely bitten in the right arm,” authorities said, leaving him in critical condition due to blood loss.

The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office Marine Corps unit patrolling off the coast of Fernandina Beach near the Florida-Georgia border said it received a distress call from a boat on Friday and applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

“The deputy then steered the boat to the Dee Dee Bartels boat ramp where the Fernandina Beach Fire Department was waiting,” the sheriff’s office said in a social media post. The unnamed man is expected to recover, authorities said.

Earlier this month, three people – a woman and two teenagers – were injured in attacks on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Authorities warned swimmers that baitfish that move close to shore this time of year could contribute to the attacks.

Florida has a flag system to warn swimmers: purple indicates the presence of dangerous marine life and red indicates “high hazard conditions.”

Authorities are also making greater efforts to educate the public. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, there are no guaranteed ways to avoid shark bites, but understanding shark behavior can help beachgoers make better decisions about when and where to swim.

“It is very important for people visiting Florida waters to be aware of their surroundings, understand the relative risks and educate themselves on various shark topics such as behavior, biology and fisheries,” says Brent Winner of the commission on the agency’s website.

The commission also states that “shark bites are still very rare” and that the likelihood of being struck by lightning in Florida is 30 times higher than being bitten by a shark.

The increase in shark bites is attributed to the increasing number of people in the water rather than to the larger number of sharks. Shark populations are estimated to be 25 to 30 percent smaller than they were three decades ago.

“Humans pose a much greater threat to sharks than vice versa,” says the Commission’s statement. It puts the relative number of people killed by sharks each year at 10 to 100 metres in relation to the number of sharks killed by humans.

“To ensure our own safety and the continued existence of these amazing fish, people need to become more aware of sharks and learn more about sharks and related issues,” it says.

Still, Florida leads the world in shark bite numbers, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s annual shark attack report. Last year, 16 unprovoked shark bite incidents were reported in Florida, or 44% of the U.S. total and 23% globally, but no deaths were reported.