Teenager attacked by shark during lifeguard training in Florida – cases continue to rise

A shark has attacked a teenager during his lifeguard training in Florida, the latest incident in a frightening increase in the brutality of these apex predators in America and around the world.

Dempsey Manhart, 14, was bitten on the calf Monday morning during a training camp in Ponce Inlet, a city on the northeast coast of the Sunshine State.

The teenager was practicing diving into the water when he landed on the shark, which then sank its teeth into his leg. Manhart was taken to the hospital, where doctors closed the wound with 17 stitches.

“I jumped at it and hit the shark,” Manhart told Fox35. “I hit it with my hands and then I got up and it turned around and was kind of under my legs. And I think it then bit me when it was wrapped around my feet.”

“When it came under my feet, it was like I hit it and then it swam away,” he added.

Manhart said the incident would not stop him from training to become a lifeguard and he would return to the water once his wound healed.

This horrific ordeal came just two days after two separate biting incidents in nearby New Smyrna Beach.

Click here to resize this module

A 26-year-old man was bitten on the foot while floating on an inflatable boat on Friday and a 21-year-old man was bitten on Thursday while playing soccer in shallow water.

Scientists had previously announced that there would be a “worrying” increase in the number of fatal shark attacks worldwide in 2023.

Researchers at the University of Florida found that the number of deaths from marine predators has doubled: ten deaths were reported, five more than the previous year.

The data showed that the United States had the most unprovoked attacks: 36, or 52 percent of the global total, but only two were fatal.

The team found that great white sharks, tiger sharks and bull sharks were responsible for the majority of deaths in 2023.

They added that the increase in deaths is due to more people being at sea each year and more reporting of bites and deaths.

According to a report by the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File (ISAF), about 16 people were bitten by sharks in Florida and two were killed in California and Hawaii.

In addition, there was one confirmed death each in the Bahamas, Egypt, Mexico and New Caledonia, as well as additional attacks in Brazil, the Bahamas and South Africa, in addition to five others.

“This is within the normal range of bites, although the number of deaths this year is somewhat concerning,” said Gavin Naylor, director of the shark research program at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Although the three shark species – great white shark, tiger shark and bull shark – are considered dangerous marine predators, researchers say their bites are fatal because of their size.

If a shark mistakenly identifies a human as its prey, it will usually swim away after a single bite. However, because sharks are larger than other sharks, a single bite can be fatal.

Although the death toll increased in 2023, marine biologists said the increase in shark attacks was more likely due to population density and that the likelihood of a shark attack increases when more people go into the water.

So far in 2024, according to an online shark attack tracker, there have been 34 shark attacks – including nine provoked and one fatal attack – that have been publicly reported and confirmed.