After three shark attacks, water police are deployed to a beach in Florida

US News

From Steve Janoski

Police in the Florida Panhandle are on high alert after three shark attacks in a single day left a woman severely mutilated and two teenagers injured on the same stretch of coast.

Following the clashes, in which a 45-year-old woman suffered injuries so severe that doctors had to amputate part of her left arm, authorities temporarily closed the beaches and are now patrolling the waters.

They have now reopened – but police continue to warn swimmers to be vigilant.

“The Walton County Sheriff’s Office Beach Marine Unit continues to monitor the shoreline and beaches Saturday following Friday’s shark incidents in Walton County,” the department said in a Facebook post.

“This morning, officers spotted a 14-foot hammerhead shark from the boat east of South County Highway 395 in Santa Rosa Beach – which is NOT unusual,” the post continued. “We want to reiterate that sharks are always present in the Gulf. Swimmers and beachgoers should use caution when swimming and be aware of their surroundings at all times.”

Authorities have hung red and purple flags on the beach to warn swimmers – red indicates great danger and purple indicates dangerous marine life.

In another Facebook post, the sheriff’s office urged visitors to be aware of their surroundings and “remember, we are guests on the Gulf (of Mexico).”

The 45-year-old woman who suffered the most serious injuries was swimming with her husband at Watersound Beach in Walton County around 1:15 p.m. Friday when the shark struck, South Walton Fire District Chief Ryan Crawford told reporters.

The attack caused “significant trauma” to the victim’s body and part of her left arm was later amputated, the police chief said, according to ABC News.

She was flown by helicopter to HCA Fort Walton-Destin Hospital in critical condition.

About an hour and a half later, a shark attacked two teenagers who were swimming with their friends in waist-deep water near Inlet Beach, about four miles away, officials said.

The girls – aged 15 and 17 – were both injured, with one girl suffering “serious injuries” to her thigh and hand, Crawford said.

Two doctors who were on holiday together happened to be in the water during the attacks – and possibly provided life-saving care to the injured girl.

According to News 5 WKRG, Ryan Forbess and Mohammad Ali were boogie boarding in the water with their children when they heard panic on the shore.

“We all ran out of the water,” Forbess said. “I grabbed my son, he grabbed his daughter, and as we approached the beach, I looked to my left and saw the murky red water that was the result of the shark attack.”

When the doctors reached the sand, they worked with other paramedics and trauma nurses who happened to be in the area to help the seriously injured girl.

“When I looked down at her and saw the severity of the injury, I realized that everyone with medical knowledge had to help,” Ali told the broadcaster.

They placed a tourniquet on her thigh and hand and applied pressure to the bleeding wounds.

Although Forbess and Ali said they did not know the other medical experts they were working with, the collaboration went smoothly.

“We might as well have worked with them for years,” Forbes said.

“It was incredible,” Forbes added. “It was just God’s will that everyone was there at the same time to help.”

The victim was flown by helicopter to Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola Hospital in critical condition.

Paramedics took her friend, who had only minor injuries to her foot, to the local hospital for treatment.

“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.”

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