Travel warning for popular beach resort after attacks on three people in one day

Florida authorities are warning people to be cautious on beaches along Florida’s Gulf Coast after two shark attacks injured three people on Friday.

The attacks occurred off beaches four miles apart in the Florida Panhandle. Authorities temporarily closed the beaches on Friday. They reopened on Saturday, with flags warning swimmers to be cautious.

“We encourage all of our beachgoers to be aware of the current situation in the water today, swim near a lifeguard, stay hydrated and look out for one another,” the South Walton Fire District said on its Facebook page on Sunday.

According to authorities, the first attack occurred shortly after 1:15 p.m. EDT on Friday, when a woman was attacked by a shark while swimming in the water near Watersound Way and Coopersmith Lane.

She suffered injuries to her abdomen and pelvis and had to have part of her arm amputated, CNN reported.

The second attack occurred around 2:55 p.m. EDT at Seacrest Beach, four miles from the first incident in which a shark injured two teenagers in waist-deep water.

One girl suffered injuries to her thigh and hand, while the other suffered minor injuries to her foot, CNN reported.

Authorities are unsure if it was the same shark that attacked these people or what species of shark carried out the attacks.

However, marine experts have said such attacks are “very rare.”

Demian Chapman, scientist and director of the Center for Shark Research at the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Sarasota, Florida, told the Associated Press that it is “even rarer to have two events involving three people in one day.”

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