Categories: Shark

Shark Bites Woman Twice Near Melbourne Beach

MELBOURNE BEACH, Florida – A shark sunk its jaws into a woman not once, but twice, in the Atlantic Ocean near Melbourne Beach, Florida around 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 6, 2016.

Brevard County Fire Rescue crews responded to the woman’s aid at 2999 South Highway A1A in unincorporated Brevard County. According to BCFR, the injuries are consistent with a small shark or “other toothy sea creature.”

2015 broke the all-time record for the most number of shark attacks in a year, and 2016 could surpass 2015, according to shark expert George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida.

Florida has the most (51%) of the unprovoked attacks in the United States and 30.6% of the world’s total. Brevard County, which includes Melbourne Beach, had the most amount of shark attacks of any county in the Sunshine State with eight in 2015, followed closely by neighboring Volusia County (Daytona Beach area) with seven.

The number of shark attacks in Florida typically increase from May through August as more people head to the beach during the summer travel season.