Two kids are healing after shark bites in Florida, while in South Africa a surfer is recovering after being bitten by a great white.
An 11-year-old Georgia boy was bitten by a shark July 15 near the 440 block of South Atlantic off New Smyrna Beach, Florida.
Around 4:30 p.m., the unidentified youngster was boogieboarding about 30 yards from shore in about 2-3 feet of water when he was bitten on the right leg, according to Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue. Lifeguards treated him on the scene before he was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injures.
About 130 miles to the south in Martin County, another child had a shark encounter July 10 in waters off Bathtub Beach.
Amiya Lobb-Smith, 9, was with her mom and playing in cloudy ocean water with her friends around 4:30 p.m. when a shark grabbed her right foot. The Treasure Coast Elementary fourth grader reacted smartly by kicking the shark with her left foot instead of pulling her right foot from the shark’s mouth.
Once her foot was free, she immediately went to her mother, who alerted authorities.
Amiya was taken to the Cleveland Clinic in Martin North Hospital, but transferred to Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital in St. Lucie County to see a specialist. Doctors cleaned and closed several deep wounds with 25 to 30 stitches. She was released after a two-night hospital stay.
While the shark was not identified, her mother thinks it was a 4-foot spinner shark.
In South Africa, white shark bites surfer
A Cape Town surfer is healing from surgery after being bitten by a shark July 14 in an area known as The Point at Jeffreys Bay.
Jason Lammers, 38, was hitting the waves around 7:00 a.m. when he was bitten twice by a white shark.
“It appears that while surfing, fellow surfers saw the man appear to fall off his board. It was then discovered, according to eye-witness reports, that he may have been bumped off his board and bitten by a shark, and we believe he managed to get back onto his board and he was assisted out of the water by fellow surfers,” the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said in a statement.
“An NSRI Bakoven crewman, who happened to be there at the time, initiated medical treatment using an NSRI shark kit from the NSRI shark kit box that is stationed at The Point Beach,” the NSRI said.
Four different ambulances responded to the scene.
“Paramedics treated the man on the scene for puncture wounds to his right leg and his torso and he has been transported to hospital by Gardmed Ambulance in a stable condition.”
Based on photos of the wound and bite radius to the surfboard, an estimated 13-foot (4m) shark was responsible for the injury.
In July 2015, Jeffreys Bay was the location of a viral shark incident captured by a camera crew.
Surfer Mick Fanning was floating in the water July 2015 as he participated in the finals of the J-Bay Pro against Julian Wilson.
The pro surfer felt something get stuck in his leg rope and spotted the shark’s fin as he was dunked in the water by a large white shark.
Thinking quickly, the surfer punched the shark in its back, which startled it as the two floundered in the water. Fanning kicked frantically get away from the shark, and said he was just waiting to be bitten.
Response crews on boats and jet skis as well as Wilson, who was also on a surfboard, quickly came to Fanning’s aid and the two surfers were pulled from the water.
The whole event was captured during the televised event, and Fanning’s family was watching from the beach.
The approximate locations of the shark bites have been marked on the 2021 Shark Attack Map.
