Two shark bites were reported April 10 near Melbourne Beach, Florida.
The first incident involved Heather Orr of Palm Beach who was bitten on her left hand while swimming offshore near Ocean Avenue. The 21-year-old was with her boyfriend when she dunked under a wave and felt the shark bite the palm of her left hand around 4 p.m. She was treated at the Holmes Regional Medical center in Melbourne and should recover in a few weeks.
A few hours later a more serious event occurred when a young girl was bitten on her calf by what appears to have been a shark.
The 10-year-old girl was swimming near the 9000 block of A1A in Melbourne Beach when she was bitten on leg. The bite left a 6-inch (15cm) laceration.
Brevard County Florida Fire Rescue received the call around 4:45 p.m. and began treating the girl on scene. She was then airlifted to the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando.
Another shark bite occurred near Ocean Avenue February 11 when a 22-year-old man was bitten while swimming. The unidentified man was treated on scene before being taken to the Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne.
The east coast of Florida has already seen several minor shark attack bites this year. Last week, two relatively small bites were reported.
16-year-old Kody Stephens was bitten on the foot on April 3 and on April 4, Melanie Lawson was bitten on the thigh but the shark bite just grazed the 51-year-old’s skin.
A large number of sharks migrate along the coast of Florida each year; however, the number of sharks present in the water far outweighs the number of bites.
There have been a total of 22 shark attack bites in 2017, one of which was fatal; 8 were reported in the US, all of which occurred in Florida (another 2 unconfirmed). Six were reported in Australia, none of which were fatal.
All locations have been marked on the 2017 shark attack bites tracking map.
