07/14/2023 Chris Pospisil 21 yr New Smyrna Beach Volusia Florida

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Another Swimmer Attacked at Florida Beach Called the ‘Shark Bite Capital of the World’
'There's a lot of sharks here,' New Smyrna Beach resident Joni Corbett told a local TV station

21-year-old man is recovering after being bitten by a shark off Florida's Atlantic coast on Friday.

The man was surfing at New Smyrna Beach around 3:30pm when he felt a bite, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal. Volusia County Beach Safety Captain A.J. Miller told the outlet that the man suffered a foot injury classified as "non-life-threatening but serious."

"There's a lot of sharks here," New Smyrna Beach resident Joni Corbett told that station.

Corbett noted that "snapper season" started this weekend, and the presence of the big fish are likely the reason why the sharks are attracted to the area.

She also said that if the beachgoers followed the posted rules, "then they probably won't get bit, but surfers go way out there and things like that."


While this incident is only the second one this year, New Smyrna Beach is well-known for its shark population, and has a reputation as the "shark bite capital of the world."

Fox 35 reported that there were seven shark bites in 2022 and sixteen in 2021, and shared that the reason for the decrease might be related to last year's storms in the area redepositing sand and making it less likely that bait fish would swim close to shore.


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