Watch: Sharks Force Beach Closings

Check out the video at the bottom of this post.

St. Lucie County beachgoers found themselves out of luck Monday when sharks swimming a little too close to land for comfort forced lifeguards to close the waters to swimmers.

While the county reports that all beaches have opened for business as usual on Tuesday, officials are taking the opportunity to warn swimmers about the need to stick with beaches that have lifeguards present.

“This is just one reason you should swim at a life guarded beach,” the county tweeted along with a video of the sharks in shallow waters. Those sharks, thought to be reef sharks, came up close to shore and ended up promoting the one-day closing at Waveland and Pepper parks.

In announcing the re-opening Tuesday, the county again stressed the need to swim at lifeguarded beaches, a recommendation shark experts say helps keep the number of fatal shark attacks in the Sunshine State down despite its standing as the No. 1 location in the world for attacks.

See Also:

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“Shark attacks in general are really a nonentity when we think of causes of mortality involved with humans,” explained George Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the University of Florida campus. “It’s a lot more dangerous driving to the beach.”

While Florida logs an estimated 20 “bites” a year and about one fatality every decade, Burgess explained that many of those bites are akin to dog bites in their severity.

Overall shark attack fatalities are down worldwide. In Florida, Burgess credits proactive beach patrols that pull people out of the water when sharks are present, as was the case in St. Lucie County, and fast-working medical professionals for the reduction.

The proof, he said, is in the numbers.

In 2014, there were 72 reported shark attacks worldwide with 52 in the United States. Twenty-eight of those attacks were recorded in Florida. In the U.S., there were no reported fatalities. Of the other 20 attacks outside the United States, three deaths were reported.

So far this year, a number of bites have been logged in the Sunshine State. Earlier this month, a boy was airlifted following an encounter with a bull shark at Cocoa Beach. A 60-year-old man required medical attention after encountering a shark in 2 feet of water on the state’s west coast earlier in the year.

The bottom line, Burgess said, is that humans need to be mindful of whose world they’re entering when they venture into the ocean or Gulf.

“The sharks are swimming in and amongst us all the time,” he said. “They’re doing their thing.”

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