Teenager attacked by shark during lifeguard training in Florida as cases continue to rise

A shark has attacked a teen while he was lifeguard training successful Florida - marking nan latest incident amid a gruesome emergence of savagery by nan apex predators in America and astir nan world. 

Dempsey Manhart, 14, was bitten successful nan calf during a training campy successful Ponce Inlet, a municipality connected nan north-eastern seashore of nan Sunshine State connected Monday morning.  

The teen was practicing h2o entries erstwhile he landed connected apical of nan shark, which responded by plunging its teeth into his leg. Manhart was rushed to nan infirmary wherever medics utilized 17 stitches to seal nan wound. 

'I dove onto it, and I deed nan shark,' Manhart told Fox35. 'I deed it pinch my hands, and past I stood up, and it spun astir and was for illustration underneath my legs. And I deliberation it spot maine past erstwhile it was wrapped astir my feet.' 

'When it came nether my feet, I was for illustration hitting it, and past it swam away,' he added. 

Manhart said nan incident would not deter him from his lifeguard training, and he would beryllium backmost successful nan h2o arsenic soon arsenic his coiled heals. 

The terrifying ordeal came conscionable 2 days aft 2 abstracted wound incidents successful adjacent New Smyrna Beach. 

A 26-year-old man was bitten connected nan ft while floating successful an innertube Friday, and a 21-year-old man was bitten Thursday while playing shot successful shallow water. 

It comes arsenic scientists person revealed location was an 'unnerving' emergence successful fatal shark attacks successful 2023 worldwide.

Researchers astatine nan University of Florida recovered deaths owed to nan water predators doubled, pinch 10 reported fatalities - up 5 from nan erstwhile year.

Data showed nan US had nan astir unprovoked attacks pinch 36 that accounted for 52 percent of nan worldwide total, but only 2 were fatal.

The squad wished that awesome whites, tiger and bullsharks were down nan mostly of fatalities in 2023. 

They added that nan accrued deaths are owed to much group being successful nan water each twelvemonth and a stronger accent placed connected reporting bites and fatalities.

Approximately 16 group endured shark bites successful Florida and 2 were killed in California and Hawaii, according to a report by nan University of Florida's International Shark Attack File (ISAF)

There was besides 1 confirmed decease each successful nan Bahamas, Egypt, Mexico, and New Caledonia, and further attacks successful Brazil, nan Bahamas and South Africa, successful summation to 5 others.

'This is wrong nan scope of nan normal number of bites, though nan fatalities are a spot unnerving this year,' said Gavin Naylor, head of nan Florida Museum of Natural History's shark investigation program.

While nan 3 sharks - awesome whites, tigers and bulls - are cognize arsenic viscous predators of nan sea, nan researchers said that their size is why their bites are deadly.

Typically, erstwhile a shark misidentifies a quality arsenic its prey, it will aquatics distant aft a azygous bite, but because they are larger than different sharks, a azygous wound tin beryllium fatal.

Although nan number of fatalities did summation successful 2023, marine biologists said nan emergence successful shark attacks is much apt owed to organization density, and arsenic much group participate nan water, nan likelihood of personification being attacked by a shark increases.

So acold successful 2024, location person been 34 shark attacks - including 9 provoked and 1 fatal onslaught - which person been publically reported and verified, according to an online shark onslaught tracker.