Back-to-back shark bite incidents cause Florida county to close waters
The waters off Walton County, Florida, closed after back-to-back shark bite incidents Friday.
The waters off Walton County, Florida, closed after back-to-back shark bite incidents Friday.
Both incidents occurred in Walton County — which is in the Florida Panhandle — and not near a boat, but officials are unclear how far the attacks happened from land, said Mackenzie McClintock, a spokesperson for the South Walton Fire District.
The two incidents took place about 4 miles apart within about 90 minutes, South Walton Fire District Chief Ryan Crawford said. There were three victims in total.
It’s “extremely unusual” for two bite incidents to occur in one afternoon, Crawford said during an evening news briefing.
A 45-year-old woman was injured in the first “reported shark incident.” It took place in the water around 1:20 p.m. in Watersound, in the area of Founders Way in Watersound Beach, Crawford and the Walton County Sheriff’s Office said.
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