Florida Beach Closed To Swimmers After Two Shark Attacks In A Span Of Minutes

A Florida beach was closed this week after two shark attacks took place within minutes of each other, sending two swimmers to the hospital.

The attacks took place at Fernandina Beach on Friday, with Fox News reporting that police received a call about an attack on a surfer. But the time the local fire department arrived on the scene three minutes later, they were alerted that there had been another attack further down on the same beach.

“Both patients are reportedly stable, with non-life-threatening injuries. Neither patient could advise what type or size of marine life had caused their respective injuries,” the City of Fernandina Beach Government said in a statement on Facebook.

The report noted that a man who had been surfing was injured when a nurse shark bit him when he was coming back into short and attempted to kick the fish.

“I was in two feet of water, or less, lying on my stomach, watching him just playing in the surf and I felt something grab onto my foot and pull,” the surfer, 30-year-old Dusting Theobald, told WJTX in an interview from the hospital. “I reached down for my foot. I put my hand on his head — he was probably four to five feet (long) — and when I did that, he shook twice and when I did that he released and left.”

The second attack, on a 17-year-old swimmer, took place close to a mile from the first shark attack, WJTX reported. It was unclear what type of shark attacked the younger swimmer or the circumstances of the attack.

Both of those who suffered shark attacks were taken to local hospitals, with their injuries considered non-life-threatening. After the pair of shark attacks, authorities closed the beach to swimmers.

The attacks came just after another shark attack that gained international attention. Katarina Zarutskie, an Instagram model with a growing following, was at a photo shoot at a beach in the Bahamas when she was attacked by a shark. Like Theobald, she was attacked by a nurse shark, which is normally considered to be among the more docile types of shark.

The Instagram model suffered lacerations and was forced to fly to Florida for antibiotic treatments, though she was not expected to suffer any long-term damage.

Florida beaches closed after shark attacks leave 2 injured: report https://t.co/Qy5NtRU8zB

— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 14, 2018

The Florida beach that suffered two shark attacks in a span of minutes on Friday was expected to re-open to swimmers on Saturday.