Florida authorities warn of shark dangers on Gulf Coast beaches after 3 people are attacked

SEACREST, Fla. – Authorities are warning about the dangers of sharks this weekend along Florida’s Gulf Coast, where three people were injured in two separate shark attacks on Friday.

The attacks on beaches in the Florida Panhandle prompted authorities to temporarily close beaches to swimmers in Walton County on Friday. Authorities said they were evaluating conditions and safety measures to be taken during the rest of the weekend.

Small fish travel in schools close to shore this time of year, which may have contributed to the attacks, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

Some beaches on Saturday had red and purple flags to warn beachgoers.

“Purple flags indicate the presence of dangerous marine life and single red flags indicate high-risk conditions,” the Bay County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post Saturday.

Both of Friday’s attacks happened in Walton County, although other counties are also taking precautions.

The first attack happened Friday afternoon when a woman was bitten by a shark near WaterSound Beach, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office said. She had serious injuries to her hip and lower left arm and was taken to a trauma center, authorities said.

Less than two hours later, firefighters responded to another beach, about 4 miles east of the first attack, “following multiple reports of a teenager injured by a shark,” the sheriff’s office said.

Two teenage girls were standing in waist-deep water with a group of friends when they were attacked, the South Walton Fire District said.

“When lifeguards and police officers arrived on scene, they discovered that one of the women had significant injuries to her upper leg and one of her hands,” firefighters said in an update. She was taken to a trauma center. The other teen had what authorities described as minor injuries to one of her feet.

Also Friday, in Hawaii, a woman was seriously injured in an apparent shark attack in the waters off the island of Oahu, authorities said.

Shark attacks are rareaccording to experts.

There were 69 unprovoked bites last year worldwide, and 10 of them were fatal, according to the University of Florida International Shark Attack Archive. This was higher than the recent average of six deaths per year.