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Time of India
20-07-2025
- Time of India
Shark bites surfer at Florida's Volusia County beach: Why is it called the ‘shark bite capital of the world'?
A surf instructor was bitten on the foot by a shark at New Smyrna Beach, Florida, marking the fourth shark encounter in Volusia County this year. The incident occurred around noon, resulting in a 'nasty' but non-life-threatening injury. New Smyrna Beach is known as the 'Shark Bite Capital of the World' due to its high number of unprovoked shark attacks. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Emergency vehicles rushed to the scene Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Why Volusia County is a hotspot for Shark bites A surfer suffered a 'nasty' injury after a shark bit him on the foot in Florida's New Smyrna Beach on Friday, July 18, 2025. The bite marked the fourth shark encounter in Volusia County. The injury, however, was not a life-threatening one. An 18-year-old was surfing on the beach, also known as the 'Shark Bite Capital of the World.' It's in a Florida city notorious for shark encounters, where the incident took unidentified teen, a surf instructor, according to local NBC affiliate WESH, was at New Smyrna Beach around 12 PM (local time) on July 18, 2025, when the encounter took place, Tamra Malphurs, director of the Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue, told local outlet FOX the shark bite incident, the surf instructor was rushed to a local hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, Malphurs told FOX 35. The surfer's boss described the injury as 'nasty,' according to WESH. An anonymous eyewitness suggested that several first responders arrived on the scene of the attack, according to PEOPLE. This marks the fourth shark encounter in Florida's Volusia County so far this year, according to the county emergency vehicles and a police car arrived 'pretty quickly' after the surfer was bitten, the bystander told WESH. 'And some of the instructors came and got the lifeguard on the stand here and down.'New Smyrna Beach, a surfing hub south of Daytona Beach, is widely known as the 'Shark Bite Capital of the World,' according to WESH and The Daytona Beach than two weeks before the July 18 attack, a man identified as Matthew Bender was bitten by a shark while surfing in the Florida city, per FOX 35."I felt it clamp down like a bear trap out of nowhere," Bender told the outlet of the attack, which took place on July 6. 'By the time I looked down, it was already gone. I never saw the shark, but it bit really forcefully. It felt like electricity and like extreme pressure.'"And then I think it shook its head. I definitely felt that as it was letting go,' added Bender. 'It was also fast.'There have been 359 'unprovoked' shark attacks recorded in Volusia County since 1882, the most of any Florida county, according to the International Shark Attack File, the Florida Museum of Natural History's database. The next highest is Brevard County, with County 'is conducive toward shark bites' due to a 'confluence of factors,' Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Museum of Natural History's Florida Program for Shark Research, previously told The Daytona Beach that there are also environmental factors like the nutrients in the region, Naylor told the newspaper in 2024, 'You need a bunch of sharks, and they need to be in the mood to bite things, and you need a bunch of people in the same area at the same time.'Sharks like blacktips and spinner sharks, which are also found in the area, 'are highly piscivorous,' the evolutionary biologist told The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Naylor further explained that their diet typically consists of fish, so when they bite a person, the reaction of the injured individual scares them away. 'If they were bull sharks or tiger sharks,' Naylor said, 'they might stick around a little bit more, and the injuries would be a lot worse.'


New York Post
08-07-2025
- New York Post
Florida surfer attacked in ‘Shark Bite Capital of the World'
A surfer was attacked by a shark on Sunday at a Florida beach aptly nicknamed the 'Shark Bite Capital of the World.' Matt Bender, a 40-year-old from Winter Park, was bitten on his right forearm while surfing on New Smyrna Beach around 3 p.m., Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue said. He was rushed to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and is on the mend, his friends said. Advertisement 3 Matt Bender, 40, was bitten on the forearm by a shark at New Smyrna Beach — which was named the 'Shark Bite Capital of the World' last year. WFTV9 'His hand was NOT bitten off — he's doing good considering, but he was injured and needs our support and prayers right now,' the friends wrote on Facebook. It's unclear what kind of shark attacked Bender, but spinner sharks, black tip sharks and deadly bull sharks have been spotted frequenting the popular coastal hotspot. Advertisement 3 New Smyrna Beach is known as the 'Shark Bite Capital of the World.' NSBInlet/Instagram The beach, an inlet northeast of Orlando, is often crawling with sharks, but surfers are usually unperturbed and seek out the spot for its consistent waves. In 2024, New Smyrna Beach was named the shark attack capital of the world by the International Shark Attack File, which logged a staggering 361 unprovoked assaults since 1837. Between 2010 and 2024, the beach also reported 12 surf fatalities. Advertisement In June, researchers at Tideschart also concluded that the Florida beach is the most dangerous in the country, not just because of the sharp-toothed predators, but because it sits in the center of a hurricane alley. 3 There have been 12 surf fatalities at New Smyrna Beach since 2010. NSBInlet/Instagram Bender's gnarly attack marks the second shark-related encounter at New Smyrna Beach in the past month as summer kicks into full gear. Darren Kaye, a surfer who frequents the beach, knew he had to be attentive and check the waters while he was out catching waves. He never anticipated he'd have to check the sky above him until a spinner shark headbutted him. Advertisement 'I was just really happy its mouth wasn't open,' he said, noting that he wasn't going to let the incident deter him from the sea. In late June, a newlywed couple at the beach had their honeymoon cut short after the man was killed after being struck by a bolt of lightning in broad daylight. The same strike also indirectly hit two bystanders who were treated at the scene.