Latest news with #WFTV9
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.
News.com.au
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
‘Hit by a car': Flying shark headbutts surfer off his board
A surfer said it felt like getting 'hit by a car' after he was knocked off his board by a shark leaping out of the water. Darren Kaye was minding his own business while surfing at New Smyrna Beach in Orlando, Florida on a Friday evening when he was headbutted by a spinner shark in a bizarre scene which has since gone viral. Sharing the video on his own Instagram recently, Mr Kaye wrote that the shark 'came out of nowhere and hit me like a truck. 'His nose slammed me right in the face, his pectoral fin bruised my left bicep and got slammed right off my lost '96 RNF redux. Just another day at the inlet!' he wrote. While it wasn't surprising that Mr Kaye met a shark, with Florida beaches notorious for shark interactions, particularly New Smyrna Beach, which is known as the 'shark bite capital of the world', it was the way that they met that raised eyebrows. The area is known for to have blacktip, spinner and bull sharks. While bull sharks are the most dangerous, blacktip and spinners are usually more common in terms of sightings because of their tendency to jump out of the water. Spinner sharks are not usually known as dangerous to humans with no recorded fatalities from an unprovoked attack. In November 2024, How Stuff Works reported that there had only been 16 known attacks. Kaye, who spoke to local TV station WFTV 9, said he had seen sharks around the area and was keeping an eye out when he was hit by the leaping shark. 'I was just really happy its mouth wasn't open cause that's how they fish,' Mr Kaye said. Spinner sharks get their name from the way they move in the air when feeding and the Florida Museum of Natural History claims they can reach 20 feet (6m) above the water's surface. But Mr Kaye admitted he wasn't too sure what had hit him and got out of the water as quickly as he could. 'I got right back on that board and my pulse went to like 195 beats per minute in a second and I paddled as fast as I could like out of the way,' he said. 'I have a scar (from getting hit by a car) and that's like what it felt like. It felt like getting hit by a car. It was really strong and powerful. They're all muscle, you know.' Despite the incident, Mr Kaye wasn't put off, saying he returned to surf later that weekend. Mr Kaye was lucky, but it's not always the case. Australian surfers were praised last week after coming to the rescue of a 16-year-old who was attacked by a 2m shark in the water off Norris Headland at Cabarita Beach on the NSW North Coast last week. The shark mauled the right side of the teen's body, injuring his leg, hand and arm. Bystanders rushed to the boy's aid as he cried for help, pulling him from the water. One heroic person even reportedly punched the shark to keep it away as the bystanders helped the teenager from the water. The teen is still reportedly in a serious condition.
The Sun
01-07-2025
- The Sun
Shocking moment surfer is HEADBUTTED by airborne shark – before saying ‘I'm happy its mouth wasn't open'
THIS is the moment a surfer is headbutted by a flying shark in a jaw-dropping encounter in Florida. Wild footage shows Darren Kaye calmly sitting on his board when a spinner shark explodes from the water in a twisting leap. 5 5 The animal smashed straight into his head, knocking him clean off his board at New Smyrna Beach. The clip captured the fast-moving predator launching into the air like a missile - a signature move for spinner sharks during feeding frenzies. After the terrifying hit, Kaye told local outlet WFTV 9: "I was just really happy its mouth wasn't open." New Smyrna Beach, northeast of Orlando, is infamous for shark sightings - and Kaye said he had seen plenty of fins slicing through the surf before. What he didn't expect was an aerial ambush. "I got right back on that board and my pulse went to like 195 beats a minute in a second and I paddled as fast as I could out of the way," he said. The impact, he added, was no joke: "I have a scar on the side of my elbow from [being hit by a car] and that's like what it felt like. It felt like getting hit by a car. "It was really strong and powerful. They're all muscle, you know." While spinner sharks aren't typically aggressive, the beach is also home to black tip sharks - and the notorious bull shark, one of the most dangerous to humans. Still, the brush with Jaws didn't scare Kaye off the waves. Shark attack reported at popular US beach as victim rushed to hospital just weeks after 1,600lb beast spotted in state "We surfed there the rest of the weekend, we surfed there this morning, we surfed there yesterday afternoon," the surfer said. "We always have waves. We are lucky." The video, which was also posted on Instagram, quickly lit up the comments. One user wrote: "That's wild!" Another chimed in: "I got hit by one at inlet while up riding a wave. Thought it broke my arm when I put it up to block the impact." A third added: "Had this happen to me at Navarre Pier. "It hit my foot hard on its way out of the water and still landed next to my board. Fun moment, kept surfing." And another person commented: "Some of them get pretty big. Saw a 4-5 footer hop out today." With summer heating up, so is shark season on the East Coast. Earlier this month, a 9-year-old girl nearly lost her hand in a more typical shark attack in Florida, and days later, a beachgoer in South Carolina was airlifted to the hospital after being mauled near Hilton Head Island. But Kaye's mid-air run-in proves you don't even need to be in the water to have a close encounter with one of the ocean's most fearsome predators. 5 5
The Independent
20-05-2025
- Climate
- The Independent
Tropical wave detected in Atlantic — weeks before hurricane season really begins
The first tropical wave of the season was just identified in the Atlantic Ocean — weeks before the start of this year's hurricane season. Currently moving just west of Africa, large-scale low-pressure systems similar to this may lead to the formation of a tropical cyclone. 'The axis of a tropical wave is near 26W, to the south of 15N, moving west at around 11 mph. Nearby convection is noted in the monsoon trough and Intertropical Convergence Zone section,' forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said in their Tuesday update. Convection is a critical part of storm formation that sends warm air and moisture into the atmosphere. This one, however, is not expected to threaten the U.S. or develop any further. That's due to a dry and dusty air mass in its path, WFTV 9 said. Other areas of the Atlantic closer to the U.S. are quiet just 11 days before the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season on June 1. In fact, it may even be eerily quiet, according to Philip Klotzbach, a Colorado State University meteorologist specializing in Atlantic basin seasonal hurricane forecasts. "Five other years since 1950 have had zero Northern Hemisphere named storms through May 15: 1973, 1983, 1984, 1998, and 2024," he wrote in a post on the social media platform X. 'The latest first named storm in the Northern Hemisphere since 1950 was in 1973. Ava formed in the eastern North Pacific on June 2 that year,' he noted. Since 2003, there have been 15 tropical cyclones that have formed before June 1, according to the Pensacola News Journal. Of those, 11 formed in May. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from the beginning of June through November 30. This season may be less active than last year, which saw the destructive Hurricane Helene and Milton. June's Hurricane Beryl was the earliest Category 5 storm on record in the Atlantic. The first named storm of the 2025 season will be Andrea. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will release its forecast for the season on Thursday. Forecasters at AccuWeather say the first storm could happen before the official start of the season.
