Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, shark attacks off the Florida coast last week left three women in the hospital. One of those women lost her left arm. Another suffered severe arm and leg wounds, while the third suffered a flesh wound to one of her feet.
If you're planning on going to the beach or scheduling a fishing trip in Louisiana waters, experts say you should keep your guard up no matter what.
"Sharks are in the water, and when you get people in close proximity to them, it can happen," Said WWL Outdoors host Don Dubuc.
Dubuc says shark attacks off the Louisiana coast and in Louisiana waterways occur rarely.
"The only fatal shark attack I found happened in the early 1900s right there in Lake Pontchartrain in front of hundreds of people who were watching a 19-year-old swimming expert put on a demonstration," Dubuc said. "They watched a bull shark bite him three times, and before they could get to him and put him in the boat, he lost so much blood that he actually died from the shark bite. That's the only documented fatality that I can find in any Louisiana waters."
According to Dubuc, a few species of shark are the typical culprits in shark encounters in Louisiana waters.
"The typical culprits in the Louisiana gulf area . . . are bull sharks. We do occasionally get pings from great whites, but that is very, very rare. The bull shark is big enough and mean enough to be a man eater. The thing about bull sharks is that they have a high tolerance for fresh and brackish water. So they can go up into the inner reaches where other sharks would not be comfortable in low salinity areas. The other one would be the hammerhead. They're big and dangerous enough to where they can do some damage, too."
Dubuc says if you do venture out into any waterways along the Gulf Coast, be on the lookout for sharks.
Despite the Florida shark attacks, going to the beach is still a generally safe activity. According to Audubon Aquarium of the Americas curator Kristine Grzenda, shark attacks like the ones in Florida happen because more humans are invading sharks' environment.
"Shark attacks happen when there are more of us in their space and not necessarily the other way around," Grzenda said.
Grzenda says summer is prime time for shark attacks because beaches become crowded. Still, Grzenda says statistics prove that shark attacks, which a frightening thought, happen infrequently.
"Worldwide, there are about 7,200 shark attacks every year," Grzenda said. "In the U. S. alone, there are about 4.5 million attacks by dogs."
According to Grzenda, sharks aren't seeking out humans as prey.
"They do mistake us for animals that are either their normal prey items or animals that are in distress, and the way we swim, there's a lot of splashing and movement that does a really great job of mimicking an animal in distress," Grzenda said.
While rare, Grzenda urges beachgoers and anyone who goes into the water to be on high alert for sharks.
"There are definitely times of day where you are more likely to encounter sharks, dawn and dusk definitely being those times," Grzenda said. "There is no way to eliminate that risk, much like there is no way to fully eliminate the risk every time you cross the street or drive a car. We just have to know that those possibilities are out there."
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