I couldn’t let the shark distract me. And in any case, you’re more likely to get struck by lightning than to be bitten by a shark, even here. I paddled harder to right myself, my board snapped forward, sliding down into the small curl, and I popped up to stand in a crouch, riding the wave as it rushed forward. Lifeguards in the Shark Attack Capital have to report every run-in, from the biggest chomp to the tiniest nibble. If I did, I’d end up eating it. Jameson holds virtual whiskey tasting class, PBA: SMB's Arwind Santos takes special pride in playing in hometown, PAGASA warns low-lying Bulacan towns of possible flooding as water level in Ipo Dam rises, 'Brings back Sunday vibes': Viewers welcome return of 'ASAP' to free TV, ‘Hindi porke mahirap’: DILG pinahuhuli ang mga namamalimos sa kalye, 'LGBTQ landmark': Tokyo opens Olympics Pride House, VP Robredo to offer some 400 'scholarships' to out-of-school youth, Local chefs eyed to cook for PBA players in Quest Hotel, Pirma Kapamilya gains support from Caloocan residents, Sharon Cuneta declares she's 'retiring soon', Regine joins husband Ogie in performing new worship song 'Beautiful', Book review: Cho Nam-joo’s 'Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982' is as popular as it is polarizing, Philippines's virus tally nears 340,000 with over 2,500 new cases, Pagbabahay-bahay para sa nat'l ID system aarangkada sa Lunes, Facebook disables 3 accounts posing as chief Cascolan's — PNP, Angkas riders push for operation of motorcycle taxis, 'Quarantine, online learning may epekto sa mental health ng mga bata', Early voting for US election amid COVID-19 pandemic, Duterte, PDP-Laban urge solons to uphold Speaker term-sharing deal. You'd think New Smyrna Beach, the shark attack capital of the world, would be jumping up and down to test these technologies out. The shark was an obstacle preventing me from taking on the break, and I was ready to let it: It’s easier to balk at the first sign of trouble than it is to accept the challenge of the waves. No big deal. He’s seen his share of sharks but never been bitten. On a surf outing a few years ago, as I paddled out to the sandbar, I felt something rough and solid brush against my leg. I couldn’t let that happen. Otherwise, the water was an empty pane of glass. People leave the pastel-colored shops of Flagler Avenue, the town’s coastal main street, and head to the beach. New Smyrna Beach in Florida is the shark attack capital of the world according to ISAF. Every time I went into the water, I was taking a risk. A statue of a surfboard stands on the sidewalk where the street meets the dunes. The wave surged beneath me, gathering strength, and I paddled as fast as I could until I was going the same speed. Boardwalk strollers whip out their binoculars for a view. “I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and I’ve treated an untold number of sharks bites,” Ethridge said. Florida's New Smyrna Beach, while beautiful, also has a scary reputation. Ethridge, a 25-year veteran of the beach patrol, has swum thousands of miles in the ocean in his lifetime. The wave would throw me down and scrape me along the sandbar, where I would really get to play with the sharks. © 2020 ABS-CBN Corporation. Despite the gruesome imagery cemented in the public imagination by “Jaws,” most shark encounters are mundane. The thrill of spotting a fin is often twinned with trepidation, however misplaced it may be. The lifeguard stood on his red stand, flicking his small flag to call bathers into shore.

According to National Geographic reporting on data from the International Shark Attack File (ISAF), “New Smyrna Beach in Florida is the shark attack capital of the world.” As the wave was rising to curl, I looked back again and saw a lemon shark close to the surface. As most bathers scrambled to shore, I rode the wave out into the slushy shallows. It was the same in the water as it was on land. Tourists and locals climb onto the hoods of cars parked along the white sand. When I could stand, I picked up my board and started walking along the tide line away from the jetty to find another spot and jump back in. The downtown section of the city is located on the west side of the Indian River and the Indian River Lagoon system. Last year, 64 shark attacks occurred worldwide, and only 5 resulted in fatalities, according to the International Shark Attack File. Even here, most days, humans and sharks coexist in the waves without incident. For more casual beachgoers, each sighting is treated as a momentous event. Visitors lounged on the white sand, so far away that they blurred in the summer heat like a mirage. “In my experience, we haven’t had somebody lose a limb, lose a finger, or, you know — there have been no amputations. I was surfing in the breaks off New Smyrna Beach, Fla., a city known to many as the Shark Attack Capital of the World and to me as home.

Located on Florida’s east coast, New Smyrna Beach has a population of slightly below 30,000, a number of art galleries and a reputation for shark attacks. September is the month with the most Shark attacks in Florida (93) 1920-2010. “There’s a shark!” I heard someone yell. That’s when I heard the whistle. As I watched the long body of the shark undulate slowly, flicking its tail fin to swim beneath my board, I thought to myself: This shark isn’t going to bite you. I knew what he was doing. (There have been 4 shark attacks in New Smyrna Beach this year, none of them fatal.). You’re out. The raised ripples of a set, a trio of perfectly formed waves that would break one after another, swelled on the misty horizon.

The waters off New Smyrna Beach in Volusia County are home to a swarm of sharks. 6. I waited as the set rolled closer, and when the first wave was just about on top of me, I turned toward shore. To locals, the title is a bit of a joke, intended more for tourists than as a broad safety warning. There’s been no graphic fight like people expect to see from a shark bite, or like they see in the movies.”, (As in the movies, though, most shark attacks are “provoked attacks” — encounters humans have initiated.). The nickname comes from the International Shark Attack … A wave rolled toward the shore. I already knew that. That number represents an infinitesimally small percentage of all the beachgoers who swim with sharks.

Most “shark attacks” are exploratory bites in which the shark grabs on and releases its human prey, leaving behind the recognizable half-moon of gashes from their teeth and little else. Shark sightings happen here just about every day, so being a resident usually involves unlearning one’s fear of attack. The shark circled back and brushed my foot. What are you really afraid of here?

He blew it again, pointed the flag at me, then thumbed it back toward the dunes like an umpire. New Smyrna Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States, located on the central east coast of the state, with the Atlantic Ocean to the east.Its population was estimated to be 27,843 in 2019 by the United States Census Bureau. If it bit me, I would always have that telltale semicircular bite. That moment’s distraction made the nose of my board dip too hard toward the water. A shadow larger than my shortboard passed in the turquoise water below. It has, in fact, been dubbed the “shark attack capital of the world.” In a 2019 article for The Washington Post, Richard Tribou provided more context for … At the sandbar, I bobbed in the water, still thinking about the sharks. Why Is New Smyrna The Shark Attack Capital Of The World? I would carry a story on my skin. There were sharks near me in the water, even if I couldn’t see them. Another surfer caught the wave farther down the break. When they come close, he keeps swimming. The nickname comes from the International Shark Attack File, a database of all global shark encounters; by its records, Florida far leads the United States in shark attacks, and Volusia County, where my seaside hometown sits, has accounted for more than one-third of its total since 1882. It is estimated that anyone who has swam there has been within 10ft of a shark.

Statistically speaking, sharks are much more maligned than they are dangerous. As I paddled out to the sandbar, I turned my head to look back for a fin. So far this year, nine people have been victims of shark attacks at New Smyrna Beach. “If you’re in the water, surfing or swimming in the ocean long enough, you’re going to see them or you’re going to interact with them,” said Andrew Ethridge, a captain for Volusia County Beach Safety, which oversees the shoreline south of Flagler Beach to the Canaveral National Seashore. I was surfing in the breaks off New Smyrna Beach, Florida, a city known to many as the Shark Attack Capital of the World and to me as home. Shark attacks in Florida are lower than its five-year average, but the Sunshine State still led the world in unprovoked attacks last year.

I was surfing in the breaks off New Smyrna Beach, Florida, a city known to many as the Shark Attack Capital of the World and to me as home. I dipped one hand beside my board, and, slowly, cautiously pushed a palmful of water, extending one arm back as I reached ahead with the other, propelling myself forward. AboutCareersPrivacyTermsContact UsAdvertise With Us, How to survive in the ‘Shark Attack Capital of the World’, The New York Times, NYT, ANC, Shark Attack Capital of the World, Volusia County Florida shark attacks, US shark attacks, New Smyrna Beach Florida shark attacks. New Smyrna Beach, Florida - Shark Attacks. Wake sprayed against the jetty rocks in the distance. So, back to my encounter.

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