A man was hospitalized after he was bitten by a shark at Hollywood beach Tuesday afternoon, Hollywood Fire Rescue said.
Hollywood Fire Rescue and Hallandale Beach Ocean Rescue crews were called to the 4100 block of Ocean Drive shortly before 3 p.m. “following reports of an individual suffering a serious injury,” Hollywood Fire Rescue spokesperson Chai Kauffman said.
A man in his 40s was found with an injury to his torso area. The man received medical treatment at the scene and was taken to the hospital, Kauffman said.
Last week, a shark bit an 18-year-old surf instructor on his foot while he was surfing off New Smyrna Beach, according to a report from FOX 35 Orlando. The shark dragged the instructor by the foot for 10 to 15 feet before he was able to break free. He is expected to recover.
In June, a man was attacked by a shark in the Amelia River near Fernandina Beach, north of Jacksonville, the Associated Press reported.
It was third shark attack in Florida in June. The other two attacks in the Florida Panhandle in early June left three people injured and led to the temporary closure of beaches in Walton County.
Shark bites are generally rare worldwide. According to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File, which maintains a database of shark attacks, there are between 70 and 100 shark attacks worldwide annually, causing five deaths.
Volusia County, particularly in New Smyrna Beach, is where the most shark attacks occur annually worldwide. The bites in that part of Florida are largely from minor and juvenile coastal sharks, where they hunt in the murky waters by identifying movement, the museum says.
In 2024, Florida documented the highest number of unprovoked bites in the U.S. with 14, the annual report shows. Eight of them were in Volusia County.
The most common unprovoked attacks are “hit and run,” where a shark doesn’t return after biting or slashing someone once, according to the museum, and swimmers and surfers rarely see the animal. These are often “cases of mistaken identity.” Less common, the attacks that typically cause greater injuries and most deaths are referred to as “sneak” attacks, which happen without warning, and “bump and bite” attacks, where a shark circles someone and often bumps them before biting.
In the attacks where greater injuries and deaths occur, sharks often repeatedly attack and bite multiples times, according to the museum, and are not cases of mistaken identity but rather “the result of feeding or antagonistic behaviors.”
Information from the Orlando Sentinel and The Associated Press was used in this report.
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