A SURFER has become the third shark attack victim at a popular Florida beach following an incident on Sunday.
The unnamed 28-year-old was bitten at roughly 11:43 am while surfing at New Smyrna Beach.
Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue Capt. Alex Miller said the man suffered minor injuries as he was treated at the scene.
The man had been surfing near a jetty when he fell off his board and was bitten on his left foot, he said.
He added the man was later taken to hospital by a pal, describing his injuries as non-life-threatening.
It follows two similar attacks on the same stretch of coastline in March as two men in their early twenties, a fisherman and a surfer, suffered bites to their legs and feet respectively.
Neither of their injuries were deemed life threatening.
However, less than a week ago a teenage girl suffered devastating wounds from a shark attack on Florida's Keaton Beach.
Addison Bethea, 17, was hunting for scallops off the northwestern coast of Florida when an unidentified nine-foot-long shark latched onto her leg on Thursday.
Her firefighter brother helped to fend off the predator and provide medical assistance to the severely maimed victim as she was airlifted to hospital some 70 miles away.
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This week she revealed the extent of her gruesome injuries as doctors confirmed she had lost part of her leg.
Bethea is said to face additional procedures on the mauled limb as she recovers in hospital, CBS News reported.
The severity of the attack prompted parks and recreation officials to issue a high alert to swimmers due to an increase in shark sightings reported earlier than usual this summer.
Several factors, including warming ocean temperatures, are contributing to an increase in shark activity in cities along the Atlantic Ocean coastline and West Coast.
A resurgence of the bunker fish population is also luring them to area waters.
On Wednesday, Atlantic White Shark Conservancy scientist Megan Winton issued a great white shark alert after experts warned of a mass migration of the predators.
Winton warned that Cape Cod's warm waters in July attract great white sharks to the coast.
Sightings of the predators peak from August through October, the scientist explains, as per The Associated Press.
"Just know that large sharks are here," Winton said. "They’re a constant presence from June to the fall."
State marine biologist Greg Skomal, who has been studying great whites for decades, said sharks usually concentrate on the Atlantic Ocean-facing side of Cape Cod.
Sharks are drawn to this area to feast on the thriving seal population, Skomal said.
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He warns anyone visiting the coast to be very careful when swimming off beaches where the shoreline quickly drops off into deeper waters.
“Sharks will come close to the shore when they have water depth,” Skomal added.
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