Shark attacks tourist in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, on July 4

A 21-year-old tourist playing soccer on a Florida beach was bitten by a shark, authorities said.

The beachgoer was visiting from Ohio when he was “bitten on his right foot while playing soccer in knee-deep water near Flagler Avenue in New Smyrna Beach,” Tamra Malphurs, interim director of Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue, told McClatchy News in an email.

The incident occurred around 4 p.m. on July 4. The man was taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

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New Smyrna Beach, about 15 miles south of Daytona Beach, is sometimes called the “shark bite capital of the world” because of incidents that have occurred off its coast, according to The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Last year, Florida had 16 unprovoked shark bites, the most of any state. Within the Sunshine State, “Volusia County had the most shark bites (8),” according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File.

Shark attacks

Shark attacks are “extremely rare,” according to John Carlson of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“You’re more likely to get into a car accident and get hurt on the way to the beach than you are on a swim,” he said in a video posted on NOAA’s website.

In 2023, the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File investigated 120 shark-human interactions around the world. Of those interactions, 69 were unprovoked shark bites and there were 14 “shark-related fatalities.”

However, if you see a shark in the water, don’t panic, Richard Peirce, former president of the Shark Trust and Shark Conservation Society, told CNN.

“Don’t start splashing around – you’re just going to excite, incite and encourage the shark’s interest,” he told the outlet.

Instead, maintain eye contact with the shark and read its body language. If the shark appears to be in “attack mode,” you should make yourself as big as possible, CNN reported. If it appears to be just swimming nearby, try to stay small.

If the shark attacks, experts told CNN you shouldn’t play dead.