As the shark season in the United States draws near, marine specialists have shared crucial advice for individuals who may have an unfortunate encounter with a great white shark in the ocean.
Earlier this month, the largest recorded great white shark resurfaced in a popular tourist area along the Florida and Georgia coastline. Additionally, a nine-year-old girl had a close call with a shark while snorkeling in Florida.
The incident occurred on June 11 when Leah Lendel was snorkeling with her family off the coast of Boca Grande, Florida.
“I was just snorkelling, and then I went up to breathe,” she recounted to the press. “Then something hard bit me and tried to tug me away. I looked at my hand, and it was covered in blood. I started screaming for my mom.”
Fortunately, she was able to reach the hospital in time for doctors to save her hand, and she is expected to fully recover.
However, Leah’s encounter with an eight-foot-long predator was not the only incident this month. On June 17, another attack occurred on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, resulting in a non-life-threatening leg injury.
Regarding the ‘biggest great white shark’ on record, it is named Contender and holds the title for the largest known male great white in North America.
This 14-foot, 1,653-pound shark has recently been sighted near North Carolina and was once just 45 miles away from Jacksonville, Florida.
Dr. Harley Newton, chief scientist and veterinarian for OCEARCH, has offered critical advice to swimmers, suggesting the avoidance of jewelry or shiny objects in the ocean.
Staying close to the shore and avoiding swimming alone are also advised.
“The ocean is a wild place,” Newton mentioned.
“If you see schools of fish, particularly if they’re jumping out of the water, that might be something that you want to move away from because that’s going to be very attractive for sharks, and it might help you avoid an accident or an incident.”
Newton also advised against turning your back on a shark if you encounter one while swimming; instead, maintain eye contact and slowly back away.
Similar guidance was shared with UNILAD by Ocean Ramsey, a shark conservationist from Hawaii.
Ocean Ramsey pointed out that in “sensationalized, demonizing, fictitious movies” about sharks, victims often do what they shouldn’t—splash, swim away quickly, and scream.
She advises making yourself appear larger, similar to how you would with a territorial dog—face the shark, appear bigger, and retreat slowly.
“Try and minimize noise and splashing. If you are approached, look at them, face them, slowly back away,” Ocean advised.
She also elaborated on redirection techniques, suggesting the use of an inanimate object like dive fins, a GoPro on a pole, a large camera, or even a surfboard if the shark persists in its approach.
“If it’s really going at you, which is so rare, and then you know, as it turns you’d slowly start to move back and exit, minimizing the splashing of the noise, definitely not panicking… if at all possible,” she explained.