Keaton Beach shark attack: Girl loses her LEG after brutal attack by 9ft predator in Taylor County, Florida
A TEEN girl lost part of her leg after being brutally attacked by a nine-foot shark, police said.
The bloody encounter occurred Thursday in Keaton Beach in northwestern .
Deputies with the Taylor County Sheriff's Office said a teen girl was scalloping in water about five feet deep near Grassy Island, just of Keaton Beach, when a shark bit her.
One of the girl's family members jumped in the water and beat the shark off the teen until she was free, police said.
The juvenile was airlifted to a Tallahassee hospital with serious injuries.
Taylor County Sheriff Wayne Padgett told that the girl had surgery and lost part of her leg but is expected to survive.
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Officials said the was described as approximately nine feet long.
"Swimmers and scallopers are cautioned to be alert, vigilant, and practice shark safety," the Taylor County Sheriff's Office warned.
"Some rules to follow are: never swim alone, do not enter the water near fishermen, avoid areas such as sandbars (where sharks like to congregate), do not swim near large schools of fish, and avoid erratic movements while in the water."
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The latest attack comes as Parks and Recreation officials put swimmers on high alert due to an increase in shark sightings reported earlier than usual this summer.
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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 ahead of the weekend 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 , 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.