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 Florida.

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.

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."

SWIMMERS BE VIGILANT

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.

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.