Florida

Police: Boy, 12, Suffers ‘Significant' Injuries in North Florida Shark Attack

A 12-year-old Georgia boy is recovering from what police call "significant" injuries following a shark attack at Fernandina Beach in northeast Florida Sunday afternoon.

According to a report from First Coast News in Jacksonville, the boy was swimming in waist deep water around 12:30 p.m. when police say he felt something bite around his knee. The boy saw a shark and punched the animal as it bit him a second time.

The boy's father told police that he saw what appeared to be a 4-foot shark with a black tip on its dorsal fin thrashing nearby in the water.

The boy was treated at the scene for lacerations, and was taken to UF Health in Jacksonville for further treatment.

Fernandina Beach is located in Nassau County on Amelia Island, and is among Florida's northernmost cities. It is considered part of the greater Jacksonville area.

A recent federal study shows a record number of sharks swimming off the coast from Florida to North Carolina.

According to the study, researchers captured or tagged 2,835 sharks from Florida to North Carolina in April and May. That compares with 1,831 sharks tagged in the most recent survey in 2012.

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