00:00Yeah, if you're feeling adventurous and you want to live on the wild side, then venture a trip to Florida on the list.
00:07Not only does it get the most tropical threats in the country, but it also has the most rip current rescues in the country, too.
00:14And if that's not enough, it's also the shark bite capital of the world.
00:19But why?
00:20AccuWeather's Leslie Hudson joins us with more.
00:23Leslie, that is quite an open.
00:25You've caught my attention.
00:26I know I'm spreading all kinds of sunshine today here in the Sunshine State.
00:33If I can't bring it through Mother Nature, I'm going to bring it through some of these stats.
00:37So you guys nailed it.
00:39Yeah, that's exactly what's going on here.
00:40So I'm in New Smyrna Beach.
00:41As you aptly said, this is the shark bite capital of the world.
00:45And it's really hard to fathom, you guys.
00:47I did a lot of research on this this week, that just 100 yards off the shore here, it is a superhighway for sharks.
00:54Thousands and thousands of sharks migrate from New York all the way down to the Florida Keys every year.
01:00And they are just a few hundred yards off the coast of where people swim.
01:04And that's why oftentimes we get these mistaken collisions.
01:08But the reason why this is the shark capital of the world here in New Smyrna Beach, let me show you some video that was shot from Dr.
01:15Steven Kujihara.
01:16He is a world-renowned shark expert.
01:19And he's got some video.
01:20All this video, by the way, was shot in southeast Florida.
01:23But what happens here in New Smyrna Beach is that we see a very large influx of those mistaken bites.
01:30So since about the 1800s, there's been about 1,000, just under 1,000 shark encounters, if you will, in the state of Florida.
01:39New Smyrna itself has had over 270 shark encounters.
01:43I try not to vilify the sharks in this stuff because this is their backyard and we are venturing into their backyard.
01:49And they're really just trying to get from one place to another and they're trying to feed and mistakenly mistake a foot or an ankle or sometimes something else as a fish.
01:59So it's really, you know, something that is a true case of mistaken identity.
02:04But you've got to remember, you're 30 times more likely to be struck by lightning than bitten by a shark, according to the Florida Wildlife Commission.
02:13And the other thing that's really interesting to note, you guys, is that these unprovoked shark attacks here in New Smyrna Beach account for about 30 percent of those global encounters.
02:23There's multiple reasons why this is.
02:25And we're going to hear from Dr. Stephen Kugiara exactly why New Smyrna has that moniker.
02:32Around New Smyrna, you've got this beautiful standing wave, basically this constant wave action, which attracts a lot of surfers to the area.
02:41So not only do you have all this productivity with the little fish there, which attracts the bigger sharks, but you have a bunch of people in the water all the time.
02:51All these surfers taking advantage of these conditions that are caused by this pier that's jutting out into the water there.
02:59And so as a result of all of these things together, you know, the jetty and the freshwater discharge and the little fish, which attracts the sharks and then the surfers there, of necessity, you're going to get a greater number of bites in that area just because there's so many people in the water at the same time and place that you have sharks in the water as well.
03:18And then another rare distinction, you guys, here in New Smyrna Beach that is not anywhere else, the Atlantic Ocean and the Halifax River actually intermingle here in New Smyrna Beach.
03:31So that's where there's a huge population of bait fish, and that is where you'll see the sharks feeding.
03:36The bull sharks, the larger species, can readily go from the Atlantic Ocean into the Halifax River and feed and head back out.
03:42And that is why there are so many mistaken encounters here along New Smyrna Beach.
03:46Reporting live in Volusia County, I'm Leslie Hudson, back to you.
