A surfer injured his face while swimming in Volusia, the ‘shark capital of the world’.

A 38-year-old man was surfing on the beach New Smyrna BeachA shark on Florida’s northeast coast required hospitalization after being bitten in the face, local media reported this Wednesday.

Mark SomersetThe South Carolina native had to be transported by ambulance to Halifax Health Trauma Hospital in Volusia County. He has already been discharged.

The shark bit the man On the right side of the cheek, between the ear and the eyeLast Tuesday, the 343th recorded since 1882, when he jumped from his board after riding a wave at this beach in Volusia County, considered the “shark bite capital of the world.” International Shark Attack File (ISAF, in English). Brewer County has the second highest number of shark attacks in Florida, with 156 reported incidents.

Aerial images of the area taken that day on New Smyrna Beach revealed There are many sharks near the ship of this beachAlso the TV channel reported that there are many surfers Wesh 2.

“This is the scariest thing in my life. I’ve been in serious car accidents. Nothing like this,” Somerset said in a statement. Wesh 2 After discharge.

Somerset told the station he didn’t see the shark that bit him when he fell off his surfboard, but felt the bite. “It was stressful, and I’ll tell you the stress, it was like a crisis,” he said. “I heard a noise. “I felt like a bear trap was crushing my face.”. The animal tore off part of the right side of his face and left marks on the lower left side. He needed about twenty stitches to close the wounds.

Since 2012, according to ISAF, Volusia County has recorded 94 shark attacks, but none fatal.

In 2022, Florida was the state with the most recorded non-human-caused shark attacks, the state with the most (16) in the United States.

The scientific organization based at the University of Florida (UF) warned, however, that the 57 unprovoked attacks by sharks on humans recorded in 2022 is the lowest number of this decade and may “reflect. “Documented Global Decline” in Shark Populations in the World.

The term “unprovoked attack” means that such attacks by sharks on people take place in the animals’ “natural habitat” and “without human provocation.”

(with information from EFE)