Shark Attack In Florida Sends Teenager To Hospital In Neptune Beach With 8-Inch Bite

A teenager was taken to a hospital Sunday in Jacksonville, Florida, after a shark attack at a beach. The 13-year-old boy, whose name was not released, was bitten on the leg at Neptune Beach at about 3 p.m. EDT. He was in stable condition Sunday night, TV station WJXT reported.

Neptune Beach Mayor Harriet Pruette told the Florida Times-Union the boy was swimming in water about 3 feet deep when he was wounded. The shark was thought to be about 5 feet long.

"He was screaming 'it hurts, it hurts' and we could just see the trail of blood leading over here," beachgoer Heidin Perez told WJXT.

The boy's worst wound was about 8 inches long, according to CBS.

The West Coast also had a potential shark attack Sunday. One person was hospitalized in Newport Beach, California, with injuries that may have resulted from a shark encounter, the Orange County Register reported. Part of Corona del Mar State Beach was evacuated and shut down after the incident, which occurred just after 4 p.m. local time.

Lifeguard battalion chief Brent Jacobsen told TV station KTLA that rescuers responded Sunday to a woman who had "traumatic injuries" consistent with signs of a shark attack. But officials had not yet verified what happened.

The world saw 98 shark attacks in 2015, and that number could climb this year as the shark population grows and more people swim in the warming water, University of Florida shark expert George Burgess told Reuters recently. "We should have more bites this year than last," he said.

If you end up next to a shark in the ocean, CNN recommends you punch it on the nose or in the gills. Don't stay still — fight back however you can. Then get to shore and seek medical attention immediately.