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Intersection: Shark Talk With George Burgess

Bull sharks sometimes attack swimmers and surfers in Florida waters. Photo: Albert Kok, Walkers Cay, Bahamas
Bull sharks sometimes attack swimmers and surfers in Florida waters. Photo: Albert Kok, Walkers Cay, Bahamas

Over the last month, two people were bitten by sharks in the Jacksonville area and two people were bitten while swimming at Brevard County beaches. In the Panhandle a teenager fought off a shark by punching it on the nose- she ended up with more than 100 stitches.

Meanwhile, 15 shark bites put Volusia County at the top of the list for shark attacks in the US last year, although none of those were fatal.

George Burgess,  Director of the Florida Program for Shark Research at the University of Florida and Curator of the International Shark Attack File, explains why more people get bitten by sharks in Florida, and what decades of research has taught him about shark - human interaction.