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CNN Saturday Morning News

Florida Beach Again Shuts Down Due to School of Sharks

Aired August 25, 2001 - 09:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: On Florida's east coast, New Smyrna Beach is shut down for the second weekend in a row. A school of sharks has been spotted close to shore.

Jill Robers of CNN affiliate WFTV has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL ROBERS, WFTV REPORTER (voice-over): Standing on top of trucks, using an extra set of eyes, everybody wants to get a glimpse of the sharks in the water off New Smyrna Beach.

KEN ARIMENTLE: Since we parked the car, we looked out there and saw a couple of them. Looked like pretty shallow water.

ROBERS: This pictures from SkyWitness 9 show just how close the sharks are -- close enough to bite eight people in just the past week. A one-mile stretch of the beach has officially been shut down through the weekend.

ROB HORSTER, VOLUSIA BEACH PATROL: We had a -- one of our guys fly over with Air One this morning, and they spotted about 30 to 40 sharks around the inlet area. And they made that decision.

ROBERS: It's a decision a lot of surfers don't like.

DANIEL HILL: I just don't like the fact that they can tell you not to go in the water, but if you did go in the water and got bit, then you can't do nothing about it to them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You get bit, it's my fault for going out there, you know?

ROBERS: That's why they and other surfers decided to make a point, riding the waves just beyond the area that's closed. And it could get worse with the busy weekend approaching.

HORSTER: You can imagine the kind of problems you have. I hope everybody out there can understand the situation that we're in and kind of work with us on this. It's not a pleasant situation for us either.

ROBERS: Jill Robers, Channel Nine, Eyewitness News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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