NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — A new shark alert system is working its way through the U.S. House of Representatives. The bipartisan bill known as “Lulu’s Law” is named after an Alabama teenager who was injured in a shark bite incident in the Florida Panhandle last year.
The warnings would go directly to your cell phone like an Amber Alert or severe weather alert.
In New Smyrna Beach, also nicknamed the “Shark Bite Capital of the World,” people fear a system like that could cause unnecessary panic.
Volusia County beaches are already staffed year-round with first responders and there are signs at almost every approach warning people of dangerous marine life.
Charley Hajek, also known as ‘Gnarly Charley,’ knows all about shark bites. Eyewitness News interviewed him last year just after he was bitten at the inlet in New Smyrna Beach which locals call “the shark park.”
He doesn’t believe alerting everyone on the beach is necessary.
“They should do that in South Africa or Australia where they have great whites and shark attacks. Not for a shark bite. We don’t have shark attacks here, we have shark bites,” said Hajek.
Chip Clark has been surfing in the area for nearly 60-years and said even when a bite happens in Volusia County, the beaches stay open and people rarely leave the water.
“Nine times out of 10, it’s stuff that doesn’t even require going to the hospital for. You come in and they look at it and say eh go back out,” said Clark.
Just because locals feel that way, doesn’t mean tourists would be on the same page and that is something ‘Gnarly Charley’ worries about. He runs surf camps and contests all over the East Coast,
“I think it could chase a lot of customers away. A lot of my clients wouldn’t be stoked to see that. I think a lot of the businesses, hotels and motels around here probably wouldn’t like that as well,” said Hajek.
It’s not clear if local governments will be forced to implement the alert system or if it will be a choice.
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