STUART, Fla. — A child on vacation in South Florida is recovering after he was bitten by a shark on Wednesday.
The family of 11-year-old Cael Dewey of Iowa said they were at Stuart Beach around 2:15 p.m. when Cael was bit on the foot by what could be a spinner shark.
He was not seriously hurt.
Scientists said this is the time of year when thousands of sharks are migrating off Florida's Atlantic coast. Experts said southeast Florida can expect large shark populations for the next month or so, due to colder water in the north.
According to the University of Florida's International Shark Attack File, there were fewer shark bites reported worldwide last year.
Sixty-six bites were documented in 2018, compared with 88 in 2017. Thirty-two of those bites happened in U.S. waters.
