Safety & surfer guide
Not fear. Just conditions.
You cannot remove sharks from New Smyrna Beach, and you would not want to — they are part of what makes this coast work. What you can do is stop putting yourself in the three or four situations where a blacktip makes a bad decision.
Highest-risk conditions
The pattern behind almost every local bite
Murky water. Bait fish. Low light. Add a person moving fast at the surface and the odds of a mistaken strike go up sharply. Nearly every documented NSB incident lines up with some combination of these.
Poor visibility
Stained, sandy or post-storm water. The shark hunts by movement and flash because it cannot see clearly.
Bait in the lineup
Mullet schools, diving pelicans, jumping fish. Where bait goes, blacktips follow — often into knee-deep water.
Dawn, dusk and inlet edges
Low light and moving tidal water at the inlet stack the odds against a clean identification.
Do
- Check conditions before you paddle out — visibility, bait, bird activity.
- Swim and surf near other people and near a staffed lifeguard tower.
- Get out of the water if bait is flipping, birds are diving, or fish are jumping.
- Keep cuts and open wounds out of the water.
- Stay calm and move deliberately toward shore if a shark is present.
- Follow Volusia County Beach Safety flags and lifeguard direction, always.
Don't
- Don't swim at dawn, dusk or after dark.
- Don't wear shiny jewelry or high-contrast items in murky water.
- Don't surf alone in stained water after heavy rain or a storm.
- Don't swim near fishing piers, jetties or people casting bait.
- Don't splash, kick hard or sprint if a shark is nearby.
- Don't chase, corner or attempt to touch a shark for a photo.
If you are bitten
Get out of the water calmly and apply firm direct pressure to the wound with anything available. Signal a lifeguard immediately — Volusia County Beach Safety staff are trained for exactly this and are the fastest route to care. Call 911 for anything beyond a superficial laceration. Even minor puncture wounds should be evaluated: marine bacteria make infection the real risk in most local cases.
Report the incident. Accurate local reporting is how the community understands what is actually happening in the water, and nsbsharkbite.com maintains the most detailed record for New Smyrna Beach.
Understand the seasonal picture too — see migration & seasonality for when activity peaks here.