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   A 10-year-old boy suffered minor injuries when he was bitten by a shark Wednesday in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida. He is the second 10-year-old to be attacked in Florida in a week and at least the fourth person to have been attacked in Volusia County this year, authorities said. 
   
   The boy, who wasn't identified, was bitten on the calf as he swam in chest-deep waters just after 1 p.m. ET, said Tamra Marris, a spokeswoman for Volusia County Beach Safety/Ocean Rescue. A lifeguard responded, and the boy was treated at the scene for lacerations on his leg without having to go to a hospital. 
   
   The beach safety agency told NBC station WESH of Orlando that beaches would remain open. 
   
   Related: North Carolina Shark Attack Victim Who Lost Arm 'Didn't See It Coming' 
   
   Another 10-year-old boy is recovering from what authorities called "significant injuries" after he was attacked last week off Cocoa Beach, about 60 miles south. 
   
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   Wednesday's attack was the fourth reported this year in Volusia County, which was labeled the shark bite capital of the world earlier this year by the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida. 
   
   But while the rate of shark attacks may appear to be on the rise, data suggest that perception reflects better reporting and an increase in the number of people involved in water activities, not an increase in aggressiveness by sharks. 
   
   There were 72 reported attacks on humans around the world in 2014, the shark attack center said — three fewer than in 2013. ||||| A 10-year-old boy was bitten by a shark in Daytona Beach Shores on Wednesday afternoon. 
   
   The boy, who is visiting from Georgia, was in chest-deep water when he was bitten on the calf and suffered minor lacerations. 
   
   "I heard him start yelling as we were walking back out and he said something bit him,” said the victim’s father, Kenneth Wood. 
   
   The boy was treated on scene and wasn’t taken to the hospital, according to Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue. 
   
   “I was scared there for a while. Now I know he’s all right," Wood said. 
   
   The beach remained open in spite of the incident. 
   
   Most watched: Boy bitten by shark talks with WESH 2 
   
   This is the fourth reported shark bite in Volusia County this year. Four bites have also been reported in Brevard County. 
   
   "We will be seeing more shark attacks in years ahead because there’s more of us. We're simply flooding sharks out of their own environment,” said Dr. George Burgess, the director of the Florida program for shark research. 
   
   In 2014 Florida led the nation with shark attacks with a total of 28, Burgess said. So 11 so far this year isn’t abnormal. 
   
   “We're all worried about them being man eaters. But when you think about it, the ratio each year, the number of humans that are killed by sharks versus the number of sharks killed by human beings is 10 million to 1,” Burgess said. 
   
   He also said the best way to avoid being a victim of shark attacks is to stay in groups while in the water and not to swim near the inlet where many other are putting out bait while fishing. 
   
   Related: Where in US do most shark bites happen? ||||| OAK ISLAND, N.C. (AP) — The shark attack on a girl about 100 yards from a pier has prompted this town to consider at least a temporary ban on shark fishing, a move already undertaken by several cities along the East Coast. 
   
   In this image taken from video provided by New Hanover Regional Medical Center, 16-year-old Hunter Treschl, of Colorado Springs, Colo., speaks during an interview at New Hanover Regional Medical Center... (Associated Press) 
   
   Vacationers walk in the surf in Oak Island, N.C., Monday, June 15, 2015, the day after a 12-year-old girl from Asheboro lost part of her arm and suffered a leg injury, and a 16-year-old boy from Colorado... (Associated Press) 
   
   Doug Baucom, right, of Wadesboro, talks with his daughter Katie Reynolds, left, of Boone, N.C., as they stand in the surf by the Ocean Crest Pier in Oak Island, N.C., Monday, June 15, 2015. Beachgoers... (Associated Press) 
   
   A woman stands in the surf on the beach in Oak Island, N.C., Monday, June 15, 2015. A 12-year-old girl from Asheboro lost part of her arm and suffered a leg injury, and a 16-year-old boy from Colorado... (Associated Press) 
   
   Will Rudisill, 10, of Raleigh, N.C., left, and Stella Cross, 11, of Matthews, N.C., right, walk with their skim boards on the beach in Oak Island, N.C., Monday, June 15, 2015. A 12-year-old girl from... (Associated Press) 
   
   A helicopter flies close to the water as vacationers relax on the beach in Oak Island, N.C., Monday, June 15, 2015. A 12-year-old girl from Asheboro lost part of her arm and suffered a leg injury, and... (Associated Press) 
   
   Vacationers sit in chairs in the surf in Oak Island, N.C., Monday, June 15, 2015. A 12-year-old girl from Asheboro lost part of her arm and suffered a leg injury, and a 16-year-old boy from Colorado lost... (Associated Press) 
   
   A helicopter flies over the Ocean Crest Pier in Oak Island, N.C., Monday, June 15, 2015. A 12-year-old girl from Asheboro lost part of her arm and suffered a leg injury, and a 16-year-old boy from Colorado... (Associated Press) 
   
   Vacationers relax on the bench and in the surf in Oak Island, N.C., Monday, June 15, 2015. A 12-year-old girl from Asheboro lost part of her arm and suffered a leg injury, and a 16-year-old boy from Colorado... (Associated Press) 
   
   In this image taken from video provided by New Hanover Regional Medical Center, 16-year-old Hunter Treschl, of Colorado Springs, Colo., speaks during an interview at New Hanover Regional Medical Center... (Associated Press) 
   
   In this image taken from video provided by New Hanover Regional Medical Center, 16-year-old Hunter Treschl, of Colorado Springs, Colo., speaks during an interview at New Hanover Regional Medical Center... (Associated Press) 
   
   Fishing piers can be a magnet for sharks even when people aren't looking to land them because live bait is in the water and the pilings from the structure itself offer refuge for fish. There are also fish guts and blood from caught and cleaned fish that are sometimes tossed back into the water. 
   
   "That's going to attract fish and that's going to certainly attract sharks," North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries Director Louis Daniel said. "If they get into the surf zone where the water is a little muddy and cloudy and there's dead fish parts floating around and they're gobbling it up," the sharks can get confused and bite a person. 
   
   Fishermen say they don't think they should be blamed or punished for the rare shark attacks, but local officials in Oak Island want a shark fishing ban to limit the food supply for sharks close to shore — at least through the popular Independence Day holiday weekend, town manager Tim Holloman said. It's not clear how a ban could be enforced, but could involve limiting the use of certain types of hooks, rigs and bait used for shark fishing. 
   
   Experts say swimming farther away from piers is a good idea, regardless of whether a shark fishing ban is in place. At Oak Island, two young people lost limbs in separate, life-threatening shark attacks within 90 minutes of each other on Sunday. One happened in the shadow of a fishing pier. The other was 2 miles away. 
   
   Both had been swimming about 20 yards offshore, in waist-deep water. 
   
   Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, are among popular destinations that have outlawed shark fishing from piers to try and better protect swimmers. Towns in Florida have also considered bans. 
   
   In North Carolina, it's legal to attract sharks by placing fish parts — also called chum — into a mesh laundry bag and hanging it off the side of a boat or pier, allowing the scent to attract sharks. But even without chum, virtually any structure in the water offers a place for fish to congregate, and that gives sharks a destination for hunting, said John Zardus, an associate professor of marine biology at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. 
   
   "With their sensory system, they are able to tell there is structure and they know from experience that food is in that area," he said. 
   
   Last Sunday, Kiersten Yow, 12, of Asheboro, was swimming about 100 yards from Oak Island's Ocean Crest Pier when a shark attacked. She lost her left arm below the elbow and suffered leg injuries. Her parents said in a statement Tuesday she was in stable condition. 
   
   Nearly 90 minutes later, a shark bit off the left arm above the elbow of 16-year-old Hunter Treschel of Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was in good condition Wednesday at a Wilmington hospital, spokeswoman Carolyn Fisher said. 
   
   Officials do not know if they were attacked by the same shark. 
   
   The Ocean Crest Pier — near where the girl was attacked — allows shark fishing only at night, but forbids floating bags of chum, manager Steve Sanders said. 
   
   The town's other pier, the Oak Island Pier, is 2 miles from where the boy was attacked. That pier boasts the state's record-breaking tiger shark, a 1,150-pound monster caught there in 1966. 
   
   The Oak Island Pier allows shark fishing during its open hours but doesn't allow chumming, said operator Tommy Thomes. He said town officials would have to show him some evidence his pier is imperiling swimmers by attracting sharks. 
   
   "Until we get some other support than the town's opinion, no we would not" stop allowing shark fishing, Thomes said. 
   
   Shark fishing usually involves large hooks, strong steel fishing rigs and bloody cut bait, such as the head of another large fish. 
   
   It's unclear whether shark fishing bans are effective. Beth Firchau of the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center said she doesn't know whether shark fishing increases the likelihood of an attack or of any marine scientists studying the bans. 
   
   But, she said, "we know that the act of fishing is all focused on attracting animals to your bait. And so if you're actively fishing in an area where people are swimming, one plus one equals two." 
   
   Virginia has had just five attacks since 1837, with the only fatality coming when a 10-year-old boy was attacked south of Virginia Beach in 2001. After that deadly attack, Virginia Beach expanded its ban on shark fishing or chumming to include all of the city's waters to within 500 feet of shore. 
   
   Only five shark bites have been reported in South Carolina waters in 2014, and there were just four in North Carolina last year, part of a gradual increase in recent years, according to the International Shark Attack File report compiled by the Florida Museum of Natural History and the University of Florida. 
   
   ___ 
   
   Emery Dalesio can be reached at http://twitter.com/emerydalesio. 
   
   ___ 
   
   Masters reported from Raleigh, North Carolina. Associated Press writer Bruce Smith in Charleston, South Carolina, contributed to this report.
target: – Volusia County, Fla., was declared the "shark bite capital of the world" this year by the International Shark Attack File, according to NBC, and it doesn't seem to be in danger of losing the title. A 10-year-old boy was in chest-deep water at Daytona Beach Shores yesterday when he was bitten on the calf by a shark, WESH reports. Officials say the boy was treated for lacerations at the scene and didn't need to go to a hospital. He was the county's fourth shark victim of the year and the second in the space of a week: Another 10-year-old boy was severely injured last week in a shark attack at Cocoa Beach, around 60 miles south of the latest attack, NBC reports. This is the 11th attack in the state so far this year, which isn't an exceptionally high number, shark expert Dr. George Burgess tells WESH, noting that "the number of humans that are killed by sharks versus the number of sharks killed by human beings is 10 million to one." He advises swimmers worried about sharks to stay in groups and avoid areas where fishermen put out bait. Two young people lost limbs in shark attacks in Oak Island, NC, on Sunday and the town is considering banning shark fishing to protect swimmers from sharks attracted by the bait, the AP reports. (A 16-year-old boy who lost his left arm in Sunday's attack says he won't let it ruin his life.)