Three Alabama men have died from likely drowning after becoming distressed while swimming at a Florida Panhandle beach, authorities said Saturday morning. The young men had traveled to the Panama City Beach area Friday evening, the Bay County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post.
The sheriff's office received an emergency call about the distressed swimmers shortly after 8 p.m., officials said. The U.S. Coast Guard and others began rescue efforts. The men, who were not immediately identified, were found separately and eventually pronounced dead at local hospitals.
Earlier this week, single red flags had been posted at the beach, indicating high-hazard surf and rip current conditions.
On Thursday, a Pennsylvania couple visiting Florida with their six children drowned after they were caught in a rip current while swimming. The man and woman were caught in the current on Hutchinson Island, along Florida's southeast coast, the Martin County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post.
The drownings occurred just days after two Alabama teenagers and a woman were attacked by sharks. The first victim in these attacks was Elisabeth Foley, a 45-year-old wife and mother from Virginia who lost her left hand and suffered severe injuries to her midsection. Gribbin, 15, was the second person bitten, and her friend McCray Faust suffered minor injuries to her foot.
Walton County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Corey Dobridnia encouraged beachgoers to watch for beach flags and be aware of their surroundings in the water. Authorities closed area beaches temporarily and posted warning flags indicating high hazards following the shark attacks.
"We are guests in the Gulf," Dobridnia wrote. "We all must accept some amount of risk when entering the water. That DOES NOT take away from these two ladies whose lives are forever changed."
Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Museum of Natural History's shark research program, said he believed the presence of menhaden fish — bait fish that sharks are attracted to — may have led to the attacks. Globally, about 50 to 80 people are bitten each year and about five die, he said.
In Florida, the victims "just happened to be at the wrong place at the right time," he said.
