The flapping purple flags on Deerfield Beach lifeguard stands let swimmers know late Thursday afternoon that it was OK to go back in the water.
City lifeguards closed the beach for several hours after sharks were spotted “abnormally” close to the shoreline, said Deerfield Beach City Manager Larry Deetjen.
Lifeguards saw the first shark about 10:30 a.m. and closed the water for 30 minutes. Shark sighting No. 2 two occurred about 12:45 p.m., prompting officials to keep swimmers out of the water for much of the afternoon.
Lifeguards also spotted eight sharks in the Hillsboro Inlet, Deetjen said.
No one was injured but lifeguards ordered everyone out as a precaution, Deetjen said. In the past week there were two shark attacks, one fatal, along the Florida Panhandle. A second victim had to have a leg amputated.
“We just did not want to take a chance,” Deetjen said, adding that the sharks ventured as close as 20 feet from the sand.
“Normally you’re not going to see that activity.”
The beach was reopened after city officials contacted a throng of marine biologists and environmental agencies while a police helicopter canvassed the area, Deetjen said.
By 4:30 p.m., beachgoers got the green light to swim.
The red, “water closed to the public” flag was replaced with the cautionary purple, hazardous-marine-life flag.
Most beachgoers were unfazed by or unaware of the shark sightings. Families splashed about, kids chased waves at the water’s edge and teenagers skim boarded.
“The sharks live there; we’re just visitors,” Mark Decoatsworth, 47, of Boca Raton said.
Lindsay Wynn, 27, of Deerfield Beach, agreed.
An avid surfer, Wynn said she has had several close encounters with sharks.
“It doesn’t bother me,” she said. “You get comfortable with the ocean.”
Still, some had reservations about taking a plunge.
Brooks Runderson, 23, of Deerfield Beach, had planned to take a dip but after learning the beach had been closed because of sharks sightings he opted to stay in his beach chair and chat with a buddy.
“I’m not getting in the water. Forget that,” Runderson said.
Akilah Johnson can be reached at or 954-356-4631.
