How Ocean-Safe Are You?

Six questions. See where you stand before you hit the water.

Before reading this story, did you know you could receive an emergency alert for a nearby shark attack?

• Yes, I knew that was possible — Good awareness. The federal law — Lulu's Law — was just signed by President Trump, and it now requires the FCC to authorize these alerts. States must still choose to implement them, so check if yours has.
• No, I had no idea — Most people don't know yet. Lulu's Law was just signed, modeled on the Amber Alert system. Alabama has already approved a shark warning system — other states are now authorized to follow.
• I thought that was only for severe weather — Good instinct — the new law specifically classifies a shark attack as an event that qualifies for emergency mobile alerts, the same category as an Amber Alert when a child is abducted.

When you arrive at a beach, do you check whether there have been recent shark incidents in the area?

• Always — it's part of my routine — That's exactly the habit Lulu Gribbin wishes she had been able to act on. When she entered the water, she had no way of knowing another person had been bitten 3 miles away just 90 minutes earlier.
• Sometimes, if I think about it — A smartphone app called Sharktivity lets shark spotters report sightings in real time. Until Lulu's Law alerts go live in your state, that kind of tool is your best early warning.
• Rarely or never — Lulu Gribbin said plainly that had she known about the earlier attack that morning, there is no way she would have been swimming. A quick check can change that equation for you.

If you spotted a shark while swimming, what would your first instinct be?

• Swim fast and splash hard to shore — Frantic splashing is exactly what draws a shark's attention. Gribbin — in the moments after her friend yelled 'shark' — called out for everyone to stay calm, knowing that frantic movement increases risk.
• Stay calm and move steadily toward shore — Correct instinct. Even in that terrifying moment, Gribbin warned everyone to be calm because she knew sharks are attracted to frantic splashing. Steady movement is safer.
• Stay still and wait for the shark to leave — Minimizing movement is a reasonable instinct, but moving steadily and calmly toward shore reduces your time in the water and puts distance between you and the shark.
• Not sure — I've never thought about it — Worth thinking through before you get in. Gribbin recalled specifically telling her group to stay calm in the water — that knowledge, applied under pressure, can matter.

Do you pay attention to water clarity and conditions before swimming in the ocean?

• Yes — I avoid murky water — Shark researcher Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Museum of Natural History's shark research program, says murky water increases the chance that a shark will mistake a person for a fish or seal.
• I check wave height but not water clarity — Wave height matters for safety, but water clarity is a specific shark-risk factor. According to Gavin Naylor, murky conditions are one of the key environmental factors that lead to mistaken bites.
• No — I swim regardless of conditions — Environmental conditions like murky water and schools of bait fish close to shore are among the reasons multiple people were bitten in the same area on June 7, 2024, Naylor explained.

Have you ever signed up for or enabled any local emergency alert system on your phone?

• Yes — I have wireless emergency alerts enabled — You're set up to receive alerts when states implement Lulu's Law notifications. Gribbin describes the system as working 'exactly like how an Amber Alert system works when a child is abducted.'
• I think so, but I'm not sure — Check your phone's notification settings under emergency alerts. The new shark attack alerts will route through the same wireless emergency alert system as Amber Alerts — so your settings today determine whether you'd receive them.
• No — I've never set that up — Now is a good time to check. Lulu's Law requires the FCC to authorize shark attack alerts through the same system as Amber Alerts. States must implement it — but your phone has to be ready to receive.

Roughly how many unprovoked shark bites occur worldwide each year?

• Fewer than 100 — Correct. Gavin Naylor, who directs the Florida Museum of Natural History's shark research program, says there are between 60 to 80 known unprovoked shark bites worldwide each year — making each one a rare but serious event.
• Around 500 — Much lower. Naylor says the real number is 60 to 80 globally per year. That rarity is part of why multiple bites in the same area on a single day — like June 7, 2024 — are so unusual and significant.
• Around 1,000 or more — The actual number is much smaller: 60 to 80 known unprovoked bites worldwide each year, according to Gavin Naylor of the Florida Museum of Natural History. Sharks are common; bites are rare.
• Around 200 to 300 — Still too high. Naylor puts the number at 60 to 80 globally per year. The June 7, 2024 incident — three people bitten in a single day along the same stretch of beach — stands out precisely because multiple bites in close proximity are extremely rare.

That's the same gap in awareness that put Lulu Gribbin in danger on the morning of June 7, 2024. She was on a mother-daughter trip to the Florida Panhandle, diving for sand dollars with a friend, when the water around her suddenly turned dangerous — not because sharks are everywhere, but because no one on that beach knew the conditions had already claimed one victim 90 minutes earlier and 3 miles down the shore.

Gribbin lost her left hand and part of her right leg in the attack. A man in the water physically punched the shark off her. Strangers on the beach stopped the bleeding. A helicopter flew her to the hospital. Doctors saved her life — and within two years, she had gone back in the water, learned to surf, met professional surfer Bethany Hamilton (who also lost her arm in a shark attack), and walked into the halls of Congress.

That quiz score you just saw reflects the same information gap that defined June 7, 2024 — and that Gribbin has spent two years trying to close. 'It's really just common-sense legislation,' she said of the federal law now bearing her name. 'It says that whenever there has been a shark attack in a certain area where you are near, it will send an alert to your phone, exactly like how an Amber Alert system works when a child is abducted.'

Gribbin advocated for the legislation herself before President Donald Trump signed it into law. The bill, sponsored by U.S. Senator Katie Britt of Alabama, requires the Federal Communications Commission to authorize emergency alerts for shark attacks. Alabama had already approved its own warning system the year before — now other states have federal authorization to follow.

From Attack to Federal Law: Lulu's Story

• June 7, 2024 — morning — First shark bite off the Florida Panhandle
• June 7, 2024 — 90 minutes later — Lulu Gribbin, 15, enters the water 3 miles away
• June 7, 2024 — Gribbin is bitten — loses her left hand and part of her right leg
• June 7, 2024 — Strangers rush to help; Gribbin is airlifted to hospital
• Recovery — two years — Gribbin fitted with prosthetics, returns to sports, gets her driver's license
• During recovery — Gribbin meets Bethany Hamilton, surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack
• Alabama — prior to federal action — Alabama approves its own shark attack warning system
• Federal — signed by President Trump — Lulu's Law enacted — FCC authorized to allow shark attack emergency alerts nationwide

Lulu's Law vs. the Amber Alert System

The comparison to the Amber Alert system is intentional — and instructive. Gribbin and Senator Britt designed Lulu's Law to use the same legal and technical infrastructure that Americans already trust for child abduction alerts. The mechanism is proven. The only missing piece, for most states, is the political will to activate it.

Gavin Naylor, who directs the Florida Museum of Natural History's shark research program, puts the broader risk in context: shark bites are genuinely rare, with 60 to 80 known unprovoked attacks worldwide each year. It's extremely rare for two or more people to be bitten in close proximity. When it does happen, environmental factors — bait fish close to shore, murky water conditions that cause sharks to mistake people for seals — tend to be the common thread. In the area where Gribbin was bitten, Naylor says there are roughly 20 to 30 bull sharks 1,312 feet offshore at any given time.

What's True About Shark Risk

Shark attacks are so common that a warning alert system isn't needed.

Verdict: false

Gavin Naylor of the Florida Museum of Natural History says there are only 60 to 80 known unprovoked shark bites worldwide each year. The rarity doesn't eliminate risk — it makes real-time local alerts more useful, not less, because a bite near you carries a specific warning about that location's conditions at that moment.

Multiple shark bites in the same area on the same day are extremely unusual.

Verdict: true

Naylor says in an entire database of known shark bites — the International Shark Attack File — there have only been a few instances of multiple bites in a single day. June 7, 2024, when three people were bitten off the Florida Panhandle, is a documented outlier.

Murky water conditions have nothing to do with shark attack risk.

Verdict: false

According to Naylor, murky water increases the chance that a shark will mistake a person for a fish or seal — making it a meaningful environmental risk factor, not a coincidence.

Lulu's Law means all U.S. states must now send shark attack alerts.

Verdict: false

The law requires the FCC to authorize the emergency alerts and classifies shark attacks as eligible events — but implementation is left to individual states. Alabama approved its own system before the federal law passed. Other states must now choose to act.

Before You Go Back in the Water

1. Check your phone's emergency alert settings — Lulu's Law routes shark alerts through the same wireless emergency alert system as Amber Alerts. Confirm your phone is set to receive them — and check whether your state has implemented the system yet.
2. Look up recent activity before swimming — A smartphone app called Sharktivity allows shark spotters to report sightings in real time. Until your state activates Lulu's Law alerts, apps like this are your best available early warning.
3. Assess water clarity before entering — Murky water increases the chance a shark mistakes a swimmer for a fish or seal, according to shark researcher Gavin Naylor. Clear conditions reduce — but don't eliminate — that risk.
4. Know what to do if you spot a shark — Stay calm and move steadily toward shore. Gribbin warned her group not to splash frantically — she knew that frantic movement attracts sharks. Controlled, deliberate movement is safer.
5. Ask lifeguards about the day's conditions — Environmental factors — schools of bait fish near shore, water clarity, recent activity — shift risk in a specific place on a specific day. Lifeguards on duty have real-time local awareness.

Gribbin has said she sees this law working and is 'really excited to hopefully save lives.' Her recovery arc — from a hospital bed where she asked 'why is it happening to me?' to surfing alongside Bethany Hamilton and walking the halls of Congress — has become the story behind the story. Senator Britt credited Gribbin's 'courage, perseverance, and advocacy to protect future beachgoers' as the reason the legislation moved at all.

Lulu Gribbin's message to America's beachgoers is straightforward: the water isn't the enemy, and shark attacks remain genuinely rare. But rare is not the same as zero — and a 90-minute gap in information, across a 3-mile stretch of beach, is a gap that a simple phone alert could close. That's what Lulu's Law is built to do.

Know Before You Swim

• Enable Wireless Emergency Alerts: Go to your phone's notification settings and confirm wireless emergency alerts are turned on — the same setting that receives Amber Alerts will receive future shark attack warnings under Lulu's Law.
• Check If Your State Has Activated Shark Alerts: Lulu's Law authorizes the system nationwide, but implementation is up to each state. Alabama approved its warning system before the federal law passed. Contact your state emergency management agency to ask about rollout timing.
• Use the Sharktivity App: The Sharktivity app allows shark spotters to report sightings and recent activity in real time. It's a practical tool while state-level Lulu's Law alerts are being implemented.
• Understand Your Local Conditions: In waters off the Florida Panhandle, Gavin Naylor of the Florida Museum of Natural History says there are approximately 20 to 30 bull sharks 1,312 feet offshore at any given time. Conditions vary — ask lifeguards, check water clarity, and stay informed.

Sources & References

• Primary source: science-and-tech — AP via Scripps News Group
• Florida Museum of Natural History — International Shark Attack File — Global unprovoked shark bite statistics and multiple-bite incident frequency, as cited by director Gavin Naylor