Alabama governor signs shark bite alert system into law named after teen who survived attack

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A new shark alert system, inspired by a teen who survived an attack last year, that warns beachgoers when a shark has bitten someone in the vicinity will be established in Alabama under legislation signed by Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday.

The system will issue a public notice to cellphones when there’s been a shark attack nearby. The law is named after Mountain Brook teenager Lulu Gribbin, who was one of three people bitten by a shark during a string of attacks off the Florida Panhandle last year. She lost her left hand and a portion of her right leg in the attack.

Gribbin, now 16, visited the Alabama Statehouse to urge lawmakers to approve the warning system. She said she would not have been in the water if she knew a woman had been bitten just a few miles away about an hour earlier.

“This bill will help prevent future attacks,” Gribbin said last month about the legislation. “It’s like an Amber Alert when a child goes missing. It will send an alert when there has been a shark attack.”

Gribbin was with Ivey as she signed the bill, named the Lulu Gribbin Shark Alert System Act, in a private ceremony in the governor’s office.

“Alabama is proud to have the safest and most beautiful beaches in the world,” Ivey said in a statement Tuesday. “The added tool of having a shark alert system will help officials in Baldwin and Mobile counties keep our beachgoers safe and enjoying the refreshing waters of our Gulf of America.”

Supporters said the legislation will be an added measure of assurance for those headed to the beach. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will create rules for the new alert system, according to the legislation.

An earlier version would have allowed an alert for an “imminent danger” when sharks are spotted near the shoreline. However, since sharks are commonly found in waters off Alabama and Florida, beach communities were concerned that would cause excessive alerts, causing panic and hurting coastal tourism.

The alerts will only be issued along the Alabama coast. Supporters said they hope other states will pursue similar systems or that federal legislation will expand its use.

Gribbin described the attack after speaking to a legislative committee last month. She and her friend had been diving for sand dollars and riding the Gulf waves when her friend screamed, “shark!”

“My hand was bitten first. I remember just lifting it out of the water, and I was stunned because there was no hand there,” she recalled. “I couldn’t feel it because of all the shock I was in. Then the shark latched onto my leg.”

Over 260,000 fans have been following her recovery on social media, including prosthetic leg fittings and physical therapy — as well as milestones such as going to a high school dance and her first trip back to the beach.

Experts say attacks are rare despite sharks’ prevalence in places like the Gulf. There were 47 unprovoked shark bites worldwide — including four fatalities — in 2024, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s shark research program.