SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 A 31-year-old Orlando woman died after an encounter with an alligator while she was swimming with her boyfriend and best friend near the Econ River in Seminole County, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Officials confirmed the incident happened around 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.<\/p>\n
FWC trappers have since caught two large alligators in the area \u2014 one measuring 12 feet and the largest measuring 13 feet. Officials say DNA lab results are still needed to confirm which animal was responsible, but the 13-foot gator is considered a strong candidate.<\/p>\n
On Monday afternoon, during a press conference at an FWC facility in Titusville, officers revealed that both the woman\u2019s boyfriend and best friend witnessed the attack. <\/p>\n
[WATCH: Woman killed by alligator in Seminole County, FWC says]<\/p>\n
Their frantic call for help directed first responders to the Econlockhatchee River near Geneva, off Barr Street. <\/p>\n
\u201cBad, real bad. Please hurry,\u201d a caller said. Another voice can be heard later saying, \u201cPlease. We\u2019re right off the water.\u201d<\/p>\n
The chaos and desperation in the call is unmistakable \u2014 voices overlapping, someone screaming in the background, a dispatcher working to pinpoint the group\u2019s exact location along the river while urging the caller to stay with the victim. First responders, including a helicopter, were dispatched to the scene.<\/p>\n
[RELATED: Alligator mating season kicks off in Florida. It could prove deadly<\/a>]<\/p>\n The woman was transported to a hospital, where she later died from her injuries. FWC confirmed the victim was 31 years old and from Orlando. Her name has not yet been publicly released out of respect for family members who live out of state and have not yet been formally notified.<\/p>\n FWC Public Information Officer Chad Weber said the group had been hiking when they stopped to swim.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were hiking and they just stopped to swim,\u201d Weber said. \u201cRight now, in this part of our investigation, it doesn\u2019t seem like they were doing anything that was malicious to an alligator.\u201d<\/p>\n The woman was bitten on both arms while kneeling in approximately 3 feet of water. Her boyfriend grabbed hold of her and attempted to pull her free.<\/p>\n \u201cThe boyfriend was able to \u2014 while maintaining a hold of the victim \u2014 the gator did release,\u201d said Lt. Grant Eller of FWC\u2019s Office of Law Enforcement. \u201cThe gator remained in the area from witness statements.\u201d<\/p>\n Witnesses described the alligator as very large \u2014 a description consistent with the 13-foot gator subsequently trapped at the exact location of the attack, Eller said.<\/p>\n FWC officials said DNA samples taken from both harvested gators will be sent to the agency\u2019s lab in Gainesville within the next day or so.<\/p>\n \u201cOur lab is going to push it to the front of the line,\u201d Eller said. \u201cSo we\u2019re hoping to get it back pretty quick.\u201d<\/p>\n In the meantime, FWC and the Florida Forest Service have established what officials call a \u201ctargeted harvest area\u201d near the attack site. That means any additional large alligators spotted in the area can be quickly removed by trappers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll be able to address this as an issue as the gators pop up in the future,\u201d Eller said.<\/p>\n Weber noted several possible factors may have triggered the attack, but said it\u2019s difficult to pinpoint the exact cause at this time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt could be any number of things,\u201d Weber said. \u201cWith low water levels that we have, we are coming into the end of mating season. Alligators become very territorial.\u201d<\/p>\n What to know about encountering alligators<\/p>\n Our News 6 team spoke with Brandon Fisher, an alligator expert at Gatorland, about alligator behavior. <\/p>\n \u201cNot knowing the full details of the size of the gator or what it was doing, it could have very well been a mom protecting their nest. It could have been one just hanging out, swimming,\u201d Fisher said. \u201cThey don\u2019t have the best eyesight underwater. They rely heavily on their sense of feeling. So anything that brushes up against their face, on their body, there\u2019s potential for them to think that it might be food and bite for it.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that large alligators are remarkably difficult to spot even in shallow water.<\/p>\n \u201cA 12-foot alligator, which is a big male alligator, can fully submerge in a foot and a half of water and you not be able to see it, especially if it\u2019s really dark water,\u201d Fisher said. \u201cAn adult alligator can hold its breath \u2014 if it\u2019s sitting real still, not moving around \u2014 for an hour and a half to two hours without popping up for another breath of air.\u201d<\/p>\n Florida is home to approximately 1.3 million alligators<\/a> \u2014 a healthy, stable population that inhabits all 67 counties and every wild area of the state that can support them. According to FWC records<\/a>, this latest incident marks the 33rd confirmed fatal unprovoked alligator attack in Florida since 1948, making deadly encounters extremely rare but a real risk for anyone spending time near the state\u2019s waterways.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re built to be here in Florida, built to camouflage and hide really well,\u201d Fisher said. \u201cBut if they get scared, they get spooked, they\u2019re going to protect themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n FWC officials are also reminding the public that alligators can be found in virtually every freshwater body in the state.<\/p>\n \u201cJust be mindful that all freshwater water bodies in the state of Florida do contain alligators, and just use caution when swimming in freshwater,\u201d Eller said.<\/p>\n Fisher offered several safety tips for Floridians and visitors alike: swim only in designated safe swimming areas, keep pets at least 25 feet from the water\u2019s edge, avoid fishing from the water\u2019s edge when possible, and never feed wild alligators.<\/p>\n \u201cYou want to see them up close and personal? Come to places like Gatorland, where you can see them and learn all about them,\u201d Fisher said.<\/p>\n