DAYTONA BEACH (FLORIDA)
- 19-08-2001 - Sharks attacked three surfers off Florida's upper east coast Sunday,
a few miles from where three men were bitten the previous day. The day's first
attack occurred about 11:30 a.m. when a shark bit the foot of a 17-year-old girl
about 100 yards off the beach at Wilbur-By-The-Sea south of Daytona Beach, said
Joe Wooden, deputy chief of the Daytona Beach Patrol. Wooden said the victim,
whose name was not released, was bitten as she was riding a surfboard; she was
taken to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach where she was treated and released.
"She caught a wave, she came off her board, she was going to say something to
me, and she screamed and she started yelling," said Scott Love, the girl's boyfriend.
"I jumped off my board, threw it to shore and went to her."
Sharks bit two other surfers -- a 32-year-old man and another 17-year-old girl
-- around 1:15 p.m. Sunday off New Smyrna Beach, about 15 miles south of the morning
attack, Wooden said. Both were taken to Bert Fish Medical Center in New Smyrna
Beach for treatment. The man was bitten on the right foot and the girl was bitten
on the left calf, said Wooden. The man, who identified himself as Bobby Kurrek,
was treated and released. He said he saw about two dozen sharks swimming around
him when he was bitten. "Two of them just came at me as fast as they could and
hit my surfboard, went under my surfboard, came from behind and pulled me off,"
Kurrek said. A hospital spokeswoman said the female would require surgery on her
left calf. "It is not a life threatening injury," the spokeswoman said. "She's
in good condition." The girl's father, Ted Chapman, said his daughter Becky felt
something hit her in the back just before the bite. "She knew that something had
a hold of her leg, and she reached down and felt the shark and started punching
it," he said.
The attacks came a day after three men were bitten by sharks during a surfing
competition at Ponce Inlet, on the Atlantic Ocean between Daytona Beach and New
Smyrna Beach and about three miles from where a shark bit Sunday's first victim.
Jeff White, 20, and Dylan Feindt, 19, were treated for wounds on their feet from
shark bites. Jason Valentine, 20, underwent surgery for a hand injury. The event,
sponsored by the Conference of the National Scholastic Surf Association, continued
Sunday but was moved about one mile south of the Saturday location.
The Saturday attacks forced beach closings for about two hours. Wooden said none
of those attacked Sunday was involved in the competition. Leon Johnston, the association's
director, said surfers on Saturday saw black-tip sharks up to 6 feet long and
bull sharks reaching 8 feet. Of the 34 reported shark attacks worldwide this year,
14 have been in Volusia County, said Wooden. "We're pretty much keeping an eye
on things," said Wooden. On Thursday, scores of sharks were spotted swimming in
the Gulf of Mexico near Lido Key off Sarasota, Florida. Two days earlier, a similar
school was seen in shallow waters off Anclote Key, north of Tampa. In July, a
Mississippi boy's arm was bitten off by a shark at Gulf Islands National Seashore
near Pensacola in northwest Florida. Doctors
were able to reattach the arm, and the boy is recovering at home where he remains
in a light coma
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Florida. - 20-08-2001 - Beachgoers on the lookout for sharks
near an area where six people were attacked over the weekend were evacuated Monday
by the Volusia County Beach Patrol because of a different threat -- lightning.
Volusia County Beach Patrol officials shut down all the beaches in the area after
several temporary closures due to shark sightings. Six people were bitten by sharks
over the weekend in the same area. Only one victim remained hospitalized Monday.
"Anywhere in the world, you go in the ocean, you're going to have sharks," said
Capt. Rob Horster with the New Smyrna Beach Patrol. "It's not a major problem
for us. Unfortunately, when you have three bites in a day and then three the next,
you're going to have a lot of attention drawn towards you." The Volusia County
Beach Patrol shut down one beach near New Smyrna Beach for about 45 minutes after
a shark was spotted Monday, Horster told CNN. He said one surfer was not thrilled
about being called out of the water and got into a verbal spat with Horster, who
was able to calmly persuade the man to leave.
Horster explained that it is standard procedure to shut down a beach for 30 to
45 minutes when a shark is seen. About an hour later, the patrol temporarily shut
down the same beach when another shark was spotted. On Saturday, three young men
involved in a surfing competition in Ponce de Leon Inlet were bitten.
Jeff White, one of those bitten, said that "sharks are just something you've got
to deal with." White, 20, said the shark was behind him. He said he tried to pull
his feet onto his surfboard but "it had already grabbed my foot and it was too
late." White -- who was hit by lightning while surfing off Costa Rica two years
ago -- said surfing gives him an "adrenaline rush. ... It's a great recreation."
On Sunday, three more people were bitten in an area around Daytona Beach. They
were not involved with the surfing competition. Only Becky Chapman, 17, who had
surgery for a "significant bite" on her left calf, remained hospitalized Monday,
according to Kate Holcomb, a spokeswoman for Bert Fish Medical Center. She was
in good condition, but Chapman was not expected to be released Monday, Holcomb
said.
Horster said the weekend rash of shark bites may have been the result of bait
fish in the area, murky water and a lot of people in the surf. "Mix all those
things together, you're going to have some bites, unfortunately. ... We closed
the beach for half a day yesterday, which is a lot more than we generally do for
any kind of shark sighting," he said. As for the surfing competition, Leon Johnston
of the National Scholastic Surf Association said it wasn't called off Saturday
when sharks were spotted because "the parents didn't want to cancel the competition.
The kids didn't want to cancel the competition." The competition was moved about
one mile south Sunday.
Johnston said surfers on Saturday saw black-tip sharks up to 6 feet long and bull
sharks reaching 8 feet. He said shark sightings occur every year, and he did not
see the danger as very great. "What's happening down at our inlet happens every
time at this time of the year, and for years it's been going on. For as many sharks
as there are in the water and as many people, if you did the numbers on it, it
really wasn't that many encounters at all." Johnston said the sharks were chasing
bait fish such as whiting. "The bottom of your feet look like a whiting, and that's
basically their main diet down there is whiting. That's the reason when the kids
got bit they let them go right away and nothing fatal. ... So it really didn't
tear them up too badly," he said.
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DAYTONA BEACH (FLORIDA)
- 19-08-2001 - Sharks attacked three surfers off Florida's upper east coast Sunday,
a few miles from where three men were bitten the previous day. The day's first
attack occurred about 11:30 a.m. when a shark bit the foot of a 17-year-old girl
about 100 yards off the beach at Wilbur-By-The-Sea south of Daytona Beach, said
Joe Wooden, deputy chief of the Daytona Beach Patrol. Wooden said the victim,
whose name was not released, was bitten as she was riding a surfboard; she was
taken to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach where she was treated and released.
"She caught a wave, she came off her board, she was going to say something to
me, and she screamed and she started yelling," said Scott Love, the girl's boyfriend.
"I jumped off my board, threw it to shore and went to her."