Volusia County is known for it’s shark attacks not many swimmers would expect sharks to be lurking in the Intercoastal Waterway. Well, an image of a 10-foot-long, 400-pound bull shark was posted on the Florida Sportsman website. It’s labeled as being hooked in the New Smyrna Beach River on July 2. The shark was supposedly captured not far from where people swim. Careful out there!
Thanks Marcela
A 55-year-old New Smyrna Beach man became Volusia County’s second shark bite victim of 2010 over the weekend.
Deputy Chief Mike Hensler said the surfer, identified as Jimmy Johnston, told Beach Patrol officers he was sitting on his surfboard with his feet out of the water Saturday near the Ponce de Leon Inlet’s south jetty.
He said he saw a baitfish jump into the air nearby. It was followed by a small spinner shark, Hensler said.
“The guy said the shark missed the fish, but grabbed his foot,” Hensler said.
In alarm, Johnston pulled his right foot from the shark’s mouth, causing most of the injury, which consisted of two cuts to the top and seven to the bottom of his foot.
Johnston becomes Volusia’s second bite victim of the year. The first was in May when a 10-year-old from Orlando suffered a minor bite while playing in shallow water near 20th Avenue, also in New Smyrna Beach.
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A 10-year-old girl was bitten by a shark at New Smyrna Beach this morning in waist-deep water just north of 27th Avenue.
The girl, from Orlando, was bitten on her right ankle. Apparently, the bite was minor, with about six to eight puncture wounds. She was taken to a doctor for additional treatment.
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Sharks have struck again in an area off the Florida coast that is notorious for its shark bites. This time it was an 18-year-old surfer who was bitten on the lower leg while in the water near the south jetty in New Smyrna Beach.
Several hundred surfers were in the water Wednesday to take advantage of the holiday and the high surf kicked up by gusty winds.
The unnamed surfer is the eighth shark bite victim this year in Volusia County and was treated for just minor cuts and puncture wounds.
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Watch your step if you’re heading to the beaches near Volusia County this holiday weekend. Jellyfish are piling up all over the beaches and there’s even more of ‘em in the water. Some are as big as hubcaps, but it’s the smaller ones you gotta watch out for. I hear they pack quite a punch.
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According to a Beach Patrol captain, a visitor from Spain was bitten by a shark in Ponce Inlet Monday evening.
The 26-year-old man suffered 1/4-inch punctures on the top and bottom of his left foot. The puncture wounds were surrounded by small teeth impressions, said Beach Patrol Capt. Scott Petersohn.
The man was swimming in the ocean in the 4600 block of Atlantic Avenue, one mile north of the Beach Street approach, when the shark bit him.
The shark bite, the seventh of the year, occurred shortly after 7 p.m.
“He didn’t see it, but there is nothing else that has that shape of a mouth out there,” Petersohn said.
The swimmer did not require any stitches and was treated at the scene.
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A 12-year-old Ohio girl became this year’s sixth shark bite victim in Volusia County when one she got chomped on the ankle today as she rode a boogie board off Daytona Beach.
The girl was in about 4 feet of water north of the Zelda Beach Approach when the shark bit her on the right ankle around 4pm..
The attack was farther north than usual as most bites are reported south of the south jetty in New Smyrna Beach. The offending shark was most likely a juvenile black tip or spinner.
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According to the International Shark Attack File, New Smyrna Beach is still the shark bite capital of the United States! The beach, which is in Volusia County, has logged 210 shark attacks on humans.
The No. 2 spot goes to North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii and Long Beach Island in New Jersey comes in at No. 3.
Keep up the good work, New Smyrna.
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Looks like there was actually THREE shark attacks at New Smyrna Beach on Sunday. The first two were fairly minor but the third involved a bite to the leg which required several stitches.
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Two men surfing off the Volusia County coast ended up with shark bites Saturday morning.
Volusia County officials said the two men were in the water just south of the jetty at Ponce Inlet when they were bitten.
One of the surfers, a 55-year-old man, was bitten on the hand, cutting his finger. The other man, 49, was bitten on his right foot, leaving him with cuts on the top and bottom of the foot.
This brings Volusia County’s total shark attacks for 2009 to four… and it’s not even summer yet.
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photos: Kem McNair
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