Watch: Surfing teen bitten by shark, adding to area’s reputation
New Smyrna Beach in Florida lived up to its reputation as the unofficial Shark Bite Capital of the World last Thursday when a shark bit a 16-year-old surfer as he paddled between waves.
Doyle Nielsen was bitten in the right arm in an encounter caught on video by Sam Scribner, a quadriplegic photographer who often photographs surfers.
In the video posted on Instagram, you see two sharks swimming in the same wave before it cuts to Nielsen getting bit.
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“It felt like someone on their surfboard had come full speed directly at me and hit me super hard,” Nielsen told “Good Morning America.” “And then after somebody had yelled, ‘There’s a shark, get out of there,’ I realized what it was.”
Along with a friend, Nielsen quickly exited the water as he checked out his arm. He was treated on the scene and later at a hospital. Fortunately, he suffered only a minor injury.
Nielsen, vacationing from Georgia, was among upwards of 200 surfers enjoying the big waves that day created by Hurricane Larry.
The incident occurred in New Smyrna Beach area waters, at Ponce Inlet one beach over, at around 1:20 p.m. It was the 10th unprovoked shark bite this year in Volusia County. None were fatal.
From The Daytona Beach News-Journal:
Volusia County regularly leads the U.S. in annual reported shark bites, though none have been fatal, according to ISAF [International Shark Attack File] records. Most are minor, cases of mistaken identity.
“The vast majority of incidents that occur there are very minor bites from juvenile blacktip sharks,” [Tyler] Bowling [manager of the Florida Program for Shark Research] said. “In places like New Smyrna, where the water is murky, the blacktip sharks can’t see very well. So, they are likely reacting to flashes of movement. This could be a nice mullet or a human’s foot.”
The shark encounter won’t deter Nielsen from surfing again, he told GMA, “but I know that it’ll affect my mindset. I’ll be a little more cautious in the water.”