Shark Attacks and Shark Attack Related Incidents News Articles on Shark Bites

Shark attacks man off New Smyrna beach coast
Helen Eckinger | Sentinel Staff Writer
8:32 AM EST, November 8, 2007


A shark bit a Deltona man off of the coast of New Smyrna beach this week, bringing this year's number of shark attacks in Volusia county up to 17.

Volusia County beach patrol captain Scott Petersohn identified the victim as Joseph Fox, 21, and said that while Fox sustained 9 lacerations on his right leg, his injuries were minor. Fox was attacked on Tuesday.

"We didn't even treat the guy - he was leaving the beach and he asked directions to the nearest hospital at a toll plaza," Petersohn said.




Petersohn said that all but three of this year's shark attacks in Volusia county have occurred near where Fox was bitten, an area known as the Point that is popular with surfers.

"You've got all of these guys sitting with their feet dangling in the water, there are bait fish all around, the water's murky," Petersohn said. "It's a case of mistaken identity."

In most attacks, Petersohn said, the shark swims away when it realizes it has bitten a human, rather than its normal food source. He also cautioned beachgoers from fixating on the threat of shark attacks while ignoring more common dangers like rip currents.

"I think it's that movie Jaws thing," he said. "Realistically, you have more of a chance of getting killed driving to work than you ever do of getting bitten by a shark."

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Deltona man nipped by shark at NSB jetty

SETH ROBBINS
STAFF WRITER

Suffering minor punctures to his calf and knee, a Deltona man became Volusia County's 17th shark bite victim of the year, officials said today.

Joseph Fox, 21, was surfing south of the New Smyrna Beach jetty Tuesday when a shark nipped him on the right knee, said Capt. Scott Petersohn, spokesman for the Volusia County Beach Patrol.

After being bitten, Fox drove to Bert Fish Medical Center where he was treated for several puncture wounds and then released.

"If you're going to get bitten, that is the place," Petersohn said. "90 percent of our bites happen in that area."

Anyone interested in learning more about these steely snout creatures of the deep can listen to a free lecture tonight by George Burgess, the director of the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

The file is "recognized as the definitive source of information on shark attacks," a Whitney news release states.

The lecture begins at 7 p.m. at the Whitney Lab's Center for Marine Studies, 9505 Oceanshore Blvd. in Marineland. It is part of the "Evenings at Whitney" series.


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