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

Another surfer nipped by shark near Ponce Inlet

By SETH ROBBINS
STAFF WRITER


NEW SMYRNA BEACH — A 17-year-old boy was bitten by a shark this morning near the jetty in New Smyrna Beach.

The teenager from Mims was surfing with some friends when he was bitten on the right foot shortly after 9 a.m., said EVAC Ambulance spokesman Mark O'Keefe. Officials later identified him as Ethan Fulton.

Fulton's friends tried taking him to the hospital, but then thought better of it and called for an ambulance. EVAC ambulance paramedics met the teen at Sapphire Road and North Peninsula Avenue.

Fulton was treated at the scene and then taken to Bert Fish Medical Center in stable condition, O'Keefe said. The bite was serious enough that Fulton was still in surgery this afternoon.

This was the 15th shark bite to occur in Volusia County this year.

Volusia County is on track to match one of its worst shark bite years ever -- 2001, the so-called year of the shark -- when 21 bites were reported. There were 17 bites in Volusia last year and that was enough to earn the county the distinction of being tagged as the "shark-bite capital of the world."

July, August and September are when most shark attacks occur, according to researchers.


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Volusia County, Florida Shark Attack on Ethan Fulton at New Smyna Beach No. 15


Surfer Says Shark Attacked His Ankle
Friday, July 25, 2008 7:24:28 PM

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- It has been a busy week for beach patrol with yet another shark bite reported in New Smyrna Beach.

Friday around 9:30 a.m., Ethan Fulton, 17, of Mims, and his friend, Jeremy Mackey, had been surfing near the jetty where the surfing conditions are ideal, but where there are also a number of bait fish.

As they were coming ashore, Fulton stepped off his board and felt something bite his right ankle.

"He was just yelling man, He's just, like, 'I got bit by a shark. I got bit by a shark,' real loud. I just swam in. I was, like, 'Let's go,'" Mackey said.

Fulton was able to get to a toll booth to let someone know he had been bitten. New Smyrna Beach Fire and Rescue responded and he was sent to Bert Fish Medical Center, where they are checking the bite for any tendon damage.

Fulton was the 15th shark bite victim of the year. The record of 22 was set in 2001.

Earler this week, a teen had to get stitches in his foot after he was bitten by a shark near the inlet jetty in New Smyrna Beach. He has the stitches and the cell phone pictures to remind him of the encounter.

Beach patrol said that teen jumped off his surfboard and onto the shark, and the shark bit him.

Meanwhile, newspapers and magazines around the world showed a picture from New Smyna Beach that showed a spinner shark jumping out of the water right next to a surfer. The person who took the picture, said the sharks are pretty common in the area.

On average, one-third of the world's attacks and the majority of U.S. attacks are recorded in Florida, according to the International Shark Attack File, which is based at the University of Florida.

Volusia County usually is the source of about half of Florida's attacks. Flagler County had two shark bites last year and Brevard had one bite on record.

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