Incident Mar. 24, 2012 - Florida - Joey Coppola

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March 24, 2012
Joey Coppola
New Smyrna Beach, Florida

At approximately 2pm, Joey Coppola, 21, was surfing in about 4-feet of water near the south jetty at New Smyrna Beach when he was bitten on the foot by an unidentified shark. He had minor lacerations and declined medical treatment after the bite but planned on having a friend drive him to the hospital.

Source:
www.news-journalonline.com

Incident Mar. 15, 2012 - Florida - Frank A. Wacha Jr.

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March 15, 2012
Frank A. Wacha Jr.
Jensen Public Beach, Florida

61 year-old Frank A. Wacha Jr. has been surfing for the past 50 years. Thursday was the first time he had ever been bitten by a shark. Wacha was surfing in choppy, murky water 120-150 yards off of Jensen Public beach when he felt something attach itself to his left arm.

"It felt just like I had been hit," said Wacha "My arm was out of the water," he said. "I looked over and saw this shark. We were eye to eye."

Immediately after biting him, the 5-foot bull shark let go and disappeared beneath the murky water.

"The first thing I thought was, 'I need to get a wave and get to shore,'" Wacha said. "Then I thought, 'I hope I don't lose function in this arm.' I knew I wasn't going to lose the arm because it was still attached."

Wacha was able to stay on his surfboard and paddle into shore. Lifeguards were able to stop the bleeding and his wife drove him to the hospital. The bite mark reaches from his forearm to his upper arm, thankfully there was no permanent damage.

Incident Mar. 14, 2012 - Florida - Sydney Levy

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March 14, 2012
Sydney Levy
New Smyrna beach, Florida

Valeh Levy and her 15-year-old daughter Sydney had just paddled out on their surfboards when Sydney was suddenly pulled off her board and disappeared beneath the water.

She surfaced again, a moment later and got back on her board as her mother watched in horror.

"She got back on her board, and there was her ankle … She put her ankle up, and she looked at it, and there was blood coming off of it"

The shark then grabbed her a second time.
Valeh Levy then sprang into action:

"I said, 'There's no way this thing is going to kill my daughter,' and I grabbed her shoulders, and I pulled her up on my board."

Mother and daughter were assisted back to the beach by two other surfers who saw the attack and came to their aid.

An ambulance was already at the beach because another surfer, 17-year-old Nick Romano, had been attacked be a shark moments before. Sydney was rushed into surgery but relased later that night.

Sources:
www.huffingtonpost.com
www.news.com.au

Incident Mar. 14, 2012 - Florida - Nick Romano

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Nick Romano, 17, was surfing in chest-deep water near the jetty at popular New Smyrna Beach in Florida, when a shark bit him on the back of his leg.

"I sat on my board and felt this tug, and I kind of jerked over and the shark bit on my leg. He said his first reaction was to try to bat the shark away. "I caught his tail, and I kind of pushed him off."

Romano recieved nasty lacerations to his calf. He was able to drive himself to the hospital and was released later that same night. Romano needed 17 stitches to close the eight inch gash on his calf. Here is video interview done by WFTV Channel 9 with Nick Romano.

Minutes after Romano was bitten, 15-year-old Sydney Levy was also attacked by a shark. The most likely suspects are Bull sharks.

There are more incidents of shark attacks in the concentrated area of New Smyrna Beach than any similar length of coastline in the world.

Source:
www.wftv.com

Incident Mar. 4, 2012 - Florida - Justin Worrall

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March 4, 2012
Justin Worrall
Playa Linda beach, Florida

Justin Worrall was kitesurfing off Playa Linda beach when he was bitten by a shark two times on his leg and foot. Worrall said that he didn't know what had happened until he turned around and saw the shark's fin pop out of the water.

"I felt something kind of tugging on my leg, so I dove the kite and pulled my foot out and I looked at my foot and it was all bloody. So I hopped on my board and rode back in," Worrall said.

His brother Chad posted a photo of the bite on Facebook.



Sources: miami.cbslocal.com www.wftv.com

Incident Feb. 26, 2012 - Florida - Jason Lasser

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February 26, 2012
Jason Lasser
Singer Island, Florida

On a downwinder from Singer Island, crossing the Palm Beach inlet, kiteboarder Jason Lasser collided with what he believes was a Spinner shark.

We were both cruising along, minding our own business and simply didn’t see each other. Absolutely no hard feelings, I hope he/she is OK (that’s one hard head they’ve got). Very impressed with how solid and stable it was in the water – I thought I hit concrete even though I was on an 8-10ft swell that was about to break, 100 yards from the shore.

Mr. Lasser's right foot required surgery to repair nerves, tendons and a nasty laceration.

Sources:
www.aspendailynews.com
www.blogthebeach.com

Spinner Shark
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