Fla. Surfer Bitten by Shark
The Associated Press

Thursday, June 13, 2002; 1:35 PM NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. –– A surfer who was bitten in the foot last weekend was the victim of a shark, not a bluefish as was originally thought, hospital officials said.

Craig Taylor was sitting on his surfboard Sunday off New Smyrna Beach when he was bitten. Volusia County lifeguards who bandaged his foot first said the bite pattern could have been left by a bluefish.

He was taken to Bert Fish Medical Center, where the wound was further treated and he was released.

Spokeswoman Cathy Vaughn said hospital officials changed their diagnosis from bluefish to shark bite after re-examining their records, which included a description of the wounds.

Taylor, 50, said he was surprised to hear lifeguards thought he had been bitten by a bluefish. Bluefish bites generally are a U-shaped and about 3 inches long. Taylor said his bite was about 6 inches long, with a "double row of gashes and deep cuts.

"The Volusia County Beach Patrol previously has downplayed shark attacks, preferring to call less serious ones "nips."

"We're not experts on bites," Beach Patrol Capt. Rob Horster said Wednesday. "I bandage them up and ship them off."

There were 76 unprovoked shark attacks in the United States last year, 37 of them in Florida, according to the International Shark Attack File in Gainesville. Of the 37 attacks in Florida, 22 were in Volusia County.