Teen bitten by shark at Florida beach; 3rd bite in the county in one week

PONCE INLET, Fla. (WFTV) - A 14-year-old was bitten by a shark in Volusia County, Florida, on Monday, making it the third incident in the county in the last week.

“It’s an everyday thing here, I guess,” said Mario Mosesso, a beachgoer.

The incident happened as a group of junior lifeguards were racing into the water during a drill, and the boy ran into the shark.

His injuries were not life-threatening, and officials said beachgoers should not be concerned.

“I’ve been in the ocean since I got here so I’m not scared,” said Andie Tennant-Claus, another beachgoer.

Captain AJ Miller from Volusia Beach Safety said you shouldn’t be scared either.

“The amount of people we have coming to this beach compared to the amount of shark incidents we have is very minimal,” Miller said.

He witnessed Monday’s bite because it happened during a drill at the junior lifeguard camp.

The victim saw the shark and described it as a 4- or 5-foot black tip.

“It was a bite and release. It was more or less a surprise for the shark that the boy actually ran across him. The shark reacted, bit and swam away,” Miller said.

WFTV actually saw large sharks near the jetty when they went up in the sheriff’s helicopter on the Fourth of July.

But as Miller explains, those are not the same sharks that are biting people near the shore.

“This is a perfect example, it was a smaller size shark. A lot of people when they think of sharks, they think of these monstrous creatures, monstrous animals,” Miller said.

Miller can only think of one time in the past 20 years where a purple flag had to be flown for an excessive amount of shark bites.

But even that doesn’t stop people from getting in the water.

“I am not scared, I think they are sea puppies, and I think they’re cute,” Tennant-Claus said.

Beach safety experts recommend swimming in front of lifeguard towers so help can arrive quickly if needed.

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