A videographer caught the moment a teen was bitten by a shark on camera.
Doyle Nielsen, 16, was visiting Ponce Inlet, Florida with his family Sept. 9, when they headed to the beach to catch some waves.
He was one of over 100 surfers hitting the swells that Hurricane Larry was pushing in from offshore.
Just after noon, the Georgia teen was about 100 yards offshore when he saw several marine creatures.
“There were mullet jumping in the area . . . we also saw a porpoise and tarpon,” Nielsen told Tracking Sharks.
Quadriplegic photographer Sam Scribner, who has a passion for surfing, was videoing the action when he captured two sharks riding the waves among the surfers.
Nielsen was unaware of the sharks as he paddled out around 100 feet to catch a wave. Around 1:20 p.m. Scribner had the teen in his view finder at the exact moment a shark hit Nielsen’s right arm.
At first Nielsen thought another surfer had struck him with a surfboard, but then heard someone yell “shark!”.
The teen quickly headed to shore where another surfer checked on him.
Nielsen walked up to his mother and told her he had been bitten and at first, she thought he was joking. Then she saw the blood.
Emergency personnel wrapped up the wound and Nielsen went to the hospital where he received 9 stitches.
Despite the injury, he plans to get back in the ocean as soon as he can.
“Heck yeah! I’ll be out in the water when I can,” he said.
Nielsen’s shark bite is the 10th this year in the area.
The 9th bite in the area occurred on Aug. 7 at New Smyrna Beach. An unidentified Sanford man had just entered the knee-deep water after 10 a.m. when a small shark bit his right foot.
The patient’s minor wounds were treated on scene before he left in a private vehicle.
And, in Brevard County, a surfer is thanking a police officer for saving her life.
Gretta Lowry was enjoying the clean and clear water off Block House Beach, Patrick Space Force Base, June 28. As she was paddling back out to catch another set, a bull shark grabbed her thigh and then her calf.
Despite bleeding heavily, the mother of two was able to paddle back to shore and alert one of her friends who called 911.
Her friends placed a towel over her wounds until first responders arrived.
When Officer Christy Kalicharan arrived, she saw how bad the wound was. She quickly placed a tourniquet and helped calm Lowry, who was going into shock, before Lowry was rushed to the hospital.
Lowry credits Kalicharan’s quick actions for saving her life.
All locations have been marked on the 2021 Shark Attack Map.
