NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A shark attacked an 18-year-old surfer Saturday, the ninth person bitten off the same beach in the past week.
Ben Gibbs was nipped on his upper left thigh and right foot. The attack occurred about a mile south of a one-mile stretch of beach that officials closed for the weekend, said Capt. Robert Horster of the Volusia County Beach Patrol.
The man was not seriously injured and was taken by friends to a hospital.
There have been at least 19 shark attacks off New Smyrna Beach this year — almost half the number reported in the world. The beach — about 15 miles south of Daytona Beach on the Atlantic coast— is considered one of Florida's best surfing spots, and the water contains numerous small fish, drawing the sharks.
But despite the attacks and warning signs posted along the beach, the sands were crowded Saturday with families and shark lovers carrying binoculars.
"There's no fear, but a lot of curiosity," said Rob Meagher, a bartender at The Breakers Restaurant and Ocean View Bar overlooking the closed area. "A lot of people are sitting and gawking." Two trucks patrolled the closed portion of the beach to keep people away.