Witness: Shark bite victim was man `bitten right through wet suit`

April 03--JUPITER -- A commercial diver is in stable condition at St. Mary's Medical Center after he was bitten by a shark in his upper torso and shoulder "right through his wet suit" several miles off Jupiter Inlet.

The victim, a white male in his 50s or 60s, had blood on the front and back of his right shoulder, and also on his neck when he was brought into the Jupiter Inlet Park on the commercial dive boat at the U-Tiki restaurant, said Sean Tobin, a boat detailer who saw the boat arrive.

"There was a lot of blood. He was hurting bad. His eyes were closed. You could tell he was really in pain. He had been bitten right through his wet suit," Tobin said.

Medical officials loaded the injured man on an ambulance and transported him to an awaiting TraumaHawk.

"I've gotten a couple minor bites on the hand, but never like that," said Tobin, 31, who also dives. "Seeing someone bit like that really shakes you up."

The boat was spearfishing for cobia in about 50 feet of water with about five feet of visibility, according to bystanders who overheard the man explain what happened when he was attacked.

"(One diver) speared a cobia and the two started swimming up to the boat," said Cam Wagner, 20, who works for Jupiter Inlet Boat Rental and was at the scene when the boat came into Jupiter Inlet. "(One diver) dropped the cobia in the boat. That's when the shark, seeing the food he pursuing was gone, bit the other diver."

A small crowd of about 15 gathered on shore near the man, who was leaning back and sitting up, Tobin said.

Wagner said the diver speculated that a bull shark was the likely culprit. The bite on the man's shoulders showed deep puncture marks through the wet suit. There were no signs of thrashing, he said.

"When they peeled off the man's wet suit, it was embedded in his skin from the shark's teeth," said Wagner, of Hobe Sound. "They just pulled the wet suit out of his skin."

Crews responded at 1:11 p.m. to the incident, according to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Capt. Albert Borroto, who said he did not know what type of shark bit the person.

According to George Burgess, Director of the shark program at the University of Florida Museum for Natural History, it is only the second shark bite in Florida this year. The first was off the coast of Indian River County.

There have only been two other bites in the United States this year and no deaths. There have been 12 worldwide in 2015 with two fatalities.

Burgess said because the bite happened farther off shore, it could be one of the bigger sharks such as a bull or tiger shark that sometimes swim in the warm Florida waters.

"Of course, without knowing anything, it's pure speculation, but the fact that the person was brought in from a boat off shore suggests it might be a more serious injury," Burgess said. "With spear fishing, there is a greater chance of a hostile attack."

Burgess said more common shark bites tend to be closer to shore from smaller sharks such as spinners or black tips.

Records show there were two reported shark bites in Palm Beach County last year.

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