Jimmy Johnston, a 55-year-old surfer who claims to have been surfing Florida’s Ponce de Leon Inlet for 45 years was bitten on the foot by a shark on Saturday, July 17, 2010, according to a story in the Daytona Beach News Journal.
Deputy Chief Mike Hensler said the surfer, identified as Jimmy Johnston, told Beach Patrol officers he was sitting on his surfboard with his feet out of the water Saturday near the Ponce de Leon Inlet’s south jetty. . . He said he saw a baitfish jump into the air nearby. It was followed by a small spinner shark, Hensler said. . . “The guy said the shark missed the fish, but grabbed his foot,” Hensler said. . . In alarm, Johnston pulled his right foot from the shark’s mouth, causing most of the injury, which consisted of two cuts to the top and seven to the bottom of the appendage, the deputy chief said.
Officials seem almost sad to say that this was only Volusia County’s second shark bite of the year. At this rate they’re going to lose their title as the “shark bite capital of the world.”
[Link: Daytona Beach News Journal]
