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Man gets 30 stitches following Vilano Beach shark attack

By Letisha Bereola, Action News Jax
By Letisha Bereola, Action News Jax
A 22-year-old is recovering Wednesday night from an apparent shark bite while surfing at Vilano Beach Tuesday.
 
David Morrison, 22, says it all happened in a matter of seconds.
 
“My foot was completely covered in blood,” Morrison said.
 
He said the shark bit his ankle Tuesday while he was lying on his surfboard.
 
This is the fifth shark attack on our local beaches in the last two weeks.
 
Two occurred at Vilano Beach and one each at Fernandina Beach, Big Talbot Island and Jacksonville Beach.

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The string of attacks began on Sept. 17, with a shark bite in Jacksonville Beach. Since then, there have been shark bite victims in all of northeast Florida's coastal counties.
 
George Burgess from the University of Florida's international shark attack file says Morrison was likely bit by a 6-foot blacktip shark.
 
"We call these attacks, 'hit-and-run attacks' because it was a quick grab and let go," Burgess said.
 
He says more attacks along Northeast Florida shores are likely this fall.
 
"We've had a lot of reports of increased fish activity in Northeast Florida in the last couple of weeks," Burgess said.

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“When you put in surfers in the mix -- it’s going to increase the interactions between sharks and humans,” Burgess said.

Morrison says he will be back out on the water soon doing what he loves again, but he will never forget the pain of the bite.
 
“Like someone holding a handful of knives with the blades all pointed out and just thrusting it into your foot,”
 
Burgess says murky water is likely to blame for the shark bite. He said the shark most likely thought Morrison’s leg was a fish.

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