Volusia County Beach Patrol: Surfer bitten by shark off Ormond Beach

ORMOND BEACH -- A 37-year-old surfer was bitten in the calf by a shark 6:30 this morning near the Harvard Drive approach, Volusia County Beach Patrol officials said.

The surfer, Adrian Bronson, was surfing in shallow water Friday morning when he received a bite resulting in a minor puncture wound. Bronson declined to go the hospital and instead told lifeguards he was heading to work, Beach Patrol Capt. Tammy Marris said.

Volusia County has earned the moniker of "shark bite capital of the world" for its often double-digit bite reports annually, though the sharks are no bigger than 5- to 6-feet-long and not the man-eating great white sharks made famous in the 1970s movie "Jaws."

In fact, no fatal shark reports have ever been made in waters off Volusia County.

Most of the annual shark bite incidents occur in the surf near the South Jetty in New Smyrna Beach, where the first reported bite of 2011 occurred.

NSBNews.net, also known as VolusiaNews.net, provides Volusia County 24 / 7 Internet newspaper coverage, 100% free with breaking news, news of record and investigative reports from New Smyrna Beach, FL, for a 21st-century digital world.