A Florida surfer says he was bitten by a shark on the exact same beach where he was bitten in 2013. It doesn’t appear to have been the same shark.
Cole Taschman, 28, told Treasure Coast Newspapers he was surfing with friends at southeast Florida’s Bathtub Beach last week when either a bull or tiger shark measuring at roughly 9 feet, chomped at his feet as he was lying down and paddling against the current.
He’s recovering at home following a pair of surgeries and more than 90 stitches, with another operation possibly on the way. He tore four tendons in the Friday afternoon attack.
In 2013, a blacktip reef shark reportedly bit Taschman on his right hand, but took no fingers.
“Same beach, same exact rock, same place, same reef, same everything,” Taschman marvelled.
The injured surfer told Treasure Coast Newspapers he was fortunate not to have been on the waves alone last week. His friends accompanied him to the shore where one of the men crafted a tourniquet to slow the blood loss. Rather than waiting for an ambulance, the trio drove 15 minutes to Cleveland Clinic Martin North Hospital.
Taschman said he started to pass out in the car, but one of his pals dumped water on his head to keep him alert. The victim was eventually transferred to a West Palm Beach medical center for surgery.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission claims on its website that being bitten by a shark in that state’s waters is “extremely unlikely.”
It also warns “Do not enter the water if sharks are known to be present, and get out of the water if sharks are sighted.”