The Orlando Sentinel posted the above video yesterday which shows a spinner shark (Carcharhinus brevipinna) jumping over a surfer. The video was shot by Sentinel photojournalist Jacob Langston at New Smyrna Beach. Langston’s attention was focused on another surfer and did not initially notice the spinner shark’s leap while filming. It was not until he got back to his office and was reviewing the footage that he realized he had captured the jumping shark on video.

WAVY.com is reporting that local shark experts “almost certain that it was a shark, maybe even two” that bit surfer Caleb Kauchak, last week.

According to the report, Dr. Jack Music, Professor Emeritus at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) is “certain it was a shark” and is “reasonably sure” that it was either a blacktip or spinner shark involved in the attack. Music has studied sharks for over forty years and has investigated previous attacks in the Virginia Beach area.

Speculation has run rampant in various media reports about what species bit the teen. The most recent WAVY.com report noted that there was speculation that the wounds could have been caused by bluefish, while an earlier WAVY.com report (seen above) mentioned a bull shark or sandbar shark as possible suspects.

According to a statement from Paul Barrington, the shark involved in the Wrighstville Beach incident was erroneously identified as a sand tiger shark.

Contrary to statements made in a WECT.com feature on the recent shark attack at Wrightsville Beach, Paul Barrington of the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher was quoted today in a Lumina News article as saying…

"A lot of the media has so far erroneously identified it as a sand tiger shark. It takes a tremendous amount of forensics to determine specifically what type of shark it is."

The WECT.com feature stated that Barrington believed that "a sand-tiger shark could have been the suspect" in the Wrightsville Beach incident. However, Barrington’s recent quotes seem to dispute that notion.

George Burgess stated in the Lumina News article that the species of shark involved will likely remain a mystery. Burgess and Barrington confirmed the shark was approximately 4′ in length. Barrington’s list of suspected species include the small sharpnose shark (the species with presently the largest population in coastal NC), the dusky, the sandbar, the lemon, the black tip or the spinner shark, according to the Lumina News article.

Juvenile great white sharks (Carcharodon Carcharias), though rare, can be found off the coast of Florida during the winter months, along with several other shark species.

The Palm Beach Post has a cleverly crafted article with a headline “possibly” identifying the species involved in yesterday’s fatal shark attack of a Stuart, Florida kite boarder. The headline, Expert: Young great white sharks possibly involved in fatal Stuart attack, is followed up with the statement credited to Grant Gilmore noting that “young great white sharks — the fish of Jaws notoriety — are among suspects in Wednesday’s fatal attack off Stuart’s coast.” However, if you read far enough into the article, it states that Gilmore would NOT guess which species was involved, since the only available information about the attack was early news reports.

The article goes on to discuss yesterday’s shark attack and mentions three other species common to the area that are cited as being “known to attack humans” but notes that these three species (bull sharks, tiger sharks, and great hammerhead sharks) prefer warmer waters and tend to leave the area in the winter.

Despite the tendency for these species to leave the area in the winter, tiger shark sightings were reported just last week at Riviera Beach, approximately 35 miles north of yesterday’s attack. In addition, a shark which at least one news source identified as a great hammerhead, was also caught on Riviera Beach last week. That same report indicates that bull sharks are common in the area this time of year.

While there is nothing dishonest, per se, about the story’s headline identifying a “possible” suspected species, the nudging of the reader towards the idea that great white sharks (“of Jaws notoriety,” no less) were behind the attack is fairly prominent, despite no evidence being available at the time of the report to indicate the species. So, while the article is not necessarily dishonest, I find it a bit misleading at best. Other news agencies are eating up the Palm Beach Post article and running their own similar stories, including the LA Times article,
Young great white sharks may have killed Stuart surfer, expert says.

While it may turn out that great white sharks were, in fact, involved in this tragic attack, running headlines based on a few statements suggesting a possibility that great white sharks were the culprits is simply irresponsible reporting. Given the limited information that was available when the statements were made, speculation by news agencies falls outside of the realm of objective reporting, and is irresponsible journalism, at best, especially considering the fact that the expert who was questioned on the subject specifically stated that there was not enough information to even guess the species.

According to South Florida’s WPTV.com, Riviera Beach on Singer Island was closed for multiple days last week due sightings of a large number of sharks in the area.

A majority of the sharks were identified as spinner sharks, but the report states that a few tiger sharks were also spotted, as well.

Check out the aerial footage to get an idea of just how many sharks were in the area at the time.