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At least two people in the area are recovering from shark bites. The latest victim is a 12-year-old boy, who was attacked at Fernandina Beach.
Joshua Bitner Jr.’s right leg is tightly bandaged and he's a little sore after being attacked by the shark.
“I felt something grab my leg and then grab my leg again,” Bitner said.
Bitner said he was at Fernandina Beach on Sunday with his family and went to look for seashells when he was attacked by a shark. What he did next was instinct.
“I pulled the shark out of the water by its fin and punched it,” Bitner said. “I couldn't say anything but'Shark,' and I was just screaming shark over and over again.”
Bitner managed to get away but had some serious injuries to his knee.
Earlier in the weekend, swimmers said they left the beach because of what they saw.
“Saw like four or five foot sharks come out,” said Tyler Harrison.
Bitner wasn’t the only one who was attacked this weekend. An hour south in Vilano Beach, another man was bitten on the hand.
The man sent Action News Jax photos that show teeth marks.
Action News Jax reached out to a shark expert in Gainesville and learned since the first of this year, there have been 16 shark bites in Florida, and that does not include these two cases that happened over the weekend.
Northeast Florida has had some memorable shark attacks. Last week, a 20-year-old was attacked in Jacksonville Beach by a shark. One month before that, a 9-year-old girl was also attacked in Jacksonville Beach.
Bitner said he may go back into the ocean one day but will take something with him, just in case.
“If I do go back in the water, I will have a knife on me, if I do go back in the water,” he said.
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