© 2026 ABC News

\"Photographer
Courtesy of Sam Scribner
Photographer Sam Scribner in undated photo.
>

\"I sincerely hope that the kid is not too scarred from the chomp & he's able to get back in the water as soon as possible,\" he wrote.

\"Doyle was right in the middle of my frame and the shark just hit him,\" Scribner told \"Good Morning America.\" \"It was over in a matter of seconds to it's crazy how quickly it happened.\"

Experts say that the winds from Hurricane Larry created strong surf, which also created a desirable environment for sharks that day.

\"There's a feeding frenzy that occurs on the beaches in the fall and as mullet and eventually other species of fish is moved out for the winter,\" George Burgess, director emeritus at the University of Florida, program for shark research, told \"Good Morning America.\" \"Of course, you throw in surfers in the middle of that surf and you're going to have an unholy mix that most inevitably results in a bite.''

\"PHOTO:
ABC News
PHOTO: Doyle Nielsen speaks to "Good Morning America," Sept. 15, 2021 about his shark attack in New Smyrna Beach, in Fla.
>

The incident at New Smyrna Beach is the latest in a string of shark incidents this year. As of Sept. 5, there have been 35 shark attacks in the U.S., according to the website, TrackingSharks.com. Twenty-three of those incidents happened in Florida, five in Hawaii and two in California.

While shark attacks and bites are rare, the majority of the incidents involve minor injuries, according to TrackingSharks.com. But for those living along the Atlantic coast of Florida, where the water is rough and bait fish feed, shark attacks may happen more frequently.

In August, 15-year-old Lucas Cruz, of Florida, was also bitten by a bull shark while lobster fishing with his family.

\"I looked in the water and all I saw was red,\" Cruz said. \"I didn't even see my leg. I couldn't see anything.\"

Cruz's injuries were so severe that he was flown to Burn and Reconstructive Centers of America at Kendall Regional Medical Center and treated for the wound. He had lacerations on both legs, tissue and muscle damage and a severed achilles. After having undergone extensive reconstructive surgeries and spending 11 days at Kendall Regional Medical Center, he's now recovering at home and using a wheelchair and walker to get around. Doctors say that they expect an \"excellent recovery.\"

\"His wounds have healed, his prognosis is excellent,\" Dr. Haaris Mir, medical director, Burn and Reconstructive Centers of America at Kendall Regional Medical Center, told \"Good Morning America.\" \"Kids with these kinds of injuries do fantastic and I anticipate a very rapid, excellent recovery for him.\"

Nielsen, luckily, walked away from his incident with minor injuries, and he said the experience won't to stop him from catching waves again in the future.

\"I'll definitely be surfing again, but I know that it'll affect my mindset,\" he said. \"I'll be a little more cautious in the water.\"

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Living/teen-surfer-bitten-shark-florida-speaks-terrifying-encounter/story?id=80026577","legacySlug":"/living/story/teen-surfer-bitten-shark-florida-speaks-terrifying-encounter-80026577","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"11:47","publishDate":"09-15-2021","updatedTime":"18:43","updatedDate":"09-15-2021","socialImage":{"alt":"Doyle Nielsen speaks to "Good Morning America," Sept. 15, 2021 about his shark attack in New Smyrna Beach, in Fla.","credit":"ABC News","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/interview-abc-ml-210915_1631706682489_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"9/15/2021 11:47:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":80026577,"headline":"Surfer bitten by shark speaks out about encounter","mediaAssetTitle":"210915 SHARK ATTACK GMA","description":"\"I'll be a little more cautious in the water,\" he said following the attack.","duration":"3:00","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2021/09/210915_gma_reeve_west_0734_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["133144263","132956835","132488083"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"video","date":"May 20, 2026","headline":"Fashion mogul’s son arrested in father’s fatal fall","section":"News","slug":"/video/133144263","id":"133144263","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: Fashion mogul’s son arrested in father’s fatal fall","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: Fashion mogul’s son arrested in father’s fatal fall","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260520_gma_ally_fall3_732_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}},{"contentType":"video","date":"May 14, 2026","headline":"Trump meets Xi Jinping in high-stakes Beijing summit","section":"News","slug":"/video/132956835","id":"132956835","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: Trump meets Xi Jinping in high-stakes Beijing summit","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: Trump meets Xi Jinping in high-stakes Beijing summit","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260514_gma_bruce_china1_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}},{"contentType":"video","date":"April 29, 2026","headline":"Grand jury indicts former FBI director over Instagram post","section":"News","slug":"/video/132488083","id":"132488083","image":{"alt":"VIDEO: Grand jury indicts former FBI director over Instagram post","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","width":384,"height":384},"images":{"alt":"VIDEO: Grand jury indicts former FBI director over Instagram post","credit":"ABCNews.com","crops":[{"16x9":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_16x9_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_16x9_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"9x16":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_9x16_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_9x16_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg"}},{"1x1":{"small":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_1x1_608.jpg","medium":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_1x1_992.jpg","large":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/260429_gma_thomas_comey2_706_hpMain_1x1_1600.jpg"}}]}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Surfer bitten by shark speaks out about encounter","description":"\"I'll be a little more cautious in the water,\" he said following the attack.","duration":"3:00","uploadDate":"09-15-2021","publication":"09-15-2021","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2021/09/210915_gma_reeve_west_0734_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2021/09/210915_gma_reeve_west_0734_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/living/story/teen-surfer-bitten-shark-florida-speaks-terrifying-encounter-80026577"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133694181","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133688738","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616358","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616342","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133522899","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133584123","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133579397","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133482839","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133390157","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133415361","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133414032","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133380485","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133358298","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133350119","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133307515","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133307527","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133282665","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133220149","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133179167","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144373","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:living:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"living","title":"Surfer bitten by shark speaks out about encounter","pubTime":"07:47","pubDate":"09-15-2021","modTime":"14:43","modDate":"09-15-2021","taxonomyTags":"none","id":80026577,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Surfer bitten by shark speaks out about encounter","mediaAssetTitle":"210915 SHARK ATTACK GMA","videoId":80026577,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/living/story/teen-surfer-bitten-shark-florida-speaks-terrifying-encounter-80026577"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/80026577","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/80026577","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};