STUART, FL--It was likely a bull shark, not a tiger shark, that inflicted the fatal bite wound on kiteboarder Stephen Schafer last week south of Stuart Beach, a shark expert concluded after comparing his collection of jaws to autopsy photographs.
Biologist Grant Gilmore said bite scars on Schafer’s thigh showed different upper and lower jaws. This is characteristic of five species of local sharks. But only one species, the bull shark, would produce the bite pattern he saw in the photographs.
“This species (bull shark) is relatively common locally, as it enters the Indian River Lagoon to give birth each summer, enters freshwater tributaries throughout Florida and is encountered on nearshore reef formations,” said Gilmore, senior scientist for Estuarine, Coastal and Ocean Science in Vero Beach, “There is an artificial reef south of the attack site that is actually called the ‘Bull Shark Barge’ due to the frequency of bull shark occurrence at this location.”
Gilmore compared shark jaws with autopsy photos at the 19th Circuit Medical Examiner’s Office in Fort Pierce on Monday, under the supervision of Assistant Medical Examiner Dr. Linda O’Neil.
Twelve years ago, Gilmore identified the type of fish involved in the Treasure Coast’s only other fatal shark attack. He matched bite patterns on the remains of 9-year-old James Willie Tellasmon to that of a 6-foot tiger shark.
Gilmore has been in communication about last Wednesday’s attack with George Burgess, director of the University of Florida’s Program for Shark Research. On Thursday, Burgess visited the Medical Examiner’s Office and took photographs.
Burgess narrowed the suspect shark species to either a bull or tiger, but had to leave for a scientific conference in Hawaii before concluding his work.
