Shark attack on Bathtub Beach
For the second time in his life, Cole Taschman, a local surfer and fishing charter captain, has faced the jaws of a shark at Bathtub Beach in Martin County. The incident has reignited the debate around the infamous “Florida Man” stereotype, often used to describe the state’s more outrageous characters.
Should a surfer who’s been bitten once by a shark at the same spot on the same beach be surprised if they get attacked again?
The “beast” hit him from behind
Taschman, now 28, was surfing with friends on October 25 when an estimated eight-foot shark attacked him, biting both his feet simultaneously. As Taschman recounted:
“It happened so fast…”
Taschman described the shark as a “beast” that hit him from behind. His friends, quick to react, used their surf leashes to form a tourniquet and stop the bleeding as they raced to the nearest hospital.
Same beach, same spot
But most notable, is that this wasn’t Taschman’s first encounter with a shark. Back in 2013, when he was just 16, a blacktip reef shark bit his hand at the same beach, or as he put it: