VIRGINIA BEACH -- A Virginia Beach teen is recovering after being bitten by what paramedics believe is a shark on Friday afternoon.
Caleb Kauchak was in Sandbridge with friends when something grabbed his leg. He had a bite marks on a knee and ankle.
This is the time of year that many species of sharks migrate south along Virginia's coast.
Dr. Chip Cotton, a fisheries biologist at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester, says the teeth marks are the only way to identify what bit Kauchak.
This is the time of year that many species of sharks migrate south along Virginia's coast.
Dr. Cotton says it could have been a spinner shark, which is among the mot common sharks in Virginia waters.
"They were in the act of feeding and bit this young man's ankle purely by accident. There may have been a school of bait fish right in front of him and this may have been a purely accidental bite," he surmizes.
Another common shark is the sandbar shark.
VIMS has had a shark research program with a station at Sandbridge since 1973.
