Associated Press

Shark attack victim Jaison Valentin,19, recovering at his home in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., yesterday, demonstrates how a shark grabbed his hand. Valentin was one of six surfers attacked by sharks over the weekend in Volusia County. Valentin, who suffered serious tendon damage, said he would be back surfing after his hand heals.

Tuesday September 4, 2001

Virginia Beach, Va. - Patrol boats yesterday searched for more sharks off Virginia Beach, Va., after a 10-year-old boy was fatally attacked by a shark on summer's final holiday weekend. David Peltier, of Richmond, Virginia, was pronounced dead at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters at 3:45 a.m. EDT Sunday, hours after Saturday evening's attack severed the main artery in his left thigh, resulting in significant blood loss, a hospital spokesman said.

The youngster bled to death because of a torn femoral artery, according to a statement released by the Virginia Beach police, citing the state medical examiner. No sharks have been spotted by the patrol boats since Saturday.

Lifeguards have been briefed on searching for signs of sharks. At any sign of sharks, lifeguards would require swimmers to leave the water. Beaches were open yesterday, but most vacationers were staying on the sand.

"I'd just as soon keep my kids out of the water, and not take my chances," one woman on the beach told CNN. "I don't want to test fate in any way."

Emergency medical service officials urged swimmers to be alert and use caution in the ocean, especially in nonguarded areas. But they noted that the incident was just a freak occurrence and did not warrant officials to close the beaches.

David was surfing with his father, Richard Peltier, and his brothers Saturday evening, on a sandbar about 50 yards offshore. The shark attacked in 4-foot deep waters.

"They were not in an isolated or dangerous place," Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf told reporters yesterday. She said it was the first known shark attack on a swimmer in the city's recorded history.

Witnesses said the father hit the shark over the head to try to get it to release his son. "I mean, you could actually see him fighting off the shark and sort of pushing the shark away and pulling the kid," one witness said. "There were shark bites all along his leg. It also looked like the shark might have got him right inside the thigh. He lost a lot of blood. He had two brothers who also had their surfboards and they were just standing on the beach crying hysterically."

James Peltier called his brother a hero for trying to save David's life. "My brother's hands, he got 12 stitches across his right hand from trying to pry the shark's mouth open, and he did everything he could do to get his son released from that shark," Peltier said. "My brother is a hero. No one knows how to deal with something like this. It's terrible, it's like a bad dream and nobody wants to be in it."

The boy's family released a statement through the hospital saying they "appreciate the expressions of concern, sympathy and support they have received from the community" and asking that prayers continue on their behalf.

Maylin White, curator for the Virginia Marine Science Museum, said that sharks typically found in Virginia Beach waters are small varieties, such as the sandbar and sand tiger. Larger types, such as tiger and bull sharks, are rarely found, he said. White said he thought a sandbar shark could have been responsible for the attack, but that was not confirmed.

This year, a total of 49 shark attacks, including the one in Virginia Beach, have been reported to the International Shark Attack File, based at the University of Florida. Thirty-eight of those were in the United States, 28 in Florida.

Before this weekend, only five shark attacks - none fatal - had been recorded in Virginia. The center covers data across the world on shark attacks since the mid-1500s. When asked what constituted a "shark attack," George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File said, "We count 'em all, if it involves a shark and a bite."

One other fatality has been reported so far this year - in Brazil. The tally of two deaths is far lower than the annual average of eight fatalities that have been recorded during the past decade, Burgess said. The number of total shark attacks would be lower than last year as the summer comes to a close, he said.

Sharks were over-fished in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and they are slowly recovering, Burgess said.

"The saddest part of this story, outside of the boy's death, is that certain people (will use) this to manipulate their own goals based on this... to go out and kill more sharks," he said.