Kauai man says he was bitten by shark

Surfer receives 16 stitches on foot

By Kenny Choi

 UPDATED 9:20 AM HST Aug 03, 2012

A Kauai resident was bitten by a shark late Monday afternoon.  

Steve Stotts, 44, has been surfing at Mahaulepu Beach for twelve years.  But, his last dip in the water turned out to be something he'll remember for the rest of his life.

"I felt a deep clamp.  No pain, but a hard clamp.  I didn't even want to look.  I just started paddling back and started yelling, 'I got bit. I got bit'," said Stotts. 

The attack happened about 100 yards offshore near Gillian's surf break in Poipu.  

He says he saw a monk seal nearby just before the attack. 

"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  The shark was chasing the seal and I got in the middle. He took a test bite and then wanted something with a little more meat," said Stotts. 

Stotts admitted he never saw the shark, but judging from the bite marks on his foot and after talking to doctors, he can guess exactly what it was.

"Once we cleaned off the blood and looked at the teeth wounds, we could tell it was a classic tiger shark.  It's got a hook in the back," said Stotts. 

Stott's wife took him to the hospital, where doctors put sixteen stitches on the top of his foot and a few more on the bottom.

Despite all the blood and mental shock of a shark attack, Stotts says he's lucky. 

"if the shark bit me at a different angle, I could have lost a foot," said Stotts.  "I always wondered, 'does it hurt?'  Now I know.  But I'm lucky I didn't lose anything." 

Doctors told Stotts it will take four to six weeks before he's fully healed.

Stotts says he's ready to go back in the water already.