Sharks kill man kite-surfing off south Florida

MIAMI (Reuters) - Sharks bit and killed a Florida man who was kiteboard-surfing off the state's southern Atlantic Coast, sheriff's investigators said on Thursday.

It was Florida's first sharkbite death in five years, although the state averages about 21 shark attacks a year, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Lifeguard Daniel Lund told Martin County Sheriff's investigators that he saw a man down in the water with his kiteboard off Stuart Beach on Wednesday afternoon and swam out to him with a rescue board.

"Upon nearing, Lund saw blood in the water and heard the male screaming that a shark had bit him," the sheriff's report said.

The injured man stopped talking as the lifeguard swam ashore with him in tow. Paramedics were unable to revive him, and the victim, 38-year-old Stephen Schafer, died at a hospital without regaining consciousness, the report said.

Schafer had numerous bites on his hand and buttocks and an 8- to 10-inch (20- to 25-cm) gash on his thigh.

Local news reports said Schafer was encircled by several sharks when the lifeguard reached him, something that would be unusual in that area during the winter. Sharkbites are more common in the summer months.

(Reporting by Jane Sutton; Editing by Peter Cooney)