Former Navy SEAL survives shark attack

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Aug. 9 (UPI) -- A Florida man was recovering Monday from four hours of surgery to repair damage done by a shark attack, the St. Petersburg Times reported.

James Tiffee, a 47-year-old former Navy SEAL, was swimming near his house at dusk Sunday when a 4-foot shark bit him several times, officials said.

Doctors at the VA Medical Center at Bay Pines found the shark had bitten a roughly 1 square-foot piece out of Tiffee's back and left other bite marks on his buttocks, his left hand and the left side of his face.

The initial surgery took four hours and Tiffee is expected to be in the hospital for about a week.

Experts suggested the attacker may have been a bull shark.