FLAGLER BEACH, Fla. — DNA has helped solve a shark bite mystery that started 25 years ago in Flagler County.

Jeff Weakley was bitten by a shark while surfing off Flagler Beach in 1994. 

But he never saw the shark, and even though he got stitches at the hospital, he never knew what kind of shark it was, until now.

Weakley said last year he got a blister from running and discovered it had a hard edge. A tiny fragment of a shark tooth was inside.

He took it to the University of Florida, which is home for the Florida Program for Shark Research at the Florida Museum of Natural History and submitted the tooth for DNA testing.

Researchers were surprised that there was enough DNA in the fragment to compare it to their shark database. 

They determined the tooth was from a blacktip shark.

According to the museum, 70 percent of shark bites are caused by unidentified species. But more precise data could help in improving strategies to  reduce the seriousness of shark bites.

Blacktip sharks migrate between Massachusetts and Brazil, but UF's International Shark Attack File says they are abundant in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.

As for Weakley, he says he still surfs.