A spate of shark encounters and sightings has led to a flurry of warnings to surfers and swimmers along the Central Coast, including at Santa Barbara Island in Channel Islands National Park.

The Santa Barbara Island Landing Cove was the scene of a recent great white shark attack on a California sea lion.

Despite the heightened awareness, a surfer was bitten by a shark Friday evening near Silver Shoals off Shell Beach. Derek Crane, 19, of San Luis Obispo, was bitten on the foot by what he described as a four-foot brown shark with dark spots. A friend drove him to a nearby hospital for treatment of a laceration.

National park officials last week issued a public notice for those wishing to visit Santa Barbara Island. Great white sharks have been observed in the area attacking California sea lions although there have been no shark attacks on humans there.

There have been three known attacks on sea lions by great white sharks in the past few months, including one at the Santa Barbara Island Landing Cove, the only access point on the one-square-mile isle. Hordes of sea lions enjoy hauling out on the barnacle-encrusted rocks surrounding the cove. Two other attacks occurred off Cat Canyon on the rugged southeast side of the island.

Officials warned the public to enter the water at their own risk until further notice. The windswept island is a popular destination for day hikers, campers, divers and kayakers.

Santa Barbara Island is home to one of the largest California sea lion rookeries in the state — numbering in the thousands — and a smaller northern elephant seal rookery with hundreds of the animals.

via Great White Shark Warnings Issued at Channel Islands National Park – Noozhawk.com.

It’s probably not what you want to hear as you head out for your Fourth of July trip to the beach, but the Coast Guard has issued a shark advisory for the waters off New England.

Just days after a fisherman caught a 7-foot great white shark off Massachusetts, the agency is warning swimmers and boaters to be alert.

“I have no doubt that a Great White Shark that swims into your comfort zone would surely find a splashing paddle or dangling hand inviting,” First Coast Guard District recreational boating specialist Al Johnson said.

Shark attacks on humans in the Northeast are rare.

The last unprovoked shark attack off Massachusetts was in 1936, according to the Cape Cod Times.

The last report of a shark attack in Connecticut was on Aug. 24, 1960 in Seaside Park, off the coast of Bridgeport, according to records maintained by the Ichthyology Department at the University of Florida.

A 38-year-old Stratford man sought medical attention for what he said was a shark bike.

George Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research and web editor for the International Shark Attack File, said he would not discount what his colleagues deemed a shark bite, but what’s a little worrisome about the report is that shark attacks are “extremely rare” on the Long Island Sound and this was the only one in Connecticut.

The person to report the bike shark was also noted to have gone “shark hunting” in the past in New York, Burgess said.

“My colleagues 50 years ago has ruled it a shark attack. I’m not going to trump their call at this point,” he said.

There were, however, other sightings, he said, and there were more reports of people seeing fins.

via Sharks!!! Coast Guard Says Beware | NBC Connecticut.

Hearing the ominous “Jaws” theme music after Saturday’s great white shark sighting 20 miles off the Scituate coast? State environmental officials have some advice: tune it out.

“For common-sense swimmers, they (great whites) don’t pose a threat,” Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles said. “People should enjoy the beaches. Obviously, if you see a large population of seals, you’ll probably want to avoid swimming in the middle of a bunch of them.”

Still, the number of great whites in New England waters may be on the rise, according to experts, who point out that the sharks love to feast on gray seals, whose populations have surged since protections were put in place in the 1970s.

“We’ve been seeing a slow increase over the past 10 years in the number of credible (great white) sightings,” said Dr. Greg Skomal, a biologist with the state Division of Marine Fisheries. “White sharks have been here; they will continue to be here. This is part of their normal migratory pattern.”

Several sharks were spotted last summer off Monomoy Island, near Chatham, a popular place for gray seals. Warnings for swimmers were posted.

Five great whites off Cape Cod were electronically tagged, allowing state biologists to learn about their migratory habits through satellite tracking.

Four of the sharks left southern New England by October and wintered in waters off northern Florida. The latest tag to surface was off North Carolina in mid-April.

The shark spotted Saturday was a juvenile about 7 feet long and weighing about 150 pounds. It was caught by the sport fishing boat Sweet Dreams III about 20 miles offshore on Stellwagen Bank. The shark was tagged and released.

While more great white sightings are expected, officials said beach closings are unlikely. Such decisions are generally made by towns, Bowles said.

The last fatal shark attack in Massachusetts occurred in 1936 near Mattapoisett.

The attacks depicted in the 1975 hit film “Jaws” – filmed on Martha’s Vineyard – made many people consider the great white shark among the planet’s most feared creatures. Scientists say the mythology is not backed up by fact.

via State officials downplay danger after shark sighting – Quincy, MA – The Patriot Ledger.

Is it just me or has there been an awful lot of shark news lately? Hint: it’s not just me.

Not one, but two attacks took place last Friday when a shark bit a 6-year-old girl in South Carolina and another shark bit a 13-year-old from North Carolina. And in early June a shark bit an 18-year-old girl in Georgia. Fortunately, no limbs (or lives!) were lost.

But there have also been several shark sightings in the Hamptons near New York City, and recently and a great white shark was caught and then released in Massachusetts.

Now the U.S. National Park Service has announced that they are issuing an “enter waters at your own risk” warning for the area around Santa Barbara Island in Southern California. The Wednesday warning was due to three great white shark attacks on sea lions in the area and is in effect until further notice.

Holiday weekend, beautiful locations, and great white sharks. This sounds either like a movie plot or one of my worst nightmares.

And in a crazy coincidence, this summer marks the 35th anniversary of the release of Jaws. Which, if you didn’t already know, features one of the creepiest movie scenes ever, where the old fisherman, Quint, recounts the story of the USS Indianapolis. Terrifying!

via Shark Attack 2010: Feds Warn Southern California About Great Whites – TIME NewsFeed.

There’s a scene near the beginning of one of the Naked Gun movies in which Lieutenant Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) shoos people from a crime scene by saying: “Nothing to see here. Keep it moving. Nothing to see.’’ Behind him, there are gunshots, explosions, bodies hitting the pavement.

This is what came immediately to mind as Ian Bowles and Gregory Skomal told the people of Massachusetts this week that there’s nothing to fear from the great white sharks that have taken up residence along our shores.

Bowles is the state secretary of environmental affairs; Skomal is the state’s shark expert, which I hope is not a patronage job. The thrust of their advice was not to swim with seals — i.e., shark food — in warm water.

Thank you, gentlemen. And may I add that you should never jump out a window more than five stories high.

Ian and Greg were, not coincidentally, standing on dry land as they announced the ocean was perfectly safe. Perhaps their proclamation would have carried a little more weight if Bowles donned a wetsuit and held his next news conference in the surf off Lighthouse Beach.

That’s not going to happen. The governor of this coastal state decided to build his vacation house 130 miles inland. Our lieutenant governor is from landlocked Worcester. They know the ocean like J.D. Drew knows how to play through pain.

Which is to say that as much as Frank Drebin comes to mind, there’s another fictional character that may be even more relevant to the moment: Larry Vaughn. Vaughn was the mayor of Amity in the blockbuster “Jaws,’’ Amity being an awful lot like Edgartown, “Jaws’’ providing a prelude to what could be happening in real life. When the gouged body of a tourist washed ashore just before the July 4 holiday, Vaughn, like Bowles, said there was no reason in the world why people shouldn’t swim.

Several bodies later, there seemed to be reason after all.

We dodged fate last summer. There were so many great whites at the Cape that they were just about ordering Tanqueray and tonics around the pool at Chatham Bars Inn. An awful lot of perfectly nice seals suddenly found themselves on the lower links of the food chain, though fortunately, no human swimmers lost so much as a toe.

But how long can our good fortune go on? Bowles and Skomal are betting forever; I’m not so sure. It’s only June and a Gloucester-based fisherman videotaped a juvenile great white swimming off Scituate. The fisherman pegged this youngster at 200 pounds. Skomal, a master of underestimation, had him at 150. Trust me, 50 pounds either way isn’t going to matter if you’re pretending to be Tom Brady with a Nerf football and you find the shark in waist-deep water doing a safety blitz.

A quick Google search reveals that mother sharks give birth to anywhere from one to 14 politely-termed “pups,’’ meaning there could be 13 siblings in the area. Answers.com also indicates that mothers like to watch over their juvenile children — and something tells me they’re not the most laid-back caregivers.

I called Skomal, a widely respected biologist, but his voice mail message said he was “in the field.’’ I’d prefer my shark expert be in the water, but that may just be me.

We live in a state where the government seizes up at the mere prediction of snow. Kids are required to sit in booster seats until just about college. And along comes something truly deserving of every ounce of our fear, great white sharks, and state officials take pains to say they’re no big deal after all.

I can only speak for myself, but I’m not going in the water. To be honest, I won’t even take a bath.

Cape Cod has the largest concentration of miniature golf courses and batting cages on the planet. This long holiday weekend, I’d urge you to make good use of every one of them.

via State’s little white lie – The Boston Globe.

VENTURA, Calif.—Federal wildlife officials are warning swimmers to enter the water at their own risk after great white sharks were spotted feasting on sea lions around the Channel Islands.

The National Park Service says there have been three attacks on California sea lions in the past few months near Santa Barbara Island.

There have been no attacks on humans but because of the potential risk a warning was instituted Wednesday and will remain in effect until further notice.

Officials say great white sightings in Southern California are rare. Migrating sharks usually pass through without stopping for meals.

via Swimmers warned of sharks off SoCal coast – San Jose Mercury News.

BOSTON — State officials and shark experts moved quickly to reassure beachgoers Monday after a tuna boat snagged a great white shark, the first confirmed sighting in Massachusetts waters this summer of one of the sea’s most feared creatures.

The juvenile shark — 6 to 7 feet long and weighing an estimated 150 pounds — was pulled up by Gloucester-based Sweet Dream III on Saturday some 20 miles off the coast in the rich fishing ground known as Stellwagen Bank. The crew tagged the shark and returned it to the sea.

“Sharks are some of the most poorly understood creatures in the sea,” said state Secretary of Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles. “They’re very elusive, hard to track and there’s not a very large body of information about (them).”

But on the danger to humans, Bowles was more certain: “For commonsense swimmers, they don’t pose a threat,” he said.

Common sense, he explained, meant not swimming amid a gathering of seals, a favorite food of great whites.

The last fatal shark attack off Massachusetts was nearly 75 years ago. Indeed, the state’s most famous shark attacks are fictional: The 1975 blockbuster film “Jaws” was shot on Martha’s Vineyard, and the movie is credited with creating a Hollywood-style mythology around great whites that scientists say is not backed up by fact.

Still, experts acknowledge that visits by great whites to New England waters may be on the rise.

“We’ve been seeing a slow increase over the past 10 years in the number of credible sightings,” said Dr. Greg Skomal, a biologist with the state Division of Marine Fisheries, who added that most perceived great white sightings turn out to be something more benign — basking sharks, for example.

Skomal said great whites enjoy feasting on gray seals, the population of which has exploded since protections were put in place in the 1970s. Monomoy Island off Chatham has become one of the more popular gathering spots for gray seals, and swimmers in the area were warned last summer after several sharks were spotted.

Officials said they anticipate more great white sightings this summer but did not foresee beach closings, though Bowles said those decisions are generally made by towns.

The tag placed on the shark would only be useful to scientists if the animal were ever recaptured.

A year ago, state biologists successfully attached more sophisticated electronic tags to five great whites off Cape Cod. In the ensuing months the satellite tracking devices produced a wealth of information about the migratory habits of the sharks in the northern Atlantic Ocean.

Skomal is hopeful that more of the electronic tags, which send data via satellite when they detach and surface, can be placed on sharks this summer. Data from four of the great whites tagged with the help of a harpooner last summer (the fifth device surfaced prematurely) revealed that the sharks had left southern New England by October and wintered in waters off northern Florida.

The last of the tags to surface was on April 15 off North Carolina.

Among the more surprising discoveries was that the great white seemed to have a well-defined comfort zone, spending more than 80 percent of their time in 59- to 67-degree water, Skomal said.

“That’s a really narrow temperature range,” he said.

Scientists were also mildly surprised that Atlantic great whites tended to hug the coast — staying within about 200 miles — whereas Pacific sharks have been known to stray as far as Hawaii after feeding off California.

via The Associated Press: Great white shark spotted off Mass. coast.

Fatal shark attacks are rare anywhere in the world, with an average of about five recorded each year globally, but in New England, it's virtually unheard of.

Sightings near local beaches, however, have become an annual occurrence.

A sighting Saturday, which was captured by a Coast Guard camera off York Beach, Maine, appears to be a pair of juvenile basking sharks about 12 feet long, said Dr. John Mandelman, a research biologist at the New England Aquarium.

Though basking sharks are considered harmless to humans, with no positive species identification to work with over the weekend, lifeguards at Hampton Beach patrolled the waters for anything unusual.

“Any large animal, depending on what constitutes a threat, is potentially hazardous in their natural environment due to their sheer size,” Mandelman said. “But a basking shark would never attack a human. They are called basking sharks because the theory is they bask in the sun. They are passive filter feeders.”

Basking sharks are 5 to 7 feet long when born and, in rare instances, grow to as big as 40 feet. While it's early for a sighting so far north, young basking sharks are known to wander close to shore, Mandelman said.

Another sighting a mile off Cape Neddick in southern Maine on Thursday is said to have been a 10-foot porbeagle shark.

Though the sharks are likely chasing a meal and pose little to no threat to humans, these latest shark sightings serve as a reminder that many sharks do swim in local ocean waters.

“There are 15 species of sharks that exist in New England waters that wouldn't be unusual to see in a given instance,” Mandelman said. “There are tons of sharks in New England waters that get close to shore across a myriad of species, especially in the summer months.”

In 2005, ABC news correspondent Jay Schadler, who has his art studio in Amesbury, was swimming off Plum Island when he reported seeing a shark. It, too, turned out to be a basking shark.

There are other species lurking in the deep off New England, however, including makos, tiger sharks and even great whites.

Last year, scientists were shocked by the sighting of several great white sharks off Monomoy Island near Chatham over Labor Day weekend, five of which were tagged for future study. The sharks passed within 75 yards of Hollywood Beach, prompting officials to close the beach to swimmers.

A group of fishermen looking for tuna off Dartmouth last August hooked a 624-pound mako.

And while local shark attacks aren't common, they are not unprecedented.

Joseph Troy, 16, of Dorchester, was swimming with a friend of his uncle in about 10 feet of water, an estimated 150 yards off Mattapoisett in Buzzards Bay in July 1936, when a white shark grabbed his leg and pulled him down. He was rescued and brought to shore but died in surgery.

His was the last fatal shark attack recorded in New England.

Most documented shark attacks in the U.S. take place in Hawaii or Florida, where a 38-year-old kite surfer lost his life in a shark attack in February.

Local dorsal fin sightings are much more likely to be the aforementioned basking sharks or ocean sunfish, another surface sunbather with a large fin that can be mistaken as a shark.

For swimmers, however, common sense still prevails, Mandelman said.

“Swim in pairs, don't swim at dawn or dusk, and don't swim where marine mammals are present,” he said, noting seals can sometimes attract the wrong kind of attention. “The marine mammals tend to be pretty hazardous themselves.”

via Sharks spotted off New England shores » Local News » NewburyportNews.com, Newburyport, MA.

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About this time each year, a fisherman catches a large, pregnant bull shark somewhere in the Tampa Bay area. The angler usually drags the shark ashore and poses, jaws agape, for the obligatory dead fish picture. Then the phone rings. “Is it still safe to swim?” a caller asks. “Of course not,” I respond. “But don’t drive either. You could get killed.” After a long, uncomfortable pause, I laugh and explain that a person is more likely to be killed doing home improvements than by a shark. But nobody ever made a movie about the inherent dangers of house painting. However, let a great white shark loose off a New England shoreline on a summer’s day and you’ve got blockbuster, a horror movie that will withstand the test of time.

Living dinosaurs

One hundred million years ago, when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, sharks dominated the ocean. Today, while highways and office buildings cover much of the planet’s land now, all that remains of those “terrible lizards” are bones and fossils.

But sharks, nature’s perfect predators, still swim supreme in the sea. Perched atop the food chain, they feed on the weak and the sick, which helps maintain nature’s balance.

Slow to grow and giving birth to only a few pups at a time, a shark’s only enemies are other sharks and humans. Sensitive to overfishing, many marine biologists fear that if too many sharks are caught and killed, entire species may disappear forever.

And thanks to the movie Jaws, sharks in general have a bad reputation that may hasten their demise.

Fact and fiction

Most people are scared of sharks. But the truth is, most sharks are just as scared of humans. Of the 350 species of sharks, only a few are known to be dangerous to humans.

Most shark attacks occur close to land. Marine biologists believe that in most cases, the shark has mistaken the swimmer or surfer for a common food source, such as a seal or large fish.

But sharks are wild animals, and all wild animals should be treated with caution and respect. Almost any large shark, 6 feet or longer, can be considered a potential threat to humans.

Three species – the white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvieri) and the bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) - are responsible for most attacks.

“People have this impression that if a shark sees you that it wants to attack,” said Brent Winner, a shark expert with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg. “But that is a myth. If you look at the records, most attacks are bite and release.”

Most attacks in Florida involve surfers in Volusia and Brevard counties.

“Surfers are in the water longer than swimmers,” Winner said. “The longer you spend in the water the more likely you are to run into a shark.”

Four near our shores

Hammerhead

The great hammerhead, which can reach lengths of 20 feet and more than 1,200 pounds, is feared as a man-eater, but in reality, this odd-looking fish is more interested in eating stingrays. Hammerheads are often found with stingray barbs sticking out of their mouths. One unfortunate specimen had been stung 50 times.

Tiger

The tiger, along with the great white and bull, is one of the world’s most dangerous carnivores. Reaching lengths of 17 feet, the tiger is an opportunistic feeder. This shark gets its name from the dark stripes that cover its body early in life but disappear as it grows older. A favorite food is sea turtle, which the tigers crush with their thick, jagged teeth.

Black tip

One of the most common inshore species of sharks, the black tip is so named because of the easily recognizable black markings on the ends of its fins. A fish-eater that feeds close to piers and beaches, black tips often swim near bathers without incident.

Bull

Possibly the most dangerous shark, the bull can live for long periods in freshwater. It has been found in the upper Amazon, 2,300 miles from the open sea, and in land-locked bodies of water, such as Lake Nicaragua. Bulls like shallow water and have been implicated in number of unprovoked attacks, including several in the Tampa Bay area.

By the numbers

1 in 11.5 million

Odds of a shark attack on a human

0 in 264.1 million

Odds of a fatal shark attack on a human

231 Number of reported shark attacks between 1956 and 2008 in Volusia County, making it the shark attack capital of the world

Play it safe

Although your chances of being killed by a bull shark are less than your chances of being struck by lightning, you can take some steps to protect yourself. Here are a few tips, courtesy of the International Shark Attack File in Gainesville:

• Avoid swimming near the mouths of rivers or bays, areas favored by bull sharks.

• Do not swim near schools of baitfish. Bull sharks may be nearby.

• When spearfishing, be ready to drop your catch. Bull sharks are attracted by speared fish.

• Avoid swimming at night or early in the morning, when sharks are most active.

Worst-case scenario

A University of Florida study showed shark attacks on humans are more likely to occur:

• On a Sunday (more people go to the beach on that day of the week, of course)

• In water less than 6 feet deep (that’s typically the depth swimmers favor at the beach)

• Between dusk and dawn (feeding time)

• During a new moon (tides influence bait)

• To those wearing black-and-white bathing suits (researchers believe the contrast is a factor)

Source: The International Shark Attack File; odds are from Year 2000 USA Beach and Injuries Fatalities report

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Wow this thing is just huge. But why’d they have to kill it?

A group of fishermen were delighted when they caught a shark in the warm waters off Australia’s east coast.

So imagine their surprise when there was a bigger tug and they realised their catch was being swallowed by an even bigger fish.

This giant, weighing one and a quarter tonnes and measuring 20ft long, was caught off the north coast of New South Wales and is thought to be at least 40 years old.
Monster from the deep: Shark museum boss Vic Hislop with the giant hammerhead shark caught off NSW’s northern coast

Vic Hislop, who runs a shark museum in Queensland, was so excited by news of the catch that he bought the shark, which died as it was hauled to shore.

‘It’s a magnificent specimen, that’s for sure,’ said Mr Hislop. ‘I’m planning to freeze it and then put it on display at the shark museum.’

Some species of hammerheads are on the global endangered list but they are not renowned for attacking humans, unlike the man-eating great white shark.

What might be a warning for swimmers to exercise caution about where they chose to swim is Mr Hislop’s comment to Brisbane’s Courier Mail that ‘while this one is huge, it’s not the biggest one I’ve seen’.

Sharks are known to feed at dawn and dusk, so people are advised to avoid the ocean at those times to further reduce their small chance of a shark attack.

Hammerheads, which are found in warm waters around the world, get their name from the shape of their heads, which are flattened and extend sideways.

This is thought to help them move in close to their prey and to find food on the sea bed.

While they are not notorious for killing humans, the International Shark Attack file lists them as seventh among sharks that pose a danger to people, the most dangerous being the great white.

In recent years there have been 33 reported hammerhead attacks on humans, but none have been fatal.

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Three of seven attacks were on surfers

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 17 March, 2010 : – - There were 7 unprovoked shark attacks authenticated from the Pacific Coast of North America during 2009. All 7 of the reported attacks occurred in California and were distributed in the following months; April (1), July (1), August (2), October (1) and November (2), with 5 of the 7 attacks occurring South of the Santa Barbara/Ventura County line.

Activities of the victims were; 3 Surfing, 1 Paddle-Boarding, 1 Diving, 1Surf- Fishing, and 1 Swimming. The Great White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias, was positively identified or highly suspect as the causal species in 5 of the attacks with 1 attack attributable to the Thresher Shark, Alopias sp., and 1 unknown species.

The publication “Shark Attacks of the Twentieth Century” authenticated 108 unprovoked shark attacks from the Pacific Coast between 1900 and 1999. The Great White Shark was implicated in 94 (87%) of the attacks with an annual average of slightly more than one shark attack per year. The 7 cases reported for 2009 brings the total number of unprovoked shark attacks occurring along the West Coast during the first 9 years of the 21st Century to 49.

This is ‘more than five times’ the Twentieth Century annual average and represents 45% of the total number of attacks reported for the entire Twentieth Century, and all in less than a decade. The Great White Shark has been implicated in 41 (80%) of the 49 attacks reported during this Century. Of the 157 unprovoked shark attacks reported from the Pacific Coast since 1900, the Great White Shark has been positively identified or highly suspect in 133 (85%).

Victim activity for the 49 unprovoked shark attacks reported from the Pacific Coast since 20000 are distributed in the following groups; surfers 35 (71%) of the documented attacks with 5 (10%) swimmers, 3 (6%) kayakers, 3 (6%) divers, 2 (4%) paddle boarders, and 1 (2%) surf fishing. The number of adult, sub-adult, and juvenile Great White Sharks observed in Southern California during 2009 suggests a possible change in their population dynamics and seasonal site preferences.

The number of stranded marine mammal carcasses reported, specifically their location and time of year, would seem to support this observation. The Shark Research Committee will continue to closely monitor this activity in the coming year.

Additional information regarding the Shark Research Committee’s conservation, education, and research programs are available at:  sharkresearchcommittee.com. ‘Save the Sharks – Save the Oceans’

www.sharkresearchcommittee.com

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My money’s on Bull Sharks. Those things are scary.

Related Stories

• Shark attack: Lifeguard hailed as a hero in rescue attempt
• Florida shark attack a Great White?

Scientists have not yet conclusively identified the species of shark responsible for a fatal attack on a kite surfer off a Stuart, Fla., beach, but they have ruled out any involvement by a great white shark.

Some media reports speculated that a group of white sharks might have attacked the kiteboarder on Wednesday. Florida-based shark experts say the reports were based on an apparent misquote and media hype.

“Our investigation definitively indicates it was not a great white shark,” George Burgess, director of shark research at the Florida Museum of Natural History, said on Friday.

Instead, he said, an examination of the victim’s wounds suggests that the attacking shark was eight to nine feet long and was more than likely a bull shark or tiger shark.

He said that although the lifeguard who attempted to rescue the kiteboarder saw several sharks nearby, only one shark bit the man. According to officials, there was a very deep and fatal bite to his thigh, a second bite to his buttocks, and a defensive wound to his hand.

Most shark attacks are hit-and-run

Most Florida shark bites are quick nips, like a hit-and-run, experts say. This attack was different.

“The attacking shark really meant business. This was not likely to be a mistaken-identity situation,” Mr. Burgess said. “This was a shark that was attacking with some real meaning.”

Although Burgess was able to narrow the range of potential species involved in the attack, officials have made arrangements to consult a second shark-bite expert to help solve the mystery.

Grant Gilbert, a research scientist in Vero Beach, says he will meet on Monday with the Martin County medical examiner to try to match the victim’s wounds with an extensive inventory of shark jaws. It is a kind of forensic shark-bite version of “CSI.”

“Sharks can be identified by their dentition [teeth],” he says.

A tiger shark has saw-edged teeth on both its upper and lower jaws. In contrast, a bull shark has pointed teeth on its lower jaw and triangular, serrated teeth on the upper jaw.

The pointed teeth are designed to hold prey, while the upper teeth are built for cutting. According to Gilbert, puncture wounds produced by the lower jaw would be present in a bite from a bull shark, but not from a tiger shark.

Forensic evidence focuses on bite marks

But that may not end the inquiry, he says. Two other sharks, the dusky shark and the silky shark, share similar jaw configurations with the bull shark. At that point, Gilbert says, the sharks may be differentiated by the number of teeth in the upper and lower jaws. Much depends on the evidence from the bites, he says.

In 1998, a 9-year-old boy was killed by a shark near Vero Beach. Gilbert worked on that case as well. The two main suspects, he said, were a bull shark and a tiger shark.

The bite characteristics allowed officials to rule out the bull shark. They concluded the attack was caused by a tiger shark.

Tiger sharks prey on sea turtles, and their jaws are evolved to the task, Gilbert said. “It was a young tiger shark, and it thought it had a sea turtle,” he said, of the Vero Beach attack 12 years ago.

Migrating sharks not probably involved

Televised reports about the Stuart shark attack have included stock footage of sharks migrating up Florida’s east coast, Gilbert says. But those migrating sharks, the research scientist says, are probably too small and unlikely to be involved in an attack like the one Wednesday.

Gilbert says he suspects that the kite surfer plunged into the water at exactly the worst place. “It is possible that he actually fell on the shark,” he said. “If there were a number of sharks out there, it could be that he just fell at the wrong spot at the wrong time.” The researcher added, “We’ll never know.”

There have only been 28 recorded shark bites in Martin County since 1882, says Mark Perry, director of the Florida Oceanographic Society in Stuart. This week’s attack was the first fatality in the county.

The victim, Stephen Schafer, was well known in Stuart, said Mr. Perry, whose office is across the street from Stuart Beach, where the attack took place.

A memorial ceremony is set for Saturday at Stuart Beach, where Mr. Schafer’s friends will hold a barbecue and a “paddle out,” in which surfers paddle offshore and form a large circle in remembrance.

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STUART — The research scientist who matched tiger shark teeth to bite wounds during an autopsy of the Treasure Coast’s only other shark fatality says young great white sharks — the fish of Jaws notoriety — are among suspects in Wednesday’s fatal attack off Stuart’s coast.

A 38-year-old kiteboard surfer, Stephen Howard Schafer, 38, of Stuart was attacked by sharks Wednesday afternoon and died from his injuries, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

The scientist, Grant Gilmore, said the size and type of shark in Wednesday’s attack can be learned the same way it was in the 1998 death of 9-year-old James Willie Tellasmon north of Jaycee Park in Vero Beach: By comparing characteristic bite patterns from among many species that live or visit off the Treasure Coast to wounds.

“It can be done,” Gilmore said. “It would be nice to have closure on this, to know what it was, especially since the man, tragically, died.”

Great whites prefer colder northern Atlantic Ocean waters and aren’t usually thought of as a Florida shark. But smaller 6- to 8-foot ones migrate to Florida’s east coast during winter.

Of the many types of sharks off the Treasure Coast, three of the four species known to attack humans — great hammerheads, bulls and tigers — prefer warm water. They leave the area or go deep in winter.

“The only other species that gathers in abundance out there in the winter are the juvenile great white sharks,” Gilmore said. They eat their way through a migrating parade of 3- to 4-foot sharpnose sharks that travel south from New England waters to Florida.

Cooler ocean water usually keeps great whites north of Cape Canaveral, Gilmore said, but this winter has been unusually cold.

Gilmore said it is very unusual to have a person bitten by a shark off Florida’s east coast this time of year. With only early news accounts for information, he wouldn’t guess which species was involved in Wednesday’s attack.

Doctoral work done by Jon Dodrill documented fishermen catching great whites off Florida’s east coast between Cape Canaveral and Daytona Beach. Gilmore was Dodrill’s professor when Dodrill did the census in the mid-1970s that is still considered an authoratative source for which sharks live and travel off Florida’s east coast.

Today, Dodrill runs Florida’s artificial reefs program.

The attack on James in 1998 happened in shallow water and was attributed to a young tiger shark about six feet long.

It was Martin County’s first fatal shark attack, according to records going back to 1882.

About 4 p.m. Wednesday, a lifeguard was looking through his binoculars and saw Schafer, the kiteboard surfer, in distress about a quarter of a mile off shore from an unguarded beach just south of Stuart Beach, officials said.

When the lifeguard paddled out to Schafer, he was encircled by sharks, officials said.

The lifeguard put Schafer on his rescue board and paddled to shore where Schafer said he had been bitten by a shark, authorities said. Officials performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the victim, who had multiple bite wounds, and he was rushed to Martin Memorial North Medical Center, where he later died.

Schafer’s friends said they are shocked by his death.

“I’ve never heard of multiple sharks in this area surrounding someone and fatally wounding him,” said the victim’s childhood friend, Teague Taylor, 36. “He was the nicest person ever.”

Normally, sharks appear in the area to feast on bait fish migrating to the area.

Taylor said he was surprised to see the sharks because they normally come around the spring. On Tuesday, the day before the fatal attack, Taylor said he was surfing near where his friend was attacked and he saw several sharks.

“You always think in the back of your mind that they (sharks) are out there,” he said.

Jordan Schwartz, who has known Schafer for five years, said he was a very experienced kiteboard surfer.

“He was a super nice guy. Always mellow. I don’t think he had any enemies,” he said.

Including Wednesday’s fatal attack, there have been about 14 deaths in Florida attributed to sharks, according to records provided by University of Florida Museum of Natural History.

REDUCING RISK OF SHARK ATTACKS

Always stay in groups; sharks are more likely to attack a lone person.

Do not wander too far from shore — this isolates an individual and additionally places one far away from assistance.

Avoid being in the water during darkness or twilight hours when sharks are most active and have a competitive sensory advantage.

Do not enter the water if bleeding or if menstruating — a shark’s olfactory ability is acute, and sharks are attracted to blood.

Do not wear shiny jewelry because the reflected light resembles the sheen of fish scales.

Use extra caution when waters are murky and avoid uneven tanning and bright-colored clothing — sharks see contrast particularly well.

Refrain from excess splashing, and do not allow pets in the water because of their erratic movements.

The International Shark Attack File Web site, University of Florida Museum of Natural History, www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/ISAF/ISAF.htm

TREASURE COAST SHARK ATTACKS

Indian River County: 17 (one fatal, 1998)

St. Lucie County: 29 (none fatal)

Martin County: 28 (one fatal, 2010)

Source: International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida Museum of Natural History and media reports

SHARK ENCOUNTER OCCURRENCES

Attacks are most common in Central Florida. Here’s a look at unprovoked attacks in the state from 1882 to 2008.

231:Volusia

96: Brevard

58: Palm Beach

28: Martin

29: St. Lucie

17: Indian River

11: Broward

10: Dade

19: Florida Keys

Source: International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida Museum of National History.

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Fiddling with his swimming goggles as he strolled across one of Cape Town’s most popular beaches, Lloyd Skinner did not notice anything amiss.

With temperatures in the 90s, the sand was packed with families enjoying the delights of the South African summer.

The sea appeared calm – perfect to escape the heat. But as he waded out, something terrible started to happen. A strange ripple effect circled him in the water. On the beach, people started waving their towels and shouting at him desperately.

It was too late. A great white shark struck 37-year-old Skinner with devastating force. The world’s deadliest coldblooded predator then turned and, amid thrashing water, pulled its human prey under the waves.

Astonishingly, all was not lost. An endurance runner and fitness fanatic, Skinner somehow managed to struggle to the surface as the sea turned red around him.

He disappeared again moments later. The shark simply circled and struck again, knocking the man into the air before pulling him under once more. He has not been seen since.

This was no ordinary shark attack. The beast was simply enormous – indeed, one eye witness described the animal as being the size of a ‘dinosaur or bus’. And chillingly, some experts believe the deadly predator, hungry for meat, could have been tempted to shore by humans themselves. It may be that it is we, not the Great White, who are at fault for this horrific attack.

Despite lifeguards’ best efforts, Mr Skinner was doomed. With Cape Town’s beaches packed because of a heatwave, lifeguards raced into the water. ‘I was shouting “Shark! Shark!” ‘ one said last night. ‘These bathers were about 15 metres away and could not see what was happening. Then it was over. There was this pool of blood in the water.’

Using its unique ability to detect the tiny electrical pulse emitted by a human heart, this fearsome creature – estimated to weigh more than five tonnes – had attacked the tourist, striking from beneath at up to 25mph.

Watching from his holiday home overlooking the beach, Gregg Coppen was horrified. ‘Holy s***! We just saw a gigantic shark eat what looked like a person in front of our house! That shark was huge! Like dinosaur huge!’

He added: ‘It was this giant shadow. . . it sort of came out of the water and took this colourful lump and went off with it. You could see its whole jaw wrap around the thing – which turned out to be a person.’

Horrified British visitors also saw the carnage unfold at Fish Hoek, a popular tourist resort 30 minutes outside Cape Town, a premier destination for Britons keen to escape freezing temperatures at home.

‘We saw the shark come back twice,’ said Phyllis McCartain from Arundel in Sussex. ‘It had the man’s body in its mouth and his arm was in the air. Then the sea was full of blood.’

Denis Lundon, her holiday companion, watched as the swimmer was thrust out of the water by the shark’s strike. ‘I jumped, waved my hat and roared and screamed at swimmers to get out of the water,’ he said. ‘I never want to experience this again. I’m going to block it out of my mind.’

Kyle Johnston, another tourist, said: ‘We were at about chest depth and he was deeper. We saw people waving towels at us, then we looked further out to sea and saw what looked like blood, and a man’s leg come up.’

An engineer from Zimbabwe who ran mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Skinner was on holiday in South Africa to attend the wedding of his partner’s daughter, who was on the beach as the horror unfolded.

As the police helicopters scoured the area yesterday, and beaches remained closed, a coastguard-spokesman said: ‘Whether we find body parts . . . it’s very unlikely. The possibility of the body being completely consumed is being considered. We think the shark took everything.’

By last night, only the tourist’s goggles had been recovered. Shark spotters were desperate to locate the Great White responsible. Because sharks are territorial creatures, experts say a beast this size is likely to return again and again to the same spot where prey is known to live.

Ever since the Steven Spielberg film Jaws, this lethal predator has been reviled and feared.

But many believe humans, not the Great White, should be blamed for this horrific death, the latest in a string along South Africa’s coastline, which has one of the largest Great White populations in the world.

Indeed, seas around Cape Town teem with these creatures. Despite their fearsome reputation as a so-called apex predator, with only humans higher in nature’s hierarchy, Great Whites seldom attack humans. They feed instead on seals, dolphins and large fish such as tuna.

But now the tables are being turned – and humans are being hunted. With no reported attacks for decades, up to three fatal attacks – as well as countless lesser incidents – are now being reported each year.

Many believe this is due to the greedy, irresponsible actions of dozens of tour operators, which have sprung up along a place known locally as ‘shark alley’, offering tourists the chance to ‘swim’ with these monsters of the deep.

Touting for business at tourist spots such as Cape Town waterfront, they charge tourists £100 a time to be taken out by boat, placed in a cage and lowered into the water, hoping for the Great White shark of Jaws legend to circle.

The methods used to entice the sharks to the paying tourists are being blamed for turning these Great Whites into man-eaters.

Environmentalists and surfers blame these tourist boats for ‘chumming’: dropping bloody bait, such as meat and rotting fish, into the sea to lure sharks towards the tourists.

Surfers and swimmers say this pungent bait drifts all over the sea, luring sharks dangerously close to the shore. They say chumming is behind the upsurge in lethal attacks.

Craig Bovim, a marine engineer who survived a shark attack, has set up a group to lobby for cage diving to be banned, saying the presence of people in the shark’s habitat was creating a familiarity between the two species – with deadly results.

‘We should stop this craze,’ he says. ‘Baiting of leopards and lions is no longer allowed. We should not do it to sharks. They are magnificent animals.’

Adrian Charles, another surfer, said: ‘Sharks are intelligent creatures and they learn to associate human beings with food. They follow the boats into the harbour when in the past they wouldn’t come all the way in.’

The remarkable proliferation of these sharks around Fish Hoek, where the Atlantic first touches the Indian Ocean on the eastern side of Cape Town known as False Bay, has also brought an influx of wildlife photographers and film crews.

Their methods, according to locals, are also making these sharks associate humans with food. With cameras rolling, many film crews tow dead seals behind their boats in the hope that a Great White will leap out of the water and attack.

Even Peter Benchley – whose book inspired Jaws the movie, sealing the reputation of the killer Great White – campaigned in the decade before his death to save sharks, more than 100 million of which are killed by humans each year for soup and as a by-product of industrial netting.

So big is the threat to their future – and they are a vital part of the ocean’s eco-system – that many species, including the Great White, have been designated as endangered.

But with beaches last night still closed amid the Cape Town heatwave, and spotters buzzing the sea in helicopters, some people were already going back into the water.

Incredibly, lifeguards had to chase several people from the sea where this week’s fatal attack happened.

So is cage diving to blame for the latest death? Hard to say – but this dreadful attack did, at least, give an insight into the relative intelligence of humans and Great White sharks, regarded by scientists as the number one and number two predators on the planet.

In the water, however, the shark always wins.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243355/As-swimmer-eaten-alive-Great-White-chilling-evidence-humans-blame-Have-turned-sharks-maneaters.html#ixzz0dEzcRVBH

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Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) — A 37-year-old Zimbabwean tourist died after being attacked by a shark while swimming off Cape Town’s Fish Hoek beach today, South Africa’s National Sea Rescue Institute said.

“There were plenty of eyewitnesses” to the attack, Ian Klopper, an official with the institute, said in a telephone interview from the city. “There is no chance of survival.”

The attack took place shortly before 4 p.m. local time, he said. A helicopter and four boats were used to search for the victim’s remains. It is unclear what type of shark attacked the man, Mark Dotchin, chairman of the Western Cape province’s lifesaving association, said in a telephone interview.

“As of now, no body has been found,” Dotchin said. “There was a lot of blood in the water.”

Great White Sharks, which can grow to 6 meters (19.7 feet) in length and weigh 3 metric tons (6,614 pounds), have been responsible for most of the attacks that have taken place off Cape Town’s beaches in the past.

The Zimbabwean was swimming about 20 meters offshore when he was attacked,Talk Radio 702, a Johannesburg-based broadcaster, reported. His wife witnessed the incident and is receiving trauma counseling, it said.

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Cape Town – The NSRI has confirmed that a swimmer has been the victim of a shark attack at Fish Hoek beach near Cape Town.

Ian Klopper of the NSRI told News24 that an intensive search was underway to locate the swimmer, but had so far yielded nothing.

“A white male, between 32 and 38 years old has been taken by a shark and we have not been able to locate the patient,” Klopper said. The identity of the victim is still unknown.

Twitter users also confirmed the attack.

“Holy shit, we just saw a GIGANTIC shark eat what looked like a person right in front of our house in fishhoek. Unbelievable,” wrote skabenga.

Bathers have been warned by Cape Town Disaster management to be on the lookout for great white sharks which traditionally cruise this stretch of the coast at this time of year.

“The appearance of white sharks is normal during peak summer months in Cape Town near in-shore areas, as these sharks are known to hunt and feed along this stretch of coastline at this time of year,” spokesperson Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said on Tuesday.

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VETERAN surfer Russell Specht has survived a terrifying face-to-face encounter with a monster great white shark stalking North Stradbroke Island.

The 52-year-old surfer, local lifesavers and island boardriders fear the huge man-eater was responsible for the horrifying shark-on-shark attack off the island, east of Brisbane, which The Sunday Mail featured in graphic photographs in late October.

The smaller 3m white pointer, snared on a baited drumline set off North Stradbroke’s busy Cylinder Beach, was almost bitten in half by the bigger shark.

Mr Specht, who has surfed for more than four decades on the island, said he and fellow surfers who were used to swimming with sharks had switched to predator alert.

“It was frightening. It was like a submarine heading towards me. I didn’t expect to live,” Mr Specht said.

He and several mates were surfing more than 100m off Main Beach when a younger boardrider shouted to them about the approaching monster.

“This thing came at me from behind. The other four guys with me, they took off to the beach and left me,” Mr Specht said.

“My first instinct was to paddle out to sea. Then I thought that this is not right, this is exactly what he wants me to do.”

Mr Specht bravely chose to sit quietly on his board and “eyeball” the shark – at least 4m long – as it came close enough to touch.

“He veered off, then he did a U-turn 10m away from me.

“I’m on a six foot three inch board. I’m thinking if he’s going to have a go at me he will eat me. But I thought you’re going to have to eat this board first,” Mr Specht said.

The champion surfer and Point Lookout Boardriders Club life member sat motionless on the board as the shark went directly under him, just 1m below, on its second pass.

Fellow surfers believe the same shark was hooked on a drum line off the beach later that day. The drumline “exploded” as the great white managed to free itself.

After spotting between 10 and 15 sharks off Main Beach in the past week, Mr Specht said he and other surfers were taking extra precautions and not surfing alone.

He said it was important to report his encounter just three weeks ago to warn holidaymakers that a dangerous great white shark was in local waters.

Surf Life Saving Queensland Gold Coast services co-ordinator Stuart Hogben, who has been on recent flights by the Westpac helicopter to North Stradbroke Island, supports Mr Specht’s suspicions about the great white being responsible for the attack on the other shark.

Mr Hogben saw several 2-3m sharks about 200-300m offshore along the island’s surf side during a flight last weekend. Other sightings were made off the Gold Coast.

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GOLD Coast surfer Nigel Hughes escaped from a shark attack in known Great White territory near Evans Head with nothing but an injured big toe.

Mr Hughes was bitten by the shark while surfing at Coffee Rock, north of Evans Head, at 7am on Sunday.

The 39-year-old deputy principal of Palm Beach-Currumbin State High School was holidaying in Evans Head with friends and decided to head out with them for an early morning surf.

Just as he was pushing himself up to stand on his board he felt the shark strike.

“I looked back to see if my foot was there,” said Mr Hughes, speaking from the Lismore Base Hospital where he was waiting last night to have surgery on his foot.

The shark sliced through Mr Hughes’ big toe which was left partly hanging from his foot.

After the attack he was able to catch a wave in to the beach.

His friends then helped him walk 200m to a car.

Mr Hughes said he could not tell exactly how much blood he was losing because his friends tightly wrapped his foot in a towel before taking him to hospital.

As he waited for surgery last night he remained remarkably calm for someone who had just been bitten by a shark.

He even said the attack would make the holiday ‘memorable’, and that he would not hesitate to hit the waves again in the future.

“I’ll definitely be getting back in the water,” he said.

Mr Hughes said he did not see the shark so he was not willing to speculate about what type it might have been.

Evans Head man Mick McGilvray said the shark was most likely a bronze whaler or a bull shark.

Both are known man-eaters, but Mr McGilvray said the shark that bit Mr Hughes would have been no bigger than two metres.

Mr McGilvray said the spot where Mr Hughes was surfing had murky water which sharks loved.

“It’s definitely a sharky area,” he said.

Mr McGilvray, who operates a chartered fishing boat, said between five and 10 sharks were caught on that stretch of beach between Evans Head and Broadwater each year.

He said he caught two Great White sharks nearby three years ago.

Another tourist lost his leg to a shark bite while swimming at Evans Head in the late 1980s.

“Mr Hughes was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Mr McGilvray said.

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SurfPulse just received a report from the Shark Research Committee of a shark attack in Santa Cruz on Thurs., Nov. 5:

On November 5, 2009 Eric Geiselman was surfing at Lagunas, just north of Santa Cruz. The following report was posted on the websiteSuper Spectacular Adventures by Geiselman:

“I don’t even know how to describe it. Everything happened so quickly! I was surfing with my brother Evan and Taylor Brothers at this wave called Lagoonas. The waves were sh..ty and it was raining. I wasn’t even that motivated to go out. Evan and Taylor were in typical ‘grom’ mode and wanted to have a paddle. Jay Thompson and a couple other guys were out surfing too. Right before it was getting dark everyone went in except us. I was sitting out the back just waiting for a wave. I had my back towards the ocean looking straight towards the beach to line up when it happened. Out of nowhere I got attacked from underneath. My board broke instantly right underneath me from the crazy force and I pretty much fell through my board but somehow managed to keep the front end under me. I knew right away I was being attacked and sort of just went into panic mode. I actually kicked it to when I was scrambling to get away. I was screaming to my brother who was about 30 yards away from me. My leash was still attached to the back end of my board when I was scratching to get away but, I was too scared to even reach back and undo it! What was so crazy is we weren’t even that far off the beach. Luckily I made it in to the shore. My buddy Mike Lopez and Taylor’s brother Cavin filmed me scratching once they heard me screaming. All that you can see on footage. Somehow my board didn’t get a bite in it?? Luckily it hit me by my fins so I think that might have spooked it. It was definitely the scariest thing that has ever happen to me. It’s crazy because it felt like a really bad nightmare. So scary to know how helpless you are in the water when something like that goes down! Thank God that’s all that happened!”

Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

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A kayaker is lucky to be alive after being attacked by a four-metre great white shark in the ocean off Victoria’s south-west coast.

Rhys Gadsden was out for a morning paddle off Portland on Friday when he says a great white shark appeared from the deep and wrapped its jaws around his sea kayak, leaving giant puncture marks.

The 27-year-old was flipped off the kayak and spent a terrifying 15 minutes in the water by his kayak desperately hoping he would not be eaten alive.

‘‘I grabbed my oars, hit it in the head probably five to six times and it released it,’’ the Portland man told the Nine Network.

‘‘As soon as it released its bite it turned and headbutted me and knocked me over and put me in the water with it.

‘‘It was freaky being in the water, yeah, I didn’t know where it went, I didn’t know if it was going to come back.

‘‘I didn’t know what to do really, I didn’t want to splash around and make it come back.’’

Finally a nearby boat came to his rescue.‘‘It took me a while to calm down, I was shaking for hours after,’’ he said.

‘‘It was big, dark eyes, scary, evil, I never want to do that again.’’

Less than 24 hours after coming face to face with the great white, Mr Gadsden was brave enough to paddle out for a few metres into the water on Saturday for TV cameras.His friends have also nicknamed him ‘‘shark-bait’’.

Local surf life savers have conducted patrols of the harbour since the attack but have not spotted the shark.

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This is kind of scary for me. I swim in these waters regularly. I still can’t believe it. This is something you only see in Shark Week!

Related links

• Shark Spotted off Sunset BeachPhotos
• Great White May Have Been Spotted Off Local Beach Video

LOS ANGELES — Shark sightings are up along Southern California’s coast and experts believe at least two great white sharks are lurking in the water near some of the area’s most popular beaches.

According to the Shark Research Committee, an organization dedicated to shark research based in Los Angeles, there have been more than 20 confirmed sightings of a shark breaching at Sunset Beach over the last five months.

The latest sighting took place on Saturday, October 3, 2009 when Randy Wright, who was kayaking 320 yards off the coast, spotted what appeared to be a great white shark jump completely out of the water.

Wright was able to capture several photographs of the incident.

Wright says he had been in the water for about an hour and a half and had spotted several dolphins in the area. But, it’s what happened next that caught his attention.

“I heard a large swooshing noise just east of my position in the direction of the Bel Air Bay Club. I grabbed my camera… I fired off four shots of something. I wasn’t sure — it was airborne and then splashing,” Wright wrote of his experience.

He was shocked when he saw what he caught with his camera.

The photographs show a great white shark, believed to be 8-10 feet long, in mid-air, experts say.

Another shark was spotted the day before in the same area by a local surfer.

Brian Moore says “I saw a fairly large shark breach completely out of the water and land on its back. It was grey with a white belly and 8-10 feet in length. It’s unclear if what Moore saw was the same shark that Wright saw, experts say.

Ralph Collier, who heads research for the Shark Research Committee, says experts believe at least two great white sharks are frequenting the waters off Sunset Beach.

One was tagged by shark experts. The shark spotted on Saturday and caught on camera was not tagged.

Similar sightings were reported in the waters along Will Rogers State Beach, San Onofre State Beach, Huntington Beach and Terramar Beach in Carlsbad as well as near Santa Cruz island near Santa Barbara.

Sightings were also reported in the waters along the Central Coast and Northern California as far north as Oregon.

Collier says there have only been three great white shark attacks in the waters off Southern California this year, none of them fatal. Humans “didn’t appear to be the intended target” of the sharks.

He says the number of shark sightings shows that these amazing creatures really “don’t want to attack humans.”

Collier says the number of sightings are up in the area, but more humans are also frequenting the area. He wants to raise awareness and says the report is not intended to frighten anyone.

The last fatal great white shark attack involved a swimmer who was killed on April 25, 2008 near Solana Beach.

Collier also says funding for shark research has dropped off due, in part, to the recession and he is asking for donations to help buy more tagging devices.

Anyone who would like to donate can go to shark research committee for more information.

Great white sharks are known to live in almost all coastal and offshore waters with the greatest concentrations off the southern coasts of Australia, South Africa, California and Mexico.

The great white is the world’s largest known predatory fish which preys on smaller fish, dolphins, seals and sea lions.

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SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. — Two confirmed great white sightings near Santa Cruz are causing a bit of excitement in the area after a witness captured one of the animals on video.

A great white seen very close to shore at Seacliff State Beach was caught on video by Ryan Dunlap of Capitola as it swam beneath the Seacliffe pier Thursday. His find was confirmed by with a shark researcher who viewed the footage.

Another, larger shark was spotted just to the south near Watsonville.

Sean Van Sommeran of the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation said he was surprised someone got pictures of what appears to be a juvenile shark, although he’s not surprised it was there.

“It’s common to see the sharks in the inshore environment, especially in the late summer, early winter, summer, fall,” said Van Sommeran. “[That's] the period when the big sharks are hitting the coast from open ocean.”

On Friday, Van Sommeran flew in a helicopter just to the south of Thursday’s sighting and he said it didn’t take long to spot a 16 foot-long adult female great white shark. He took pictures, too.

The only warning sign posted on Seacliff Beach Friday night was for the riptide.

People seemed to be taking the shark sightings in stride. Several beach-goers told KTVU they weren’t surprised by the news, and not concerned about the possibility of great whites lurking nearby.

“It’s nature,” said Iaesha Bonnit of Santa Cruz. “I guess they’re allowed to go wherever they want to.”

“I’m sure there’s always great whites out there or whatever,” said Ryan Kirckeberg of Aptos. “I mean you can die from riptide out there if you want to worry about it. I guess you can.”

Others were a little more concerned about the prospect of the massive sharks swimming close to shore.

“I don’t go into the water this time of year,” said Mindy Solis of Aptos. “Now that I know he’s out there swimming and having fun, I won’t let my child go in.”

Authorities are more concerned this weekend with keeping an eye on the thousands of people expected to gather on Seacliffe State Beach this weekend for a concert and fireworks show.

But some people said they will keep an eye on the waters also hoping to catch a sight that not that many people get to see.

“Sharks are latter day dinosaurs,” said Van Sommeran. “We don’t have dinosaurs around. Sharks kind of fill that gap in the pure imaginations of people…”

The experts advise like any wild animal, if you see a shark keep your distance and notify authorities.

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‘Jaws’ Sightings Close Massachusetts Beaches

September 7th, 2009 3:31pm EDT

Swimmers have been warned to stay out of the water where Steven Spielberg‘s Jaws was filmed – after five nearby beaches in Massachusetts were closed due to great white shark sightings.

The predatory fish were spotted in Cape Cod over Labor Day weekend, putting a damper on the final summer holiday and terrifying residents of nearby Martha’s Vineyard, where Spielberg’s 1975horror film was shot.

Officials at North Beach, Lighthouse Beach, South Beach and Hardings Beach in Chatham and Nauset Beach in Orleans hung red “no swimming” signs, alerting swimmers to the danger.

Biologists at the state Division of Marine tagged two of four sharks with electronic tracking devices – marking only the second and third time a great white has been successfully tagged in the Atlantic Ocean.

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Click through for video of the coverage.

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A surfer has spoken of the moment he was forced to hang on to a shark’s tail in a desperate battle to survive.

Paul Buckley grabbed hold of the creature in a bid to restrain it after it sunk its teeth deep into his leg.

‘I  was actually paddling back to shore because I hadn’t had that great surfing when I was flipped in the air with such force,’ he said.

Survivor: Paul Buckley with Boeta de Witt who helped him to a doctor after he was attacked by a shark

Survivor: Paul Buckley, left, with Boeta de Witt who helped him get medical help after the shark attack

‘ I just knew in my  gut that it was a shark. It  was like a 500lb Rottweiler in a very bad mood.

‘The force was incredible. The first thing I said when I was attacked  was “No, please God not like this.”

‘I didn’t see the shark’s eyes because his back was towards me but that was when  I grabbed its tail.

‘No doubt I was scared. I feared for my life so I just grabbed it. I thought if I held it by the tail, its mouth could not reach me again.’

Mr Buckley, 37, was released after a few seconds and then frantically swam the 100m back to shore near Stilbaai, which is near the tourist resort of MosselBayon which faces the Indian Ocean.

Witnesses bundled him into a car and rushed him to a doctor so the bite – which was nearly 37cm wide and 3cm – could be closed.

The businessman was then taken to hospital where he received 150 stitches.

‘If  it had been a little further over to the left or right, or if it had taken out a chunk, it could have been much worse,’ he said.

A French female tourist has fallen victim to the first fatal shark attack in Egypt for five years. She was diving off the Red Sea coast when it happened (file photo)

Killer: Sharks are common off the shores of South Africa but there have been few casualties in recent years

‘It’s  one of those things that just happens. If you look at the probability,  it’s just so unlikely.

‘The shark was doing what comes naturally – looking for food.

‘I owe him one really  because he could have easily come back and clamped his teeth round me but he didn’t and just swam away.

‘But yes, I’ll certainly still surf.’

LIfeboat spokesman Rico Menezies estimated the shark was three-and-a-half metres  long. ‘I’m certain it was a great white,’ he added.

Despite the number of sharks that swim off the warm seas  of South  Africa, attacks are still quite rare with an average of six a year.

Since 1990, only a quarter have resulted in serious injury and only 12 per cent have been fatal.

Scientists believe surfers are at increased risk because sharks mistake them for seals, which are easy prey.

Great Whites, which can grow up to 6m, are especially prevalent off  False Bay, Cape  Town, which has one of the highest densities of the  killer fish in the world.

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NORTH AMERICA’S TOP SHARK-ATTACK BEACHES

Stephen RegenoldMay 13, 2009
 

 LAUNCH SLIDESHOW

Where to swim at your own risk in North America

 

The year was 1916, and a hot July had delivered thousands of beachgoers to the Jersey Shore. Waves shrugged on the sand, and swimmers bobbed in their bloomers and caps, escaping the heat in the surf and swells of tepid Atlantic waters.

See our slideshow of North America’s Shark-Attack Beaches.

 What happened next—beginning with a death on Long Beach Island—would forever alter America’s collective consciousness toward swimming in the sea: In an unprecedented 11 days, five major shark attacks took place along the Jersey Shore, four of which were fatal.

Reports cited blood turning the water red and sharks following victims toward the beach. Dorsal fins spiked from placid water. Appropriately, a media frenzy ensued. Patrol boats were deployed to kill sharks offshore. Some beaches installed wire mesh to sequester swimmers from anything big and toothy out beyond the break.

 America has never recovered. Indeed, the Jersey Shore attacks of 1916—though an anomaly never seen before or since—branded an image of sharks as monsters that has trickled now through several generations.

“The common public perception today of a shark is that of a man-eater,” said George Burgess, an ichthyologist at the University of Florida who maintains a database called the International Shark Attack File. “We have an innate fear for big predators and natural forces we can’t control.” But as Burgess and others point out, death by shark bite is extremely rare. Shark experts cite statistics to show you can swim and surf with nary a worry at almost any beach on the planet. You are not a seal. Sharks do not want to eat you.

Or do they?

The International Shark Attack File (ISAF), which relies on decades of data, cites more than 2,000 fatal encounters. At beaches like New Smyrna, the cold statistics can become frighteningly real. To date, 210 attacks have been reported there, and in 2007, three swimmers were bitten by sharks and hospitalized.

See our slideshow of North America’s Shark-Attack Beaches.

 Despite the paranoia, millions of people each year surf and swim—literally—with the sharks.

 A top example is New Smyrna Beach in Volusia County, Fla., where Burgess said tiger and black-tip sharks thrive. “Most people who have swum in and around New Smyrna have been within 10 feet of a shark in their lifetime,” he said.

 In Northern California—where deep waters and seal populations draw great white sharks—surfers suit up at places like Stinson Beach to catch waves in a potentially deadly habitat. Patric Douglas, owner of Shark Diver, an ocean guiding outfit in San Francisco, calls Stinson “the granddaddy of all shark beaches.” He said, “It’s common to see 18-footers buzz by surfers bobbing in the waves.”

North America is home to dozens of beaches like New Smyrna where swimmers and sharks intermix, even though the humans may never know it. When the rare attack happens, Burgess said, it’s usually a predatory mistake. “In the surf zone, where many attacks happen, sharks need to make quick decisions,” he said. “Humans on surfboards—hands splashing, feet kicking—can trigger a shark to think there’s trouble or a wounded animal, and it looks like an easy meal.”

 With its thousands of miles of coastlines and millions of beachgoers, the United States sees more shark-human interaction than any other country. Search the ISAF database and you’ll find incidents at beaches from South Carolina to Oregon. There are so many reports, in fact, that California, Florida, Hawaii, North Carolina and Texas each have dedicated sections in the ISAF.

See our slideshow of North America’s Shark-Attack Beaches.

On the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, tiger and hammerhead sharks mix with dolphins and humpback whales. There are dozens of popular surf beaches there, including Velzyland Beach and the Leftovers Break to name two. Though untold thousands surf and swim there each year without incident, attacks do occur.

But according to Laleh Mohajerani, executive director of the shark conservation organization Iemanya Oceanica, sharks are not looking to interfere with humans in the water. Our shark-attack fears are irrational, she said. “You are more likely to be hit by lightning.”

 Indeed, there’s no arguing the numbers. Of the millions of people who enter the ocean each year, almost none are touched.

 But for most people, fiery emotions override even the coldest numbers. A single scary story—be it on the news or in an effects-heavy Hollywood production—will destroy the efforts of hundreds of scientists trying to communicate on research and logic.

From Hawaii to the Caribbean, there are 10 beaches among the most infamous for sharks on the planet. Take a dip if you dare.

See our slideshow of North America’s Shark-Attack Beaches.

Link

WEDS AM: Huddersfield dad saves son after Australia shark attack

May 6 2009 By Andrew Jackson

A FORMER Huddersfield man used his life-saving training to rescue his son after he was bitten by an eight-foot shark.

Charles Lindop, who left Huddersfield for Australia, was out surfing with 15-year-old son Andrew in waters close to a Sydney beach when the shark attacked.

The pair were enjoying an early morning surf when Mr Lindop heard his son’s screams and turned to see what was happening.

As he was in the water, the shark, identified as a 2.6-metre great white, bit into Andrew’s leg from the thigh to the ankle, snapping the bone and tearing muscle.

With blood pouring from his leg, the stranded youngster was grabbed by his dad who had first-aid training.

Despite the shark still being around after the attack, Mr Lindop fearlessly got hold of his son and managed to push him to shore.

Once on the sand, Mr Lindop and others were able to create a tourniquet to try and stem the bleeding from his son’s wound.

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It seems like they at least have one advantage actually… they aren’t in the water. This article seems kind of sensational considering, as far as I know, not one Stand Up Surfer has actually been attacked yet. I’d like to be corrected if I’m wrong.

SUP Surfers Report More Shark Sightings

Tuesday, 24 February 2009

Stand-up paddle (SUP) surfers reported above average shark sightings in January and February at San Onofre State Beach, according to the Shark Research Committee, a non-profit scientific research organization that documents shark attacks in the Pacific Coast of North America.  In these two months alone, there have been five reported incidents, where sharks subtly approached SUP surfers and then swam away without any signs of aggression. Most of the reports describe a 6-7 foot great white, located south of the power plant and about 30-50 yards offshore. No one has been injured or attacked. The unusual number of sightings by SUP riders could be due to either one or a combination of the following factors. First, the higher vantage point of these surfers permits them to see marine creatures that would otherwise go unnoticed. Second, the ability to reach remote areas leads them to places where white sharks are more likely to be seen. And third, the larger surfboard area, together perhaps with the paddle strokes, is more attractive to great whites. Whatever the case may be, this new surf modality is receiving scrutiny even from the locals’ local, namely, great whites. (For more, see the Shark Research Committee )

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I know you could say, “What are the chances?,” but I’d still be afraid to swim in the very same waters where he was attacked… these guys have guts. Be sure to click through for video coverage.

Solana Beach Man Remembered One Year After Fatal Shark Attack
April 25, 2009 05:36 PM

April 25, 2009 06:30 PM Saturday marks the one year anniversary of a Solana Beach man in a shark attack near Fletcher Cove.Dr. Dave Martin, 66, was swimming with his triathlon club when he was attacked by what was believed to be a 16-foot great white shark. 

 

On Saturday, Martin’s friends went for a swim in those same waters to celebrate his life.

Martin’s friends and loved ones left flowers and messages at the beach in his memory.

 

Link

This anecdotal account comes from a fun weblog which chronicles attacks and encounters under the water.

La Jolla — On April 6, 2009 Raymundo Ayus, Jr. and a companion were spearfishing South of La Jolla. The sky was clear with a light breeze. The divers were about ¾ of a mile from the beach. Ayus reported the following:

 “We suited up at Camino Del La Costa just South of La Jolla. The water was a choppy with visibility 10 feet near the surface but a good 20 feet at the bottom. We swam Northwest to a nice kelp bed and begun hunting. About 20 minutes into the dive, I looked up and saw my buddy waving. As I swam toward him I realized he had shot a White Sea Bass and it was tangled 60 feet below in the kelp. First dive down, I looked for it and saw the fish then looked around 360 degrees for any toothy predator, then came up. The WSB was at least 50 pounds. I asked my buddy if he needed help cutting up the kelp and bringing the fish up. He said “yes.” I made the 2nd dive to the fish. Once again, I scanned 360 degrees, nothing was around. I cut the kelp carefully so as not to cut the reel line. My knife was in my left hand and in my right hand I held the fish. I noticed the small green fish that frequent the kelp suddenly got spooked as I looked to my right. I saw a large dark object coming at me.

That is when I freaked out seeing her nose, gums, and those teeth. I’m staring at the mouth of a 12 – 15 foot Great White Shark, 10 feet away and closing in. I released the fish immediately and arch backward to avoid the attack by going to the left of her head as she clamped down on the fish. I felt a strong hit on my right side as my face was 2 feet from her gill silts. It was her left fin (pectoral) hitting my right side. She turned slightly to the right and when I cleared her left fin I swam upward toward the surface holding my knife. I looked up to see where the reel line was heading because my dive buddy was holding my spear gun and I knew my knife was no match for the shark. When I looked down I saw the outline of the shark coming up at me. I surfaced next to my buddy and grabbed my spear gun to fend off the shark.

When I pulled the gun forward in the direction of the oncoming shark, she turned right and my buddy started swimming fast, on top of the kelp, straight toward shore. I kept looking underwater for the shark then I scanned where I last saw her. There she was coming up at my 5 o’ clock position so I swung my gun at her. She did a full circle touching the kelps around her. Now I know White Sharks do go into kelp when they have a prey in sight. I lost sight of her for a few minutes, then I saw her again at my 7 o’ clock position trying to sneak up on me when I got to the edge of the kelp. It was scary because she snuck up on me twice and I know her intention was not to look. I almost shot the shark when she did that. Then, I swam backward with my eyes to the rear when she began following me. She was a little fast coming up to my left side. I slowed down so that I could turn and face her. She did this ‘dance’ 4 times with me, cutting in front of me, which made me stop and point my gun at her then she would go full circle around me.

When she disappeared in the murky water, I swam backward, forward, and sideways, looking for her. I even dove 10 feet to see where she was. After that 10 foot dive, I could see the bottom and when I looked up the shore was only 100 yards away. I didn’t see the shark again. I made it over the rocks and was grateful that she didn’t bite me.”