Isle of Palms, SC — A teenager is recovering from a shark attack in the waters off South Carolina.

Alex Stamm, 16, went to the Isle of Palms on vacation from Indiana. He said he was in waist-deep water when he felt something biting his leg.

“At first, I was kind of like bewildered, like what was going on. And then I saw the bite itself and I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s definitely a shark bite,’” Stamm described.

He has more than 40 stitches on his right leg.

Stamm said he believes his past shark tales are catching up to him. Last year he was in a bicycle crash and told people he was bit by a shark to sound cooler.

The state Department of Natural Resources says on average, there are four to five shark bites a year in South Carolina.

Last week, a 10-year-old boy from Pennsylvania was bitten by what an expert calls a shark at Myrtle Beach. In North Carolina waters, two 13-year-old girls have had stitches after bites at Wrightsville Beach and Topsail Island.

To avoid any problems, experts say you should not wear flashy jewelry in the water, especially around your ankles, and it’s best to avoid areas where people are fishing.

via Teen Bitten By Shark Off SC Coastdigtriad.com | Triad, NC | National and World News Article.

Charleston, S.C. – A Hamilton County teen is recovering after his summer vacation started with a shark attack.

Alex Stamm, 16, has 40 stitches and quite a survival story from his trip to Isle of Palms, South Carolina, near Charleston. He and his friend’s family had originally planned to vacation in Florida, but because of the Gulf oil spill, went to South Carolina instead.

On his first day at the beach, the Westfield junior was attacked by a shark.

“We were, like, tossing the football around. It didn’t bump into me. It just bit me straight on. I yelled,” Stamm said. “My first reaction, I tried to hit it with my right hand and I saw the tail swim away. I just told my friend Christian to get out of the water and we all ran out. At first, I was kind of like bewildered, like what was going on and I saw the bite itself and I said, ‘That’s definitely a shark bite’.”

Alex believes it was a sandbar shark, about four feet long, that left its mark on his leg. Right after the attack, his friend’s family jumped into action.

“My friend’s mom, she’s a nurse, and she saw all the blood. Blood was gushing out of my leg. She got me on my back so I didn’t go into shock,” he said.

As Alex was loaded into an ambulance, his mom, hundreds of miles away in Indiana, got a phone call.

“He did tell my best friend when they were in the ambulance, be gentle with my mother. She’s going to freak,” Susan Stamm said. “So they were just very nonchalant. ‘Susan, it was a beautiful day. We had a little glitch. Alex got bit by a shark. He’s going to need a few stitches.’ Forty stitches. That’s not a few. It was 40 stitches.”

Alex spent more than six hours at the hospital. He’s now on pain medications and antibiotics, but Susan says he’s in good spirits and plans to finish his vacation.

As a mom, though, Susan says being so far away from her son is tough.

“It was one millimeter away from his artery. That was hard. Last night, not being there, I couldn’t sleep last night just wondering how this was all going to pan out,” she said.

Now that she knows he’s going to be okay, Susan can find some humor in what happened. She says it seems Alex’s shark tales from the past are coming back to bite him now.

After a bike accident in Carmel last year, he told friends he got hurt wrestling a shark.

“Then this year he really did wrestle with a shark. He had to hit it to get it off his leg! I think he needs to be careful what he says,” Stamm said.

And maybe, she says, where he swims.

“They were supposed to go deep sea fishing, but I think this was close enough,” she said.

via Hamilton Co. teen bitten by shark in South Carolina – 13 WTHR.

JACKSONVILLE — A 20-year-old baseball player from the University of North Florida is recovering with a foot wound after being bitten by a shark.

Clayton Shulz of Stuart says the shark grabbed his foot before letting go.

Shulz needed 400 stitches on his foot Sunday night.

via Man gets 400 stitches after shark attack near Jacksonville | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — A 55-year-old surfer was bitten by a shark over the weekend off New Smyrna Beach.The man said a school of bait fish swam into the area where he was surfing on Saturday and a shark bit his lower leg.The man was not seriously injured.

via Surfer, 55, Injured In Shark Attack – Orlando News Story – WKMG Orlando.

A Texas fisherman is recovering Friday from injuries he sustained after he was bitten by a shark in the Texas coastal waters off Galveston, KPRC-TV reported.

Charlie Gauzer was fishing off Galveston Island when he said the shark approached his boat and bit down on his leg.

“I started to feel pain…I looked down and I had blood coming out of my leg,” Gauzer said. The shark bit deeper into Gauzer’s leg as the fisherman tried to escape.

“It was gashed pretty good, down to the bone,” Gauzer said. The shark missed the artery but did severe Gauzer’s Achilles tendon.

The attack on Gauzer is the second shark attack near Galveston’s 8 Mile Road Beach in less than a month.

A surfer, injured by a shark bite at the end of June, required 60 stitches to repair the gash made by the shark.

“The problem with Galveston is, especially right now, is that the water is all stirred up and brown and it’s hard to see,” Gauzer said.

Galveston is located more than 50 miles southeast of Houston.

via Texas fisherman bitten by shark off Galveston coast – NYPOST.com.

CANBERRA, Australia — A surfer was in a stable condition Monday after he was attacked by a shark off the Australian west coast, an official said.

Michael Bedford was rescued by a friend and a group of fishermen after he was attacked twice by a shark on Sunday off Conspicuous Cliff Beach, south of the Western Australia state capital Perth, The West Australian newspaper reported Monday.

He suffered deep gashes to his right leg, the newspaper reported.

Bedford was hospitalized in stable condition Monday, a Health Department spokesman said on the department’s condition of anonymity.

Bedford’s friend Lee Cummuskey told the newspaper that he watched the attack from the beach.

Bedford “thought it was just going to go under him, but it suddenly came up and hit him … and I think that is when it bit him,” Cummuskey told the newspaper.

“It hit him once and then came back a second time. He thought it was a white pointer, he is not totally sure, but he said it had a bloody big head on it,” Cummuskey added.

Bedford caught a wave in to the beach where eight people used his surfboard as a stretcher to carry him along the beach, then up a steep climb to a car park, Cummuskey said.

Cummuskey could not be immediately reached for comment Monday.

via Surfer survives shark attack off west Australia – World news – msnbc.com.

READINGTON TWP. — In July 1960, a sand tiger shark attacked then 24-year-old John Brodeur and ripped through his right thigh as he stood in the ocean at the Sea Girt beach.

50 years later, the Readington Township resident is grateful he lived through it to experience 40 years of marriage with his wife Celine, and life with his four children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

“I’m very happy with my life. It was just an incident along the way,” said Brodeur, a retired accountant, who has been featured in books about sharks and was once a guest on the “O’Reilly Factor.”

Brodeur was told the shark had been a 12- to 17-foot sand tiger shark, judging from the teeth marks in his leg, At the time of the attack, he was standing farther out than other bathers, his feet firmly planted in the sand.

“I ride waves and I was getting ready to ride a wave in,” Brodeur said. “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“I saw this big black thing coming toward me — I thought it was a telephone pole,” he said. The shark was long and black, and there had been a bad storm earlier that week.

When the shark bit him, Brodeur slapped the top of the shark’s head with his hand, and “eventually it let go,” he said.

“The lifeguard pulled me out of the water and then dropped me in the sand,” Brodeur continued. “My right thigh was all torn open.”

Celine Brodeur, who was not present at the time but knows the story well, said the young lifeguard panicked. “It’s not every day you get a shark attack,” she said.

A Marine veteran named Norman Porter, from the Bronx, took his belt off and used it to apply a tourniquet to Brodeur’s leg to slow the bleeding until he could be taken to the hospital. Because his nerves were severed and he was in shock, Brodeur does not recall feeling much pain.

He still thinks highly of Porter. “He saved my life. I was a lucky man.”

Celine noted that Porter has passed away, “but he’s been my husband’s hero.”

Brodeur’s leg had to be amputated, and he spent three months recovering in the hospital. Now with a prosthetic leg, he can’t run, but he can walk, and he enjoys playing tennis.

“I still go to the beach,” he said. In fact, the Brodeurs and their children will be taking a family vacation in Cape May this summer.

“He never, ever let one thing stand in his way,” his wife said. “It was never a handicap to him.”

In spite of the attack, John said he has always loved swimming in the ocean. But he warns other swimmers to be careful, especially because it is not always true that sharks will only attack someone who is already bleeding.

“Make sure that there are lifeguards, and other people in the water,” Brodeur warned.

via Shark attack!!! 50 years later, Readington man tells of having his leg mauled | NJ.com.

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.

Standing next to his young daughter in waist-deep water off Fripp Island on Friday afternoon, Craig Morris felt something softly nudge his leg.

Seconds later, something pulled 6-year-old Ella under the water.

That “something” was a shark, he said.

The 37-year-old father of three quickly pulled the child to the surface.

That’s when he saw the blood and the 9-inch gash on the little girl’s leg, said Heidi Morris, Craig’s wife and Ella’s mother.

“He threw the boogie board they had been using (away) and squeezed her leg together,” said Heidi Morris of the 1 p.m. incident near the Fripp Island Beach Club. “Then he carried her up the beach and booked it to the fire house. There was lots of blood. You could see her bone.”

A Beaufort County paramedic and Fripp Island Fire officers treated Ella until an ambulance arrived and took her to Beaufort Memorial Hospital.

It took 22 stitches to close the bite. Ella was released later that day, Heidi Morrris said.

The family, including sons Jackson, 8, and Parker, 9, of Marietta, Ga., were enjoying the final day of a week-long vacation when the incident occurred, she said. It was their first time vacationing on Fripp.

“We just loved it,” she said. “Earlier in the day, I had even posted pictures and a comment on my Facebook page that we were so happy with our experience. Later that day, I had to tell people about the shark.”

A RARE OCCURRENCE

Emergency room doctors told the family the shark was probably small, between four and five feet long, Heidi Morris said.

Mel Bell, director of the Office of Fisheries Management for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, agreed.

Ella’s wound looked like four smaller bites in a row, probably from a small shark. Typically, a swimmer would see the dorsal fin of a larger animal before it struck, Bell said.

“What you have with sharks is a test bite, to see what it is,” he said. “Then they usually take off, because you’re not a desired food item.”

DNR Sgt. Michael Paul Thomas said Tuesday there is no way to confirm whether the youngster’s wound was inflicted by a shark.

Because shark attacks are so rare, there is no protocol for reporting bites.

In South Carolina, the most recent shark attack that resulted in death was in 1883, Bell said.

“We’re still not sure what kind of shark it was,” he said.

In July 2006, an Ohio man said he was bitten by a shark at Hilton Head Island’s Singleton Beach. The wound required about a dozen stitches on his leg above his ankle. Authorities never confirmed the attack as the work of a shark, but the man said the teeth marks and puncture wounds were evidence enough for him.

In June of that year, a Missouri girl was bitten while playing in about two feet of water near the Breakers resort area of Coligny Beach.

Earlier in the month, a 14-year-old girl was bitten while swimming off Pawleys Island while a 21-year-old woman suffered a foot injury during a shark encounter off Kiawah Island.

Still, shark bites are relatively rare occurrences.

According to statistics compiled by the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File, people are 30 times more likely to be struck by lightning.

Thomas said tracking the area shark population is not an exact science, but called the number robust.

“We always have a fairly large number of sharks in our waters,” Thomas said.

He attributed that to deep waters, healthy estuaries and plenty of fish to eat.

“Port Royal and St. Helena sounds are two deep areas for them to come into and spawn, and we have an abundance of fish,” Thomas said.

‘I’M NOT SCARED’

While the incident left her parents shaken, Ella was the picture of courage and composure.

Her mother was amazed at the child’s attitude in the emergency room.

“She was fine, acted like there was absolutely nothing wrong,” Heidi Morris said.

Since the encounter, the six-year-old has continued to be upbeat and chatty, her mother said.

“Yesterday (Monday) all day, she wore a shark T-shirt,” she said.

Her parents said they were happy there was no severe nerve or muscle damage. A doctor said Monday the youngster’s wound was healing well and she should be up and walking in a day or two, her mother said.

Minutes before the attack, Ella had been in the water alone, her mother said.

“We were lucky, because her dad came up and put his arms around her right before it happened,” she said. “I think she felt safe because her daddy was right there.”

“I’m not scared,” Ella told her mother after the attack.

She said something else, too.

“I’ll go back in the water.”

via Ga. girl ‘upbeat’ after being bitten by shark off Fripp Island | islandpacket.com.

Standing next to his young daughter in waist-deep water off Fripp Island on Friday afternoon, Craig Morris felt something softly nudge his leg.

Seconds later, something pulled 6-year-old Ella under the water.

That “something” was a shark, he said.

The 37-year-old father of three quickly pulled the child to the surface.

That’s when he saw the blood and the 9-inch gash on the little girl’s leg, said Heidi Morris, Craig’s wife and Ella’s mother.

“He threw the boogie board they had been using (away) and squeezed her leg together,” said Heidi Morris of the 1 p.m. incident near the Fripp Island Beach Club. “Then he carried her up the beach and booked it to the fire house. There was lots of blood. You could see her bone.”

A Beaufort County paramedic and Fripp Island Fire officers treated Ella until an ambulance arrived and took her to Beaufort Memorial Hospital.

It took 22 stitches to close the bite. Ella was released later that day, Heidi Morrris said.

The family, including sons Jackson, 8, and Parker, 9, of Marietta, Ga., were enjoying the final day of a week-long vacation when the incident occurred, she said. It was their first time vacationing on Fripp.

“We just loved it,” she said. “Earlier in the day, I had even posted pictures and a comment on my Facebook page that we were so happy with our experience. Later that day, I had to tell people about the shark.”

A RARE OCCURRENCE

Emergency room doctors told the family the shark was probably small, between four and five feet long, Heidi Morris said.

Mel Bell, director of the Office of Fisheries Management for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, agreed.

Ella’s wound looked like four smaller bites in a row, probably from a small shark. Typically, a swimmer would see the dorsal fin of a larger animal before it struck, Bell said.

“What you have with sharks is a test bite, to see what it is,” he said. “Then they usually take off, because you’re not a desired food item.”

DNR Sgt. Michael Paul Thomas said Tuesday there is no way to confirm whether the youngster’s wound was inflicted by a shark.

Because shark attacks are so rare, there is no protocol for reporting bites.

In South Carolina, the most recent shark attack that resulted in death was in 1883, Bell said.

“We’re still not sure what kind of shark it was,” he said.

In July 2006, an Ohio man said he was bitten by a shark at Hilton Head Island’s Singleton Beach. The wound required about a dozen stitches on his leg above his ankle. Authorities never confirmed the attack as the work of a shark, but the man said the teeth marks and puncture wounds were evidence enough for him.

In June of that year, a Missouri girl was bitten while playing in about two feet of water near the Breakers resort area of Coligny Beach.

Earlier in the month, a 14-year-old girl was bitten while swimming off Pawleys Island while a 21-year-old woman suffered a foot injury during a shark encounter off Kiawah Island.

Still, shark bites are relatively rare occurrences.

According to statistics compiled by the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File, people are 30 times more likely to be struck by lightning.

Thomas said tracking the area shark population is not an exact science, but called the number robust.

“We always have a fairly large number of sharks in our waters,” Thomas said.

He attributed that to deep waters, healthy estuaries and plenty of fish to eat.

“Port Royal and St. Helena sounds are two deep areas for them to come into and spawn, and we have an abundance of fish,” Thomas said.

‘I’M NOT SCARED’

While the incident left her parents shaken, Ella was the picture of courage and composure.

Her mother was amazed at the child’s attitude in the emergency room.

“She was fine, acted like there was absolutely nothing wrong,” Heidi Morris said.

Since the encounter, the six-year-old has continued to be upbeat and chatty, her mother said.

“Yesterday (Monday) all day, she wore a shark T-shirt,” she said.

Her parents said they were happy there was no severe nerve or muscle damage. A doctor said Monday the youngster’s wound was healing well and she should be up and walking in a day or two, her mother said.

Minutes before the attack, Ella had been in the water alone, her mother said.

“We were lucky, because her dad came up and put his arms around her right before it happened,” she said. “I think she felt safe because her daddy was right there.”

“I’m not scared,” Ella told her mother after the attack.

She said something else, too.

“I’ll go back in the water.”

via Ga. girl ‘upbeat’ after being bitten by shark off Fripp Island | islandpacket.com.

MARIETTA, Ga. – A 6-year-old girl from Marietta was recovering Tuesday from a shark attack that happened while she and her family were vacationing off the coast of South Carolina. Ella Morris was rescued by her father seconds after the animal pulled her underwater.

Morris was bitten while swimming with her father off Fripp Island in South Carolina. The 6-year-old girl received 22 stitches as a result of the bite.

Morris’ mother said the girl has required very little pain medication since the attack. Morris was unable to walk Tuesday, but she is expected to make a full recovery.

via 6-year-old Marietta Girl Bitten by Shark.

A 13-year-old girl is expected to fully recover after being attacked by a shark while swimming near an island off the coast of North Carolina.

Carley Schlentz of Greensboro, N.C., sustained bites to her left foot while swimming with friends near Topsail Island, a 26-mile barrier island off the state’s coast.

Schlentz, who was immediately rushed to Cape Fear Hospital after Friday’s attack, reportedly received 60 stitches.

“I felt like something grabbed my foot but then it got really sharp and it wasn’t letting go,” the girl said in an interview with MyFox8.com.

“So I pulled away and by then it had already bitten me twice,” she said. “Then I pulled it out (of the water) to see what it was and it was pretty bad. The ligament was spread out and you could see it.”

via FOXNews.com – N.C. Girl Survives Shark Attack.

SNELVILLE, GA.– The Snelville, GA teen attacked by a shark on Jacksonville Beach is having a difficult recovery.

Monday she visited an Atlanta area doctor, after finding out Saturday her wound is infected. Foster had 29 stitches after the attack.

Foster was visiting her aunt’s house in Jacksonivlle Beach Thursday. She was boogie boarding with her boyfriend about 40 yards off our coast when a shark chomped down on her foot and leg.

Action News’ Kristen Cosby was the first reporter to interview Foster.

Monday, she shared her story on the CBS Early Show

“I could kind of feel all the teeth inside my skin,” said Foster. “Nothing short of freaking out. I was so scared.”

While Foster had swore off the ocean, her mom tells Action News she already has another beach trip planned in two weeks.

Doctors say it will be about six weeks before Foster is able to walk around again. Tuesday Foster is visiting a specialist to help heal her infection.

via Shark attack victim infected – Action News Jacksonville.

JACKSONVILLE BEACH – A woman bitten on the leg in the ocean near 16th Avenue South has prompted the annual summer vigilance for potential shark activity.

The 18-year-old woman was bitten about 2 p.m. Thursday in waist-deep water a few feet from shore, said Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue Capt. Thomas Wright. She was treated at Baptist Medical Center-Beaches for the minor bite wound, which was described as an outline of a small mouth with teeth.

Wright said the woman was bitten by something, but officials aren't sure it was a shark. Barracudas, bluefish and stingrays can bite or sting, he said.

“Unless it's a missing limb or something, I wouldn't necessarily call it a shark attack,” said Wright. “It's likely there is a lot of life in the water right now. The water's warming up.”

He said sharks, such as black tips and spinners, are migrating to their nursing grounds as far north as North Carolina.

Lifeguards along Jacksonville's Beaches haven't spotted large numbers of sharks recently, he said.

The incident had little impact on beachgoers. Many people were still in the water near the site after it happened Thursday. Even more people were at the beach Friday, since that was the last day of classes for many schools.

Jacksonville Beach Mayor Fland Sharp said he doesn't want to downplay any attack. But beachgoers have acclimated to the ocean's realities.

“We've had a shark attack what seems like every two or three years,” Sharp said. “There were a couple things that looked like they were shark bites and a couple things looked like it was something else.”

Sharp, a former lifeguard, said people should keep shark threats in perspective.

“If I was coming down here and felt a little uncomfortable, just walk up to a lifeguard on a chair” and ask if there are any reported shark sightings, he said. “I think the odds are much greater of being struck by lightning.”

Sharp said there are some simple rules to follow.

“In the summertime, there are pods of bait fish that come close to shore,” he said. “You definitely don't want to go swimming around those because there are sharks and other kinds of fish that are feeding around those. There are sharks here and you just have to use some common sense about it.”

Wright said it has been about four years since a shark attack in the area and that was at the Jacksonville Beach Pier off Fourth Avenue North. The woman's injuries were minor then, too. He advised swimmers to remember the ocean is the shark's habitat.

“Just know that is their home and they are out there all the time,” said Wright. “Just because you don't see fins swimming by like the movie “Jaws” doesn't mean they're not there. If you're concerned about being bit or anything, you probably shouldn't go out there.”

via Attack on woman in Jacksonville Beach waters may have been shark, raises concern | jacksonville.com.

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.

(CBS)  Hannah Foster was enjoying a day of boogie-boarding about 30-40 yards off Florida's Jacksonville Beach last week when she suddenly had a terrifying encounter with a shark.

It bit down on her lower left leg, and foot.

With the help of her boyfriend, Rick Hughes, also 18, Foster made it to shore.

It was the first shark attack in the area in 20 years.

Foster needed 29 stitches but told “Early Show” co-anchor Erica Hill she's “doing fine,” and that doctors say she didn't sustain any permanent damage.

Foster says she knew right away what was going on. “I didn't even consider anything else could have hurt that bad.” Foster told Hill. “I could kind of feel all the teeth inside my skin, so I knew.”

And, she was “nothing short of freaking out. I was so scared. I thought it was gonna smell the blood from where it had already bit me and come back. So, I'm just seaming at my boyfriend, yelling, 'It's coming back, it's coming back. I've been bit.' He didn't even know it was a shark. I couldn't even get that out.”

Hughes says he “just heard her screaming and it just scared me to death. But I turned around and just grabbed her as fast as I could and tried to just get her to shore.”

Was he concerned about another attack?

“I had no idea that it was a shark until we got closer to shore,” Hughes responded, “but I didn't really think about it. I just wanted to get her out. … It was just crazy. I don't even know how else to explain it.”

Foster says the water was so murky, “You could barely see at all. I could see the shape of (the shark) but I couldn't tell what kind of shark or anything.”

Once on shore, Foster says, “It was about 30 minutes before I got to the E-R and got any medicine in me. They spent time just bandaging it and making sure that I didn't hit an artery or anything. So, I spent a lot of time on the beach and in the ambulance.”

This wasn't Fosters first run of bad aquatic luck. When she was 9, she was bitten by a Portuguese man-of-war, which left scars on one of her arms for three years.

So now, says Foster, “I don't want to get back in at all. I know the odds, you know, are in my favor that I probably won't get bit again, but I obviously have pretty bad luck, so I'm sticking to pools.”

via Teen Survives Grisly Shark Attack Off Florida – The Early Show – CBS News.

(Jacksonville, FL)  –  An Atlanta woman says her 18-year-old daughter is “done with the ocean” after suffering a shark attack off the coast of Jacksonville on Thursday.

Hannah Mayo was on a boogie board when a shark, about four feet long, bit her on her leg and foot.

Mayo required 29 stitches on her left foot and leg.

Mayo's boyfriend pulled her to the beach and called lifeguards as the shark swam away after the attack.

Mayo's mother told the “Gwinnett Daily Post” that Hannah's foot was hanging off the boogie board and doctors said she easily could have lost it.

It was not Mayo's first scare in the ocean.

When she was nine, a Portuguese man-of-war stung her in the water off the South Carolina coast.

via Georgia Teen Swears Off Ocean After Shark Attack – MyStateLine.com.

Eighteen-year old Hannah Mayo was on her boogie board just off the coast of a Jacksonville beach when a shark floated up beside her and chomped down on both her leg and foot, reported the Gwinett Daily Post.

Her boyfriend, Rick Hughes, immediately ran to her aid and pulled her to shore, calling for lifeguards. The bite measured 12 inches in radius and required 29 stitches in all.

According to the news source, Mayo's mother, Kitty Mayo-Foster, said that hospital staff told her that Mayo was lucky to not have lost her foot, because of the way it was positioned on the boogie board.

Only several hours later, Mayo was already laughing about surviving the shark attack and telling people that she was “done with the ocean,” due to this encounter and another unpleasant experience with a Portuguese man-of-war when she was nine.

University of Florida findings claim that 100 people have been subject to a shark attack in the U.S from 1916 to 2008, with 12 of the attacks resulting in death. Experts from the university advise swimmers to avoid night swimming, swimming away from the shore, or swimming alone to reduce the risk of an attack.

Someone who is bleeding shouldn't swim in shark-populated areas at all and the university researchers say that jewelry or too much splashing can also attract predators.

via Hannah Mayo survives shark attack while boogie-boarding | News and Articles | TheSurvivorsClub.org.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — A teenager was injured in what authorities say may be a possible shark attack.

Authorities said Friday that 18-year-old Hannah Grace Foster of Snellville, Ga., was boogie boarding off Jacksonville Beach on Thursday when she felt a pain and pressure on her left foot. She said she saw a dark shadow swimming away.

Authorities say she sustained a 12-inch bite. Her boyfriend carried her in to shore and she was taken to a hospital for treatment and later released.

via Officials: Teen injured in possible shark attack – Florida AP – MiamiHerald.com.

SYDNEY — An Australian surfer fought off a large shark and then rode a wave to safety, reports said on Monday.

Michael Bedford was knocked off his board by the shark, believed to be a great white of “Jaws” fame, which then came back for a second charge, witnesses were quoted as saying.

But he punched the animal and then caught a passing wave to the shore, where friends used the board's rope as a tourniquet for bite wounds on his leg.

“He gave it a good whack he reckons, a good punch and that doesn't surprise me knowing Mick,” said witness Lee Cummuskey, according to public broadcaster ABC.

“It is your worst nightmare and Mick's been through it and survived so he's just really lucky.”

Bedford had surgery after Sunday's attack near Albany, south of Perth, and his condition was described as stable. Australia suffers several shark attacks each year, with 194 people killed over the past two centuries, records show.

via AFP: Aussie man punches shark, surfs to safety.

A man who witnessed a shark attack on a surfer off Western Australia's south coast says the victim is extremely fortunate to have survived.

Michael Bedford was surfing 150 metres offshore at Conspicuous Cliff beach near Walpole yesterday when he was attacked.

The shark, believed to be a white pointer, knocked him off his board before coming back to charge him a second time.

Mr Bedford managed to scramble onto his board before a well-timed wave pushed him into shore.

His friend, Lee Cummuskey and others, used his surfboard to carry him along the beach and up a cliff to a carpark to wait for an ambulance.

They then used his leg-rope as a tourniquet to try to stem the loss of blood from a deep gash to his right knee.

Mr Cummuskey says Mr Bedford is lucky to have survived.

“Just the fact that there was people on the beach to help us, and yeah, it didn't hit an artery so he didn't lose a lot of blood, I think that was really critical too,” he said.

He says it appears the shark was a white pointer.

“It did have a big white gut on it and he gave it a good whack he reckons, a good punch and that doesn't surprise me knowing Mick,” he said.

“It is, I don't know what to say, it is your worst nightmare and Mick's been through it and survived so he's just really lucky.”

Mr Bedford underwent surgery in Albany Regional Hospital last night where his condition is listed as stable.

via Surfer recovering after shark attack – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

A man has been attacked by a shark at a remote beach near Walpole this afternoon.

It is understood that the man was surfing at Conspicuous Cliffs just after noon when he was knocked off his board and bitten by the shark. It is believed that the man suffered serious injuries to one of his knees. He was taken by ambulance from the beach and is expected to be taken to Albany Hospital.

via Shark attack in Walpole – The West Australian.

Link

The shark attack was horrific. A great white had mauled surfer Todd Endris’ right leg and removed the skin off his back like a banana peel.

Just then, a pod of bottlenose dolphins came to Endris’ aid. They circled the surfer and blocked the shark’s access to him, making it possible for Endris to catch a wave back to shore on his board and get medical help.

The attack happened in August 2007 at Marina State Park off Monterey, California. The dolphins had been playing and frolicking in the area that morning while Endris and his friends surfed. Endris has no doubt that their intervention at just the right moment saved his life. “Truly a miracle,” he said.

Link

Last Monday a 68-year-old surfer in Hawaii managed to wrangle and ride a 14-foot tiger shark shortly after the sedan-sized fish attacked him. According to KHON, a shark took a serious chunk out of Jim Rawlinson’s board while surfing in Hanalei Bay, Kauai, possibly mistaking it for a sea turtle. Incredibly, Rawlinson managed to escape the encounter by wrangling the predator’s fin, straddling it, and holding on “for five to 10 seconds” while unshackling his surf leash and swimming to safety through breakers. Best of all, Rawlinson opted to continue surfing for another 45 minutes after the shark attack. If the AARP has a Hall of Fame for senior citizen bad-assness, we’d like to nominate Rawlinson’s immediate induction. Video of the news report is after the jump

Link

Surfer Brendan Denton, 35, survived a shark attack at a Port Alfred beach yesterday.

All the beaches in the area have been closed until further notice.

Denton was surfing at East Beach at about 10am yesterday when he felt a tug at his feet and realised it was a shark.

“I tried to fight the shark off, but it became (more) aggressive and started dragging me by the feet under the water,” Denton said.

When he released the leash attaching his ankle to the surfboard, the shark made off with the board, but only briefly.

While Denton was trying to make it back to shore, his surfboard resurfaced a few metres away and he used it to paddle to the beach.
His friend and other surfers, who had heard his screams and seen the splashing, helped him to get to a doctor.

Port Alfred police spokesperson Mali Govender said Denton’s injuries looked serious.

As he was wheeled into theatre for surgery, she told him she could see his feet. He replied by saying he could not feel them.

Before this, paramedics on the scene had said Denton may need to have the tendons on his feet and on the insides of both ankles re-attached.

Govender described the water at East Beach as “very murky”, saying sharks were usually found in water like that.

Juan Pretorius of the National Sea Rescue Institute said initial indications showed it was a bronze shark or a Zambezi bull shark that had attacked Denton, but they would wait for experts to investigate the bite marks.

Link

Five weeks after being bitten by a shark, an Invercargill teen on Saturday dived with her attacker’s larger cousins – the great white.

Lydia Ward, 14, gained international media attention last month when she fought off a shark – believed to be a broadnose sevengill shark – with her body-board after it latched on to her right thigh at Oreti Beach.

On Saturday, Lydia again came face to face with a predator at the top of the ocean’s food chain – albeit from the safety of a 2m-high dive cage.

Lydia, her father Tim and brother Alex, 10, flew from Invercargill to Stewart Island early on Saturday to be treated to an all-expenses-paid expedition courtesy of shark-dive operation Great White Southern Dive.

Lydia yesterday said a 3m-long great white had come within 1m of her soon after she got in the cage.

She said she didn’t have any flashbacks of the Oreti Beach shark attack, but had been a bit wary of the great white.

“I was just staring at it … and it looked like it was staring right at me. It had a lot of scars all over it.”

The experience had been “really cool”, Lydia said.

Mr Ward said his daughter had “hesitated very slightly” before getting into the cage, but she was fine once inside.

Though she had not swum at Oreti Beach since being attacked, Lydia believed she would be able to get back into the water, adding she had been coping just fine.

Her father agreed: “From the day after (the shark attack), when she realised she was at the wrong place at the wrong time and there was no man-eater cruising around looking for lunch, she was quite composed,” Mr Ward said.

Great White Southern Dive operator Peter Scott said he had offered the cage experience after seeing how much attention Lydia’s story had attracted.

“I didn’t want people getting the wrong impression (of sharks),” he said. “There can’t have been much else happening in the world.”

Two or three great whites had been in the water near the cage throughout the day-long expedition for the Ward family, Mr Scott said.

“They just come – they’re curious.”

Link

A 14-YEAR-OLD New Zealand girl escaped serious injury in a shark attack by furiously beating the creature about the head with her body board until it let go.

Lydia Ward was in waist-deep water near the southern city of Invercargill when the shark lunged at her and wrapped its jaws around her hip.

She told Radio New Zealand she bashed the “big, grey, slippery thing” with her polystyrene body board and fled from the water when it let go.

“I showed Dad and he didn’t really believe me but then I showed him my wetsuit with all the blood coming out and he believed me,” she told Radio New Zealand.

Her mother, Fiona Ward, told the Southland Times that Lydia thought she had stood on the shark before it attacked and that its teeth penetrated her wetsuit and her skin.

Lydia required hospital treatment for two of the deeper wounds, however she was not seriously injured, Fiona Ward said.

The girl’s brother, who was swimming next to her, estimated the shark was about 1.5m long.

Link

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

Link

Courageous!

August 17, 2009

Joanne Lucas’ bravery earned her the Star of Courage.

It was calm and still the day an Albany woman driven by instinct swam out to save the life of a fellow surf club member who had been attacked by a shark off Western Australia’s south coast.

Joanne Lucas’ bravery in doing so has earned her the Star of Courage, a bravery award which will presented by the Governor-General Quentin Bryce.

The 54-year-old mother of three had arrived at Middleton Beach, Albany, early on May 10 last year, ahead of a surf club event.

“It was very still and calm, and the sun was shining, and there were dolphins flipping about, a whole pod of dolphins …” Ms Lucas said.

But a short time later, a woman ran up the beach telling her a man had been attacked by a shark.

“I said: `No, no, it’s the dolphins’ and she said: `No it’s a shark’,” Ms Lucas said.

Ms Lucas said running down to the beach, driven by instinct and adrenalin, she stripped off her tracksuit pants and swam 80 metres to where fellow surf club member Jason Cull was critically injured, barely able to swim or tread water.

“It was a completely instinctive thing. I didn’t think: `There’s a shark out there maybe I shouldn’t go out there’,” she said.

“I just thought I’ve got to get this guy out and I’ve got to get him back in.”

All the while, the shark manoeuvred around the scene, with Ms Lucas fearing the frantic splashing of two nearby swimmers trying to scare it away would steer the shark toward her and Mr Cull.

She said she kicked harder and made it to shore where Mr Cull was treated for his injuries.

His leg was completely ripped open from his ankle right up to his knee and he had been “nipped” on the other knee, Ms Lucas said.

Ms Lucas said she was happy to see Mr Cull now back on his feet and cycling around the place.

Being awarded the star of courage was humbling, she said.

“I’m very honoured and humbled to receive this.”

Ms Lucas said she was quickly back on the beach after the attack.

“It hasn’t turned me off the ocean at all,” she said.

“I actually scan the ocean before I go in now …”

The governor-general is expected to present the star of courage to Ms Lucas at a ceremony early next year.

Link

Great essay about sharks. Here’s an excerpt. Make sure to read the whole thing.

Four things EVERYONE needs to know about sharks

1) Sharks do not represent a serious threat to human beings. Yes, some people have died as a result of shark encounters, and any human death is a tragedy, but it is important to keep in mind the relative risk of a shark attack. Of the over 500 species of sharks worldwide, fewer than a dozen have ever been known to kill a human. In an average year, over 650,000 Americans die as a result of heart disease, giving me a 1 in 5 chance of dying of heart disease in my lifetime. In an average year, over 550,000 Americans die from cancer, giving me a 1 in 7 chance of dying from cancer in my lifetime. In an average year, over 40,000 Americans die in car accidents, giving me a 1 in 84 chance of dying in a car accident in my lifetime. In an average year, 1 American dies from a shark attack, giving me a 1 in 3,748,067 chance of dying from a shark attack in my lifetime.

Again, any human death is a tragedy, but when you have a 1 in 5 chance of dying from heart disease and a 1 in 4 million chance of dying from a shark attack, should we really be so concerned about the threat to us that sharks represent?

Millions of Americans spend time in the oceans each year. Sharks have been evolving incredible sensory systems, part of what makes them such incredible hunters, for over 400 million years. They can also swim a great deal faster than we can. If they wanted to attack humans, a lot more than one American a year would be killed by a shark.  Sharks are simply not a serious threat to us.

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.

Link

3 ways local sharks attack

April 19, 7:23 PM 

If your surfboard looks like a pinniped, could it result in a “hit and run?” Read on for the answer.

It is scary that some surfers fall victim to unprovoked shark attacks each year. There are three main ways that sharks attack. In all cases, it is rare to ever see it coming.

How sharks attack:

1)“Hit and Run” attacks
While we disdain this behavior in licensed drivers, it is the least vile attack of all shark attacks. This form of attack is the most common form to surfers, but luckily not the deadliest. It involves a single bite or slash wound in which sharks do not return. Often, sharks are testing to see if you are food. Their minds work like a computer, and they are trying to determine if you are what they are looking for. They are placing you in the search engine. If you are surrounded by their food source, when they lunge, it is common for them to “taste” you and miss their target. But, a shark’s version of a lick packs a mean punch. With that kind of force, you may not be lunch, but you will be “left-over.” Many surfers have gotten a chunk of their foot lacerated, or a missing arm or leg. But, luckily they are alive. Everyone knows of Bethany Hamilton and how she still surfs today after her horrible accident. Hopefully, these accidents will be avoided in the future as surfers become more aware of their surroundings. Remember, when in the midst of a school of fish take action to prevent such mayhem by pulling in your appendages.
 

2)“Sneak” attacks
Much like a stealthy navy seal, you would not see this shark attack coming. Sneak attacks are the most fatal shark attacks. If a great white noticed your board from below and came charging from the depths, you would no longer be a surfer, you would be his. There is no way to foresee these kinds of attacks. The best way to prepare for this is your desire to stay alive. But after repeated bites, this form attack often proves itself fatal.

3)”Bump and Run” attacks
These attacks can be easily envisioned because of the movie, Jaws. This may involve one or multiple sharks. It occurs when the shark begins to circle you, moving vastly closer in proximity. The shark then proceeds to bump you from whatever vessel is harboring you. These attacks frequent plane crashes, and like sneak attacks, grueling at best.

Local Note: We have tiger sharks, blacktips, and bull sharks frequenting our waters. Tigers and bulls, as if their names were not a fierce enough description, are prone to both sneak attacks and bump and runs. Blacktips are more likely to hit and run.

Link

These rip currents are clearly far more dangerous than any amount of shark attacks.

Drowning at Palm Beach; One dead

PALM BEACH, FL–One man is dead after strong rip currents forced him 200 yards from land.  Three other men were rescued Sunday night.  

It happened at Ocean Blvd. and Peruvian Avenue around 5:00 p.m. right after the lifeguard finished duty.  

Officials say three males were in the water, two of them were rescued by an off duty lifeguard and a surfer in the area.  The third swimmer, a man from Coral Springs, was found face down about 200 yards out.  Workers tried to resuscitate him at the scene, then transferred the 25-year-old to Good Samaritan Hospital where he was pronounced dead.      

Another bystander who jumped in to help with the rescue was pushed about 50 yards out by the rip current.  That person was then rescued by official rescue workers, according to a Palm Beach Fire Rescue spokesperson.  

Link

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

Shark incidents on the rise in Florida

Submitted by SHNS on Fri, 04/24/2009 – 09:58. 

A combination of more people going to local beaches and the natural migrating pattern of sharks has led to recent shark bite incidents in Florida, researchers said.

Sharks are starting to move north as water temperatures rise, with some sharks expected to reach southern New England by the end of the summer, said George Burgess, director of Florida Program for Shark Research at the University of Florida, in an e-mail.

Since last Friday, there have been several shark bite incidents, one each in St. Lucie and Palm Beach counties and one involving an Okeechobee County man at New Smyrna Beach.

“More people equal more chances to meet up with a shark, pure odds,” Burgess wrote.

Sharks normally spotted in the water are black tip, spinner, blacknose and sharpnose sharks. Occasionally spotted are tiger, bull, lemon and hammerhead sharks, Burgess said.

Also, bull sharks are chasing tarpons that are migrating from the Bahamas to Florida’s coast, said Neil Hammerschlag, director of the South Florida Student Shark Program at the University of Miami.

“Sharks, they’re out for an easy meal,” he said.

Lifeguards along Florida’s Treasure Coast said they are monitoring the waters and informing beach-goers of any dangers.

“Sharks aren’t looking to feed on people, but they are looking for bait fish,” Martin County lifeguard Capt. Ray Szefinski said.

Vero Beach lifeguard Lt. Shanna Beard said she sometimes has to remind swimmers not to play in a pool of baitfish or take pictures in the water because the vibrations and light flashes could attract sharks.

“A lot of people see it as being fun and don’t realize the danger,” she said.

However, Hammerschlag said beach-goers should not panic and think, “it’s not safe to go into the water.”

“More people die from bee stings and tripping over sand castles and hitting their heads than from shark attacks,” he said.

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 dawn or dusk 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.

- Sightings of porpoises do not indicate the absence of sharks – both often eat the same food items.

- 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.

- Exercise caution when in the area between sandbars or near steep drop-offs – these are favorite hangouts for sharks.

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

Link

Sharks Rarely Attack

Shark Fatalities are Less Common than People Believe

©Jennifer Copley

Apr 24, 2009

Many people think that shark attacks happen regularly and are usually fatal, but they are actually quite rare and most victims survive.

Movies and sensationalized media stories create the impression that sharks are avid man-eaters, but Rob Stewart’s award-winning documentary, Sharkwater has recently challenged such stereotypes. Even Peter Benchley,Jawsauthor, now believes that sharks are misunderstood, but the view that humans are a shark’s favourite prey persists.
Read more: “Sharks Rarely Attack: Shark Fatalities are Less Common than People Believe” -http://fishinsects.suite101.com/article.cfm/sharks_rarely_attack#ixzz0DfDYWrLh&A

Link

I wish they’d at least hazard a guess at the type of shark responsible in these articles.

Man survives shark attack in Batangas

---

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 04/22/2009 6:37 PM

A 23-year-old man was bitten by a shark while swimming in the waters off Mabini town in Batangas province, early Monday morning.

Gerald Perez was swimming a few meters with his family near the shoreline in Barangay San Jose when the shark bit his legs around 5 a.m.

Senior Superintendent Jesus Gatchalian, Batangas provincial police director, said relatives of the victim rushed him to the Batauan Doctor’s Hospital.

Garchalian said the victim lost a lot of blood, but has been declared out of harm by doctors.

 

Link

I’m guessing it was a Bull Shark.

Shark attack: Candia surfer bitten

By PAT GROSSMITH
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff 

A Candia man, recovering from surgery after being attacked by a shark while surfing in Florida, will tell his tale today on national television.

Bruce Klinker, 52, whose left foot was bitten as he surfed Sunday near Jupiter, Fla., with his daughter, Bridgitte Ochsner of Portland, Maine. He is to appear live during the 7:30 a.m. portion of NBC’s “Today Show” tomorrow, according to the WPTV Web site.

Peggy Anne Klinker said her husband had just ridden a wave in and was paddling back out when he felt something grab him. She said he yelled to their daughter, who was further out in the water, “Bridg, I’m bit; come in.” He also screamed to her and other swimmers to get out of the water.

At the time, she said, he did not know what bit him and only knew for certain after a surgeon specializing in shark bites was called to Jupiter Medical Center.

“He’s very lucky he’s alive,” she said. His foot was “totally mangled,” she said but was completely reconstructed in 4 1/2 hours of surgery at Jupiter Medical Center.

“The doctor told him he could have been struck by lightning three to four times in his life before getting bit by a shark,” she said. “I told him I was glad the lightning thing was out of the way.”

BRUCE KLINKER (NEWSCHANNEL 5, WPTV, WEST PALM BEACH)

Klinker, an insurance claims handler whose passion is surfing, has a long recovery ahead of him and will need intense physical therapy to be able to walk, according to his wife.

Mrs. Klinker said it is not know what kind of shark attacked her husband but she said it had to be a pretty big one, given the number of puncture wounds to her husband’s foot.

The Klinkers have four adult children and the entire family surfs. Even the couple’s five young grandchildren want to surf, she said.

Mrs. Klinker doesn’t expect her husband will ever give up surfing. She described him as a fanatic who, with a group of Concord physicians and engineers, will go out for pre-work surfing sessions at 5 a.m., even in winter when they don wetsuits.

Link

Here’s a valuable blog that lists all reported shark attacks since 2005.

Link

Shark attack in Jupiter; surfer bitten

JUPITER, FL — A shark attacked a a man surfing in Jupiter Sunday afternoon. It happened just south of Carlin Park at around 3:45 p.m. Witnesses tell WPTV.com the victim was bitten on the foot and may have lost two toes. Lifeguards wrapped the wounded foot in towels until paramedics arrived to treat the man on the beach. He was taken to Jupiter Medical Center where the staff says he is in stable condition.