Fl shark attack

DESTIN, Fla.(AP) A 14-year-old girl died Saturday after a shark attacked her while she and a companion were swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, authorities said.

The teenagers were swimming on boogie boards about 100 yards offshore when they noticed a dark shadow in the water, authorities said. The other swimmer was not injured, Walton County Sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Shank said.

Both girls swam to shore, and the victim was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, Shank said. The girl was on vacation from Gonzales, La., but her name was not immediately released.

It was not clear what type of shark attacked her, said Stan Kirkland, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

"The girl was some distance off from the shore," Kirkland said. "I don't think anyone got a good view of the shark."

The attack happened near the Camping on the Gulf Holiday Travel Park, about 45 miles east of Pensacola on the Florida Panhandle.

Authorities closed about 20 miles of crowded beaches to swimming shortly after the attack. It was not immediately clear when they would reopen.

Robert Goodwin, 12, of St. Louis, Mo., said he was ordered out of the water by authorities. "I didn't know that when I was told to get out it was a shark," he said. "I was like, what? Wow that's not cool."

Goodwin's father, Mark, said the family comes to the beach every year. "It was just an eery feeling to see folks sitting there on the beach," he said.

Florida averaged more than 30 shark attacks a year from 2000 to 2003, but there were only 12 attacks off the state's coast last year, according to statistics compiled by the American Elasmobranch Society and the Florida Museum of Natural History.

I heard about this, its terrible. My heart and prayers go out to her family.

i saw on the news this morning. they where talkin to the surfer who brought he in..

he said the shark was attackin the whole time he was bringing her in..

Diesel298:

i saw on the news this morning. they where talkin to the surfer who brought he in..

he said the shark was attackin the whole time he was bringing her in..

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The whole time now I think that is unusual?

cdiver2:

The whole time now I think that is unusual?

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I believe he said that it was following and appeared to be going after her hand that was hanging over the side of his board as he was bringing her in.

Kudos to the surfer. An 8 ft shark would be frightening, and he still pulled the victim in to shore on his board, striking the shark on the nose at one point.

I read about this in the paper this morning. The girl was a boogie boarder and was attacked by a bull shark. The surfer who attempted to rescue her was attacked by the shark and punched it in the nose allowing him time to get her to shore.

Sad...the paper also reported that this part of Florida gets a the highest percentage of shark attacks per year...guess I won't be diving there.

I dove that area for years, never had a problem with sharks. Matter of fact rarely saw any.

JodiBB:

I read about this in the paper this morning. The girl was a boogie boarder and was attacked by a bull shark. The surfer who attempted to rescue her was attacked by the shark and punched it in the nose allowing him time to get her to shore.

Sad...the paper also reported that this part of Florida gets a the highest percentage of shark attacks per year...guess I won't be diving there.

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I've been diving here (Florida Panhandle) for more than 30 years, and very rarely see a shark. When we do see one underwater, they very rarely show any interest in us. These girls were out more than 100 yards from the beach and kicking on a boggie board. Swimming on the surface or playing in the surf is far more likely to draw a shark's interest versus diving.

Anyway, I thought the east coast of Florida got the highest percentage of attacks. We have had some sensational ones here in the last few years. A few years ago, Jesse Arbogast was attacked by a bull shark on Pensacola Beach. It took his arm off and part of his leg. He survived, but is severely brain damaged due to blood loss. His uncle, who was fishing from the beach, saw the attack and ran into the surf and grabbed the shark by the tail and dragged it on to the beach. A park ranger shot it in the head and got Jesse's arm out of its mouth. The arm was reattached at a local hospital and he has limited use of it. Unfortunately, he lost all the blood in body before they could transfuse him.

What a sad event...

I used to frequently swim out to, and between, the barrier islands out there. Long swims. Frightening to think what could have happened....

captain:

I dove that area for years, never had a problem with sharks. Matter of fact rarely saw any.

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I only ever saw one once while diving but he scared me. I was swimming along a ledge about twenty feet from it, there was a lot of boulders and small rocks that had broken off laying in front of the ledge. I saw a movement to my right and rear turning my head to see what it was I saw a bull shark. It was coming up and to-wards me, I have never had a shark do that before. Turning to-wards it and holding the camera out in front of me I swam to-wards it, it turned and swam away.
I also saw a bull in three feet of water swimming parallel to the shore going round people in the water.