Florida shark attacks

[luvdiving]

Justaddwater

According to an article in the Naples (FL) newspaper, the shark was not caught... so no identification. The attack was about 30 yards from shore. The victim was a surfer that had finished a ride and was turning around.

I usually dive on Johnston Island (800 miles SW of Hawaii) and see sharks every other dive. I've been diving with up to 40 gray reef sharks close by (counted on the video after the dive) and have never been bitten or bumped.

I'm sure glad I dive and not surf.

Ken

 

[Mario S Caner]

I too have been diving all over the world, and from my backyard (southern california coast) to Australian waters to Chinese waters I've been diving with hundreds upon hundreds of sharks. I'm very happy to say that I've never been bitten <knocks on wood (vigorously)> though I've had my share of hairy moments!

If you look at attack patterns of the white, you will see that they prefer to ambush prey that's on the surface. This is partly due to the fact that their number one diet is a quick and agile lil bugger! Basically to make a long story short, being IN the water is better than being ON the water. It's always the long surface swim at night in water that has a lot of bioluminescence that wigs me out... hehe.


Sea you in the Deep Blue!

 

[DivingGal]

Originally posted by Rick Murchison

Originally posted by DivingGal
but I think it's the ones that really shouldn't be in the gene pool who are the ones making the news. This is not to take away from the unfortunate ones who are in the wrong place at the wrong time -- it just seems to me that when some of the stories come out, the one that got injured was doing something pretty stupid. just my 0.02

Sorry, but this is totally off the mark.... The little boy attacked by the bull shark in Pensacola 10 days ago was totally innocent of any carelessness, stupidity of wrongdoing, as is the case in most attacks....
Rick [/B]

Rick - I tried (although not very successfully) to indicate that not every shark attack victim is a victim of an unprovoked attack. Granted this young boy was, and the marathon swimmer that you mentioned seemed to be too. But I recall a fairly recent incident where a young man in Florida was injured by a shark -- as a result of him teasing the shark, I also recall other incidents where the victims were in the water despite posted warnings of sharks (and to avoid going in) - it's these latter folks I was speaking of. NOT the unfortunate ones of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. My apologies for my unclear comments.

 

[Miami Mermaid]

I have to say, that I live in Miami (born and raised) and my husband has been diving for years now--off the keys and off Miami Beach. He has never come in contact with a shark. He HAS seen nurse sharks and sand sharks but that is about it.

I disagree with Rick. I don't think calling that boy who got bitten stupid is right, but the conditions at the time of the attack were condusive for an attack.

1.) It was dawn, 2). The water was murky, 3) The child (very white skin) was splashing around as most children do.

Although I'm very very new to diving, I think it is safe to assume that one should never be in the water at dawn, at dusk or if the water is murky.
Thanks for reading my opinion.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Before these three attacks it has been twenty-five *years* since a shark attack on this part of the redneck riviera (Ft. Morgan to Pensacola Beach). Twenty five years. Literally *millions* of bathers have frolicked in the surf in those years - millions! In all kinds of conditions, at all times of day. To call anyone irresponsible under those circumstances is a huge stretch indeed.
Rick

 

[large_diver]

I thought the bull shark attack on the boy occurred at dusk...which is often a dangerous time to be in the water around sharks...

 

[Rick Murchison]

I'm not positive on the attack at Gulf Shores last year, but I think it was mid morning.
The attack on the 6th (the boy) was at dusk, but the attack on the surfer (14th) was mid-day.
Rick

 

[devjr]

During the 1980's, bullsharks were fairly common in VA, including the Chesapeake Bay and offshore waters. In 1983, I was attacked twice. The first incident I was SCUBA diving alone near the third island of the bridge tunnel. I was towing a string of tautogs. A bull shark grabbed my left fin. I whirled and jabbed with the gun barrel and the shark wheeled and swam away rapidly.
The second incident occurred a month later at the Chesapeake light tower. Freediving, each fish that I shot was thrown into my boat. A bullshark approached when I was locked and loaded. The shark made two passes and charged. I swam above the shark and shot a spear through the top of its head at a range of three feet. Although I paid out line, the run was so strong that the line broke. I lost my "lucky" spear. Other than that, it was a good day. A newscaster for a fishing report(radio) saw my catch on the dock and asked me to make a live report. I described my catch which included king mackeral and cobia, mentioned the sharks, warned swimmers and snorkelers who frequent the tower.

 

[cherinere]

There was a very good, well written and informative article in Time this week 7/22 on the updated reserch on sharks and why they attack humans. Most is because of mistaken ID of it's victims. They have also found the reason so many are Great Whites 247 unprov. attacks is because they are top feeder and the hits were done by young fish that are not fully grown and still learning how to recognize what is edible. They say the Tiger is the worst because it doesn't care what it eats and there have been more fatal attacks by them compared to the stats of attacks to death ratio in Whites. Only a handful were divers and that was due to a lack of respect and plain stupidity on the diver part. Remember the more we learn the better we can share THEIR enviroment with no one getting hurt.

Live and Let live as they say!

 

[devjr]

Humans are seldom attacked due to so called mistakes on the part of either. That is, unless you include fish feeding, this is dangerous to all divers, but mostly to those who are not in this business. I am convinced that the recent attack I experienced near Bimini was the result of shark watchers whom are feeding these fish in Bahamian waters. True, I was carrying a fish in a bag during one such attack. In this case, I was bumped by a gray reef shark accompanied by three others. I fought back by jamming my handspear in its snoot and charging at the others. This had limited effect which is unusual. They pursued me on the surface(freediver) until they saw the boat. Normally, a few run of the mill six foot gray reef sharks would have been scared off by my threats. These fish were not afraid of humans. Another incident in Florida waters a couple years earlier should have forewarned. We were SCUBA diving, carrying guns but no fish. My buddy and I were charged by a black tip, a glancing blow since we saw him first. On the second run it was clear he was coming straight on. We both shot and subsequently killed the shark, a seven footer. With all the unarmed divers in the area, I thought this had to be one dumb shark. Later, I began to suspect the true source of the trouble. Fish feeders.

Shark attack has always been a concern to spearfishermen. I lost a buddy to a white shark attack at Guadalupe Island in 1973. He was spearfishing but had no fish in hand. (We were looking for world record tuna). This may have been a "mistake" but mistake or not, it makes no difference. "Live and let live" is a nice slogan, hope the sharks are listening but I for one am not counting on it.