FKA Kiteboarding Forums

FKA Kiteboarding Forums (http://www.fksa.org/index.php)
-   ** KITER BUZZ ** (http://www.fksa.org/forumdisplay.php?f=27)
-   -   Fatal Shark Attack in Fl Panhandle (http://www.fksa.org/showthread.php?t=612)

Eagle 06-25-2005 09:00 PM

Fatal Shark Attack in Fl Panhandle
 
Sad news here.

www.nytimes.com/2005/06/26/national/26shark.html

Jun 25, 4:49 PM (ET)


SANDESTIN, 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.

"One of the swimmers was bitten. It was the lower portions of her body," said Walton County Sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Shank. The other swimmer was not injured.

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 Louisiana, but her name was not immediately released.

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

Patrick O'Neill, the campground's general manager, refused to comment.

Authorities closed about 20 miles of beaches to swimming shortly after the attack. It's the height of the summer tourism season along the coast and the beaches were packed with people.

"This doesn't happen very often at all - very, very seldom," said Mike McKee, front desk supervisor at the nearby Hilton Sandestin Beach Resort and Spa.

Florida had the largest number of documented shark attacks worldwide in 2003 with 30, according to statistics compiled by the American Elasmobranch Society and the Florida Museum of Natural History. There were 12 attacks off the coast of Florida last year.

Eagle 06-25-2005 09:00 PM

Fatal Shark Attack in Fl Panhandle
 
Sad news here.

www.nytimes.com/2005/06/26/national/26shark.html

Jun 25, 4:49 PM (ET)


SANDESTIN, 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.

"One of the swimmers was bitten. It was the lower portions of her body," said Walton County Sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Shank. The other swimmer was not injured.

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 Louisiana, but her name was not immediately released.

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

Patrick O'Neill, the campground's general manager, refused to comment.

Authorities closed about 20 miles of beaches to swimming shortly after the attack. It's the height of the summer tourism season along the coast and the beaches were packed with people.

"This doesn't happen very often at all - very, very seldom," said Mike McKee, front desk supervisor at the nearby Hilton Sandestin Beach Resort and Spa.

Florida had the largest number of documented shark attacks worldwide in 2003 with 30, according to statistics compiled by the American Elasmobranch Society and the Florida Museum of Natural History. There were 12 attacks off the coast of Florida last year.

ricki 06-27-2005 05:35 AM

This is very sad news. I wish the girls family strength in coping in these tragic times.

I have heard of only four shark attacks against kiteboarders in Florida. Considering the noise we stir up I expected years ago that we would have negative encounters with sharks fairly commonly. I am very happy that the reality has been far more benign.

Some ideas to try to avoid shark problems, largely taken from diving appear at:

http://fksa.org/viewtopic.php?t=555

The CNN article is at:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/26/sha...ack/index.html

ricki 06-27-2005 05:35 AM

This is very sad news. I wish the girls family strength in coping in these tragic times.

I have heard of only four shark attacks against kiteboarders in Florida. Considering the noise we stir up I expected years ago that we would have negative encounters with sharks fairly commonly. I am very happy that the reality has been far more benign.

Some ideas to try to avoid shark problems, largely taken from diving appear at:

http://fksa.org/viewtopic.php?t=555

The CNN article is at:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/26/sha...ack/index.html

onepimpinsummer 06-27-2005 03:33 PM

what are your four accounts of shark attacks on kiteboarders? i'm just curious to know. were they bitten? when? what size and type of shark? serious injury? what were they doing exactly when attacked? Ive heard of people being brushed by them, and sighting them, but never heard of a kiteboarder being attacked.

And what is up with these serious shark attacks lately. There was ANOTHER one today in the panhandle.. Boy got bitten bad, but is doing ok now after surgery. And that poor girl the other day that got killed. What a shame. I hope her family is hanging in there. Both were Bull Sharks. They say the Bull Shark has the most testosterone out of all animals on the planet. After all these incidents, it kind of makes me want to go fishing......for sharks.....................with my 12 gauge

onepimpinsummer 06-27-2005 03:33 PM

what are your four accounts of shark attacks on kiteboarders? i'm just curious to know. were they bitten? when? what size and type of shark? serious injury? what were they doing exactly when attacked? Ive heard of people being brushed by them, and sighting them, but never heard of a kiteboarder being attacked.

And what is up with these serious shark attacks lately. There was ANOTHER one today in the panhandle.. Boy got bitten bad, but is doing ok now after surgery. And that poor girl the other day that got killed. What a shame. I hope her family is hanging in there. Both were Bull Sharks. They say the Bull Shark has the most testosterone out of all animals on the planet. After all these incidents, it kind of makes me want to go fishing......for sharks.....................with my 12 gauge

ricki 06-29-2005 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onepimpinsummer
what are your four accounts of shark attacks on kiteboarders? i'm just curious to know. were they bitten? when? what size and type of shark? serious injury? what were they doing exactly when attacked? Ive heard of people being brushed by them, and sighting them, but never heard of a kiteboarder being attacked.

And what is up with these serious shark attacks lately. There was ANOTHER one today in the panhandle.. Boy got bitten bad, but is doing ok now after surgery. And that poor girl the other day that got killed. What a shame. I hope her family is hanging in there. Both were Bull Sharks. They say the Bull Shark has the most testosterone out of all animals on the planet. After all these incidents, it kind of makes me want to go fishing......for sharks.....................with my 12 gauge

Summarizing the attacks or incidents briefly, two cases involved the same rider, Paul Menta. In one instance he landed on a small hark off Key West placed his hand in the water before he realized this and the shark latched on to his hand. Paul launched an involuntary jump with the shark hanging off of his hand! In the second case Paul was riding near a fishing pier in the panhandle, this is a number of years back, trailing a board leash. A shark came up and started biting his board leash. More proof that board leashes are dangerous!

The most serious case happened a few years back off of the Treasure Coast of Florida. The kiteboarder was badly bitten but survived but left the area as a result of the experience.

The last case involved a newbie, several years ago, trying to learn to waterstart without pro instruction off of Hutchinson Island. Apparently there was bait in the area and he ended up getting bitten by an unidentified shark.

I didn't receive information identifying sharks in any of these cases.

Bulls are certainly common enough. I have been in the water free diving with them on and off for decades. Once I swam after a group of five bulls for an hour and a half. They even hung around while I went up to change rolls of film. Bulls in my encounters have not been aggressive but more just cruising around. Obviously they have the capacity to attack however as do MANY other species of sharks. The only shark I was ever bitten by and came close to being hit again on another occassion were nurse sharks, that I know about anyway. I have always likened nurses to big dumb dogs hanging out in crevices. They can be provoked into attacking however.

ricki 06-29-2005 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onepimpinsummer
what are your four accounts of shark attacks on kiteboarders? i'm just curious to know. were they bitten? when? what size and type of shark? serious injury? what were they doing exactly when attacked? Ive heard of people being brushed by them, and sighting them, but never heard of a kiteboarder being attacked.

And what is up with these serious shark attacks lately. There was ANOTHER one today in the panhandle.. Boy got bitten bad, but is doing ok now after surgery. And that poor girl the other day that got killed. What a shame. I hope her family is hanging in there. Both were Bull Sharks. They say the Bull Shark has the most testosterone out of all animals on the planet. After all these incidents, it kind of makes me want to go fishing......for sharks.....................with my 12 gauge

Summarizing the attacks or incidents briefly, two cases involved the same rider, Paul Menta. In one instance he landed on a small hark off Key West placed his hand in the water before he realized this and the shark latched on to his hand. Paul launched an involuntary jump with the shark hanging off of his hand! In the second case Paul was riding near a fishing pier in the panhandle, this is a number of years back, trailing a board leash. A shark came up and started biting his board leash. More proof that board leashes are dangerous!

The most serious case happened a few years back off of the Treasure Coast of Florida. The kiteboarder was badly bitten but survived but left the area as a result of the experience.

The last case involved a newbie, several years ago, trying to learn to waterstart without pro instruction off of Hutchinson Island. Apparently there was bait in the area and he ended up getting bitten by an unidentified shark.

I didn't receive information identifying sharks in any of these cases.

Bulls are certainly common enough. I have been in the water free diving with them on and off for decades. Once I swam after a group of five bulls for an hour and a half. They even hung around while I went up to change rolls of film. Bulls in my encounters have not been aggressive but more just cruising around. Obviously they have the capacity to attack however as do MANY other species of sharks. The only shark I was ever bitten by and came close to being hit again on another occassion were nurse sharks, that I know about anyway. I have always likened nurses to big dumb dogs hanging out in crevices. They can be provoked into attacking however.

ricki 06-29-2005 01:38 PM

The four attacks/incidents that I related happened a number of years ago. It makes me think that there may have been others since then. Has anyone heard of other kiteboarder attacks?

ricki 06-29-2005 01:38 PM

The four attacks/incidents that I related happened a number of years ago. It makes me think that there may have been others since then. Has anyone heard of other kiteboarder attacks?


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:06 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.

Do not advertise outside of [COM] Forums.
Do not show disrespect for others in your postings.
Users can be denied access to this Site without warning.
FKA, Inc., it’s officers and moderators are not responsible
for the content of the postings and any links or pictures posted.

Report Problems by PM to “administrator” or via email to flkitesurfer@hotmail.com

Copyright FKA, Inc. 2004, All Rights Reserved.