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Old 04-01-2014, 02:47 PM
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Default Report: Shark Attack On Kiter, Delray Beach, FL 3.22.14

The blacktip/spinner shark migration had been underway for some weeks off South Florida. Intermittent shark sightings off Northern Broward and Palm Beach counties by kiters had happened with some frequency for over a month. Kurt Hoffman and three friends came down to Kitebeach in Delray for a downwinder north to Lake Worth on Saturday, March 22, 2014. Before the guys could head down the coast, a squall came up boosting the wind which subsequently died in the post-storm low. They stayed on the beach as the storm passed for stable conditions to return so they could head out kiting. Eventually the low passed and the wind returned. They were kiting off Delray Kite Beach or roughly 500 ft. south of Casurina Road and south of the public beach. Kurt had been riding for over a dozen years, is an instructor, does kite repair and is a very well experienced kiter.





The accident happened around 10 to 10:30 AM. The wind was southeast 16 to 20 mph with shoulder high waves (about 4 ft.) with nice well formed faces. Low tide was listed at 10:49 am that morning for the area. Kurt estimated water depth was below 6 feet and was approximately 35 to 40 yards offshore at the time of the attack. Sand bars can form parallel to the shore in Delray setting up some nice wave breaks around that distance offshore.



The iKitesurf wind graph for Boynton Beach to the north of the riding area that day.


Kurt had seen 2 to 3 sharks that morning but none spinning out of the water. Large quantities of migrating sharks had been seen in the area at isolated times in recent weeks. He had seen neither jumping bait nor feeding seabirds or other evidence of feeding shark activity. The sun was still low in the east so viewing of the ocean and submerged sharks therein was difficult around that time. There were both clear and murky areas of water related to the waves as well as dredging and beach restoration activities occurring to the north on Delray Beach.



Migrating sharks can be seems at times in wave crests.
Photo: J. Langolis, Palm Beach Daily News
http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/ne...ose-bea/nWhW4/


He was riding in old Santa Cruz 6'3" surfboard with no straps and a deck pad. He was flying a 12 m² Naish kite. He been kiting for a while had done about eight tacks for approximately an hour before the attack. He was heading out to the northeast when he saw a wave set coming in and decided to do a turn to the southwest "smacking" the lip of the wave during the transition. He was riding toe-side to the face and after transitioning to the southwest put his left arm back to drag through the wave face. The wind was gusting so he leaned in the face immersing his arm to his elbow or bicep. The kite stalled a little bit hesitating at this point.

At this moment the shark bit his arm momentarily and pulled back. His left foot came off the board and his hip slammed into the shark. Initially thought he hit debris as there was lots floating around. His right foot was still on the board. At this time he still didn't realize that a shark had bitten him.

The shark hit his forearm and bone and Kurt said you can almost hear it hit and release. He initially thought he had hit a floating board with nails which cut him. He could see a gray brown mass in the murky water and thought it was his kite board but then he remembered his board was still under him? He saw the bleeding puncture wounds and finally concluded it was a shark bite. His body was half in the water with his right arm and leg still on the board. As he dove the kite down hard he got on the board on his stomach and sined the kite rapidly to shoot in the shore at best possible speed.

He was trying to keep his head to be able to land and get out of the situation safely. He maintain the kite high and under control as he headed into beach. When he was on the beach he yelled at his friend “shark bite” while another kiter helped to land his kite. He indicated there was about 15 to 20 puncture wounds and his forearm.He grabbed his phone to call his wife. His arm wasn't gushing but was seeping and was covered with blood. His friend wanted to put a tourniquet on it. Kurt decided not to have a tourniquet applied to his arm.



Kurt at the beach before having things wrapped up.


He went to see the lifeguards who cleaned and bandaged the wound and called EMTs. The EMT’s arrived and cleaned and dressed the wounds again. Eventually he was taken to the Delray medical center about two hours after the attack. Particularly strong pain set in during the trip to the hospital. X-rays were taken and the puncture wounds cleaned out. The doctor wanted to leave the wounds open to allow the seepage to try to clean out bacteria from the shark bite. The wounds were cleaned and dressed at the hospital for a third time. He had waited in the emergency room for about an hour.



Kurt showing the shark bite radius which he estimated at around 7 inches.
Photo: Diane Hoffman


His forearm swelled up approximately 1/2 inch to 1 inch in diameter. Butterfly band-aids were placed over the puncture wounds. He was was given a tetanus shot and a prescription to fill for an oral antibiotic. At the time of the telephone interview he has lost a little arm strength and there was still some pain but he felt he was recovering.



Photo: Diane Hoffman


Kurt had seen Blacktip/spinner sharks many times offshore and seen them hunt fish during the migration. He said it was strange to feel that something was hunting him and actually took a bite out of him. He dwelled on the sensation of being hunted by another animal as particularly disturbing.



Large numbers of migrating sharks can move close to shore at times. Then at other times there can be large gaps in concentrations of sharks.
Photo http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/ne...lorida-/ndRXx/

Kurt started kiting in 2001 in Honolulu, Hawaii training with the with the Wipika school. He had a Taiwanese instructor with very poor English. They charged modern $125 for a whole day of instruction. He took off a year and a half in the intervening time from kiting. He had been surfing since the age of 18 and originally was from Ohio. He is currently 43 years of age. He was certified as a PASA kiting instructor under Paul Menta in 2005. He currently instructs kiting and does Kite Repair. He worked with Neil at Tiki Beach for a time. He also has been employed as a graphic designer.

I asked him what advice he might give to another Kiter in avoiding what happened to him. He tells his students, that the ocean is the sharks home. There is the possibility of one or hundreds being out there at times. One may hit you someday. If your kite goes down and you’re going to be in the water, you should know what you want to do and where you want to go and how you are going to do it. He said the students often don’t consider these things in advance.

I asked Kurt for contact info on some witnesses, he passed on info for Paul and Brian. Paul is a critical care registered nurse and Kurt’s friend. He last noticed Kurt a few hundred yards away or next he saw him he was on the beach with a bloody arm. He thought that Kurt had skegged himself with his board fin. Paul apply direct pressure pressure while still flying his own kite, blood was dripping steadily from Kurt’s arm but not gushing. Paul had seen a few sharks that morning. Later on that day kiters had seen a large shark dorsal fin about 30 feet off the beach around the time when Kurt was being transported to the hospital. Paul said there were large well formed waves approximately 8 to 10 feet in height on the outside and smaller on the inside. He put Kurts gear away and noted that later on that day they were 20 to 30 guys out with a lot of sharks visible.

Brian confirmed the general conditions and circumstances of the accident as he had observed them. He stated he had been riding into shore close to Kurt when he beached yelling he had been bitten by a shark. Brian stated that he was happy the accident was a minor thing. I asked Brian what he might do differently in the future and he said he wouldn't do anything differently. I did say that in the milliseconds of the attack had Kurt’s brachial artery could have been severed or elbow or hand bitten and the outcome could've been far more severe. It was mere chance that it was benign as it was. He agreed but still viewed the accident as a minor thing and offered no additional comment.

In truth by some scales the attack was minor, requiring no stitches and with no apparently permanent disability, fortunately. It could have happened differently but thankfully did not. Still, if you are attacked, what kind of attack are you going to have, minor, severe or potentially fatal? No one knows, until afterward. For my part, I will try to reduce the odds of negative encounters, rare though they may be involving kiters. Some thoughts along those lines follow below.


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transcribed by:
Rick Iossi

Last edited by ricki; 04-07-2014 at 01:38 PM.
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