Shark Attack South of Kite Beach, Jupiter

[ricki]

A 6 year old boy was bitten by a bull shark yesterday just north of the Juno Fishing Pier and within a mile and a half of kitebeach in Jupiter.


http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/ne...ing-bit/nPfmf/

"JUPITER, Fla. - A 6-year-old boy recovering in the hospital after being bitten by a shark in the upper thigh Tuesday night is in "good condition," according to St. Mary's Medical Center spokesperson Ryan Lieber.

The bite happened around 7 p.m. just north of the Juno Beach Pier near the Marcinski Park area, Jupiter Police Department spokesperson Scott Pascarella said.

Pascarella said the boy was at the beach with his father. Hospital officials believe the bite came from a bull shark.
Lieber said a "good chunk" of the boy's thigh was bitten."

Read more: http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/new...#ixzz1z2GBAJrI


" He was in waist-high water when he turned to his mother and told her what just happened. As she pulled him out of the water, she first thought that a Portuguese Man-of-War had stung him. But after taking a closer look at her son’s leg, she knew it was something more.

“I didn’t know what it was, but I knew it was bad,” his mom said today at a 5 p.m. press conference at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach. The incident took place just after 7 p.m. in the 3800 block of A1A, said Capt. Albert Borroto, spokesman for Palm Beach County Fire Rescue.

He was flown to St. Mary’s Medical Center by the TraumaHawk air ambulance. There, he underwent surgery and some of his skin was replaced, said Dr. David Rankin, the plastic surgeon that worked on him.

At the conference, both Rankin and Dr. Michael West — his trauma surgeon — said he is doing “very well.” “He’s a very luck individual,” West said. “This was a significant shark bite when compared to the size of his leg.” His bite is the 12th reported shark bite in Florida so far this year; the second in Palm Beach County.

Rough surf brought on by Tropical Storm Debby may be to blame for Tuesday’s bite, since sharks in search of their next meal come closer to shore searching for food, said George Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville.

He added that during storms, smaller animals that can’t swim well get pushed toward shore and sharks naturally follow.

“Where there’s smaller animals there’s bigger animals taking advantage of them,” Burgess said. “It’s a good feeding strategy.” He said that when waters are murky and turbid, sharks may misinterpret the splashes of a human in the water as prey.
“The take-home message is you shouldn’t be scared, but you should be smart,” Burgess said. “Sharks are out there trying to make a living in an area where we’re trying to have fun.”"

More at:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/ne...ing-bit/nPfmf/


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[ricki]

I spoke to some locals up that way about current conditions. Apparently the sardine schools have started to move through a bit late this year and snook are reproducing as well in shower waters near shore. Although there is no shark migration at present these other fish activities would likely bring them in close to shore. One fellow even said the young swimmer was in a fish school around the time of the attack. If you see schools of bait shadows in the water, breaking the surface being chased by larger fish, fins, diving birds any of these are signs of potential shark activity.