How's this for gory knitting!
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Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Sunday, January 29, 2006
FRIGHTENED - Atlantic Ocean - 29 January 2006 - rowers' boat attacked
IC Wales reports:
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LIKE something out of Jaws" - Welsh ocean rower Andrew Barnett describes the terrifying moment when, hungry and exhausted, he became the target of a frenzied shark attack in the middle of the Atlantic.
Tossed about on the rough sea like "clothes in a washing machine", the 46-year-old Monmouth adventurer hid helplessly in the cramped cabin of his tiny two-man boat as the 12ft predator repeatedly rammed it in a bid to sink him and his crewmate.
"We'd watched it circle us for a long time," said the seasoned rower, whose boat MayaBrit was approaching the final stretch of the Woodvale Challenge - a gruelling 2,950-mile, non-stop trans-Atlantic race.
"Then suddenly it came swimming right at us at a rate of knots, repeatedly hammering itself into us and all we could do was just pray the hull would hold," added Andrew, who, along with Guatemalan oarsman Juan Carlos Sagastume, had already braved torrential tropical storms, food poisoning, sleep deprivation and broken ribs on their epic voyage.
Each time the shark battered their fragile 22ft vessel, it brought a huge, ominous-sounding crack and, with huge swells lashing the sides, the final finishing line 300 miles away in Antigua seemed to grow ever more distant.
"We were terrified, particularly as five other boats in the challenge have capsized or sunk in the last two weeks," said the medical rep and dad-of-two via satellite phone.
"My biggest fear was that the shark would come over the side and capsize us.
"If we'd have gone in to the water there's no way we have stood a chance with that thing."
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INJURED - Hole in the wall, Wild Coast, South Africa - 25 January 2006 - spearfisherman attacked
Michael Vriese, 35, was attacked by a shark while spearfishing near Hole in the Wall, Wild Coast, South Africa on 25 January.
While he was pulling in a fish he had speared, the shark (size and species not mentioned) attacked the dead fish and in the process mauled his right arm severing two arteries and damaging muscles and nerves on his wrist and forearm.
"By the time I had swum back to the beach, I was getting pretty weak and my friends had to support me by both shoulders to get me to a car," Vriese told media.
Vriese said “there was blood everywhere. I don't know how much I lost, but I'm told that I got a transfusion of at least four units in Durban.”
His diving companion Neil Abel drove him to a clinic near Hole in the Wall and they told him to rush for Mthatha.
Vriese was stabilised at Mthatha hospital before being airlifted to Durban where he underwent further surgery to repair the damaged arteries and tendons.
"I could have ended up dead," Vriese told media. "I'm lucky that Neil and I both know a bit about first aid and I was able to stop some of the blood loss myself by tying a tourniquet around my arm, and loosening it every few minutes to allow some blood to get through."
Sources:
The Herald
IOL
While he was pulling in a fish he had speared, the shark (size and species not mentioned) attacked the dead fish and in the process mauled his right arm severing two arteries and damaging muscles and nerves on his wrist and forearm.
"By the time I had swum back to the beach, I was getting pretty weak and my friends had to support me by both shoulders to get me to a car," Vriese told media.
Vriese said “there was blood everywhere. I don't know how much I lost, but I'm told that I got a transfusion of at least four units in Durban.”
His diving companion Neil Abel drove him to a clinic near Hole in the Wall and they told him to rush for Mthatha.
Vriese was stabilised at Mthatha hospital before being airlifted to Durban where he underwent further surgery to repair the damaged arteries and tendons.
"I could have ended up dead," Vriese told media. "I'm lucky that Neil and I both know a bit about first aid and I was able to stop some of the blood loss myself by tying a tourniquet around my arm, and loosening it every few minutes to allow some blood to get through."
Sources:
The Herald
IOL
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
FRIGHTENED...
This pic taken in False Bay, Cape Town has been doing the rounds on email. I wonder if it's been doctored? Tho there are sharks that size and bigger in the Bay. A famous one about 7 metres long fishermen fondly refered to as the "Sub" back in the shark hunting days (Great Whites are now protected in South African waters) when it surfaced next to their fishing boats and was longer than them.
Monday, January 16, 2006
DESCRIBED - Perth diver describes how he hid after shark attack
Bernie Williams, the scuba diver attacked by a shark in Perth on Sunday 15 January, tells The Sydney Morning Herald about the attack and how he hid in a crevice to escape the shark when it returned to attack him a second time.
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A scuba diver injured in a shark attack off Perth says he wrenched his bleeding arm from the predator's jaws and hid in a crevice on the ocean floor until he was rescued.
Despite his brush with a 3.5m white pointer (or Great White) yesterday (Sunday 15 January) Bernie Williams, of the northern Perth beachside suburb of Sorrento, vowed today to continue diving - with a shark repellant.
He believes it was the arrival of a diving companion with a shark repellant (shark pod) that chased away the great white.
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Sunday, January 15, 2006
INJURED - 15 January 2006 - City Beach, Perth, Australia - diver attacked
Brian Williams, 52, was bitten on the left arm by a 3.5 metre Great White shark while diving with friends off City Beach, Perth, Australia. The attack took place at 11am local time. Williams fought off the attack by hitting the shark with a speargun.
Police inspector George Putland told media: "He was believed to be away from the other divers at the time of the attack and the shark attacked from behind, grabbing and biting his arm. He hit out at the shark with his spear gun and eventually the shark swam away."
Williams was taken to a Perth hospital where his wounds were treated. The full extent of his wounds was unclear from initial reports.
Sources:
The Australian
News24
Police inspector George Putland told media: "He was believed to be away from the other divers at the time of the attack and the shark attacked from behind, grabbing and biting his arm. He hit out at the shark with his spear gun and eventually the shark swam away."
Williams was taken to a Perth hospital where his wounds were treated. The full extent of his wounds was unclear from initial reports.
Sources:
The Australian
News24
Monday, January 09, 2006
FATAL – 7 January 2006 - Amity Point, North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia – swimmer attacked
Sarah Whiley, 21, was attacked by three bull sharks while swimming with friends at Amity Point, North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia. The sharks struck the victim at about 5.30pm local time.
Inspector Peter Harding told media Whiley had been swimming with three friends from a church group when she was attacked.
"She went down under the water ... after about five or six seconds the deceased came out of the water and screamed `Shark' and of course people at the time thought she was only joking ... until they saw the blood.
"She was bleeding quite heavily – I'm of the opinion of what I've seen and what I've been told, there was more than one shark involved, there could have been up to three," he said.
The Australian quoted Insp Harding as saying that after Friday night's storm – the water was very murky and dirty, in fact so much so one of the locals of there wouldn't go in and dive.
He added that the woman was swimming in water "anything from chest-deep to 30 feet".
Sources:
The Australian
The Mercury
Within seconds they had torn off both the woman's arms and savagely mauled her torso and legs.Two fishermen were the first to react, dragging her out of the water onto the beach.Frantic bystanders scrambled for towels to stem the bleeding before a helicopter rushed the stricken woman to Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital where she died of shock and massive blood loss, The Australian reported.
Inspector Peter Harding told media Whiley had been swimming with three friends from a church group when she was attacked.
"She went down under the water ... after about five or six seconds the deceased came out of the water and screamed `Shark' and of course people at the time thought she was only joking ... until they saw the blood.
"She was bleeding quite heavily – I'm of the opinion of what I've seen and what I've been told, there was more than one shark involved, there could have been up to three," he said.
The Australian quoted Insp Harding as saying that after Friday night's storm – the water was very murky and dirty, in fact so much so one of the locals of there wouldn't go in and dive.
He added that the woman was swimming in water "anything from chest-deep to 30 feet".
Sources:
The Australian
The Mercury
INJURED – 1 January 2006 – Soetwater, Cape Peninsula, South Africa – free diver attacked
John Williams, 49, was bitten on his little finger by a 1.5 metre shark while free diving for crayfish 250 metres offshore of Soetwater near Kommetjie on the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. The attack took place on New Year’s Day 2006.
He told rescue workers he was holding a crayfish when the shark lunged at him, biting him on the little finger. He managed to swim ashore.
He was admitted to False Bay Hospital and received stitches.
Source:
Cape Argus
He told rescue workers he was holding a crayfish when the shark lunged at him, biting him on the little finger. He managed to swim ashore.
He was admitted to False Bay Hospital and received stitches.
Source:
Cape Argus
INJURED - 24 December 2005 - Tillamook Head, Oregon, United States - surfer attacked
Brian Anderson, 36, was bitten on the ankle and calf while surfing at a popular surfing spot near Tillamook Head, south of the community of Seaside, about 80 miles northwest of Portland, Oregon, United States.
He said he fended off a Great White shark by punching it in the nose.
He told media: "It's like your worst nightmare, an adventure which has made life that much more precious and interesting.
"It felt like getting clamped in a bear trap," he said. "It was a piercing pain and then it went numb."
When the shark grabbed hold of he is leg he repeatedly punched it on the nose until it finally let go. He paddled back to shore and pulled himself up on to the rocks. Other surfers called 911. He was admitted to Providence Seaside Hospital, treated and released later that night.
Source:
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
He said he fended off a Great White shark by punching it in the nose.
He told media: "It's like your worst nightmare, an adventure which has made life that much more precious and interesting.
"It felt like getting clamped in a bear trap," he said. "It was a piercing pain and then it went numb."
When the shark grabbed hold of he is leg he repeatedly punched it on the nose until it finally let go. He paddled back to shore and pulled himself up on to the rocks. Other surfers called 911. He was admitted to Providence Seaside Hospital, treated and released later that night.
Source:
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
INJURED - 22 ? December 2005 - Keawakapu Beach, Maui, Hawaii - swimmer attacked
Jonathan Genant, 29, from Seattle, lost his left little finger and part of his ring finger when the shark bit into his hand while he was swimming at Keawakapu Beach, Maui, Hawaii.
Reports of the date of the attack are vague. A report on Wednesday 28 December 2005 claimed the attack happened “last week” putting it anywhere between the 18th and 25th.
Reports did not mention the type of shark responsible for the attack.
Genant told media: “You're in a panic mode. You're thinking, 'God -- OK, I'm bleeding all over the place,' and you just don't know if you're going to be hit again, you're so vulnerable. But if he hit me again, that would have been it. After about 20 seconds or so, I realised I've got a shot here to get back."
Genant said he gripped the wrist of his injured arm to slow the blood loss, flipped on his back and began to swim. But without the use of his arms, he said he could only drift.
When he realised that the shark could come back he began to yell for help.
Hal Bringeland, from Surrey, who was boogie boarding on Keawakapu Beach at the time went to the rescue when he heard the shouting.
He told media: "You know it's hard to tell exactly what was going on. It looked like he was holding up a red snorkel.
"So I piled into the water and you know we were probably two thirds of the way out there, and then we could see this wasn't just a snorkel, and he confirmed it when we got there.
"He said that he had been bit by a shark. So we made it our priority to get out of the water."
Bringeland and the other rescuer helped Genant out of the water. He was taken to hospital for surgery.
Sources:
MSNBC
CBC California
Reports of the date of the attack are vague. A report on Wednesday 28 December 2005 claimed the attack happened “last week” putting it anywhere between the 18th and 25th.
Reports did not mention the type of shark responsible for the attack.
Genant told media: “You're in a panic mode. You're thinking, 'God -- OK, I'm bleeding all over the place,' and you just don't know if you're going to be hit again, you're so vulnerable. But if he hit me again, that would have been it. After about 20 seconds or so, I realised I've got a shot here to get back."
Genant said he gripped the wrist of his injured arm to slow the blood loss, flipped on his back and began to swim. But without the use of his arms, he said he could only drift.
When he realised that the shark could come back he began to yell for help.
Hal Bringeland, from Surrey, who was boogie boarding on Keawakapu Beach at the time went to the rescue when he heard the shouting.
He told media: "You know it's hard to tell exactly what was going on. It looked like he was holding up a red snorkel.
"So I piled into the water and you know we were probably two thirds of the way out there, and then we could see this wasn't just a snorkel, and he confirmed it when we got there.
"He said that he had been bit by a shark. So we made it our priority to get out of the water."
Bringeland and the other rescuer helped Genant out of the water. He was taken to hospital for surgery.
Sources:
MSNBC
CBC California
New shark species found in Gulf of California
Practical Fishing magazine reports that
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"Ichthyologists have described a new species of shark from the Gulf of California.
The new shark is a member of the Smoothhound shark group and has been named Mustelus hacat by a team of Mexican scientists who have recently reported their findings in the ichthyological journal Copeia."
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