Tuesday, September 19, 2006

INJURED -- 16 September 2006 -- Onslow Beach, North Carolina, US -- surfer attacked

Jake Poland, 16, was bitten on the left thigh by a 2-3 foot shark while surfing with friends at Onslow Beach, North Carolina, United States. The minor attack took place on Saturday morning 16 September 2006.

Poland was treated at Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital.

He told media he had just got off his surfboard in waist deep water when he felt something hit him on the leg.

“A wave came in and it felt like it knocked my board into my leg,” he said. It wasn’t until a friend pointed out that his shorts were shredded that he noticed a deep gash. Poland said he walked out of the water, while his two friends went to get help.

He had a jagged gash on his left thigh that went through the muscle. It required 10 stitches to sow the wound together.

Paul Barrington, director of husbandry and operations for the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher told the Daily News in Jacksonville that shark bites are pretty rare in North Carolina.

“There have only been about seven to 10 documented cases in the last 30 years or so,” he said.

Sources:
The Daily News

Monday, September 18, 2006

INJURED -- 14 September 2006 -- Singer Island, Florida, US -- swimmer attacked

Willie Carroll, 55, was bitten on the hand by a small shark off Singer Island in Riviera Beach, Florida, US, on Thursday, 14 September 2006.

Carroll told media that the shark was about 3 feet long and dark in colour.

Emergency workers took him to St Mary's hospital, where he was treated and released.

No other details were reported.

Source:
Yahoo news

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

INJURED - New Smyrna Beach... Part 2

A report from the Daytona Beach News-Journal Online -- East Volusia said a second person was attacked by a shark while swimming at New Smyrna Beach. Beside the attack on Christopher Duncan, 33, who as was standing in waist-deep water Sunday, 3 September, (near the 700 block of North Atlantic Avenue) when a 3-foot shark swam up and bit him on his right thigh, a child swimming in the water on Saturday (2 September) near the 4100 block of South Atlantic Avenue was bitten on the arm, according to Captain Scott Petersohn, Volusia County Beach Patrol spokesman. No other information was available.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

INJURED -- 3 September 2006 -- New Smyrna Beach, Florida, US, -- swimmer attacked

Christopher Duncan was bitten on the right thigh by a small shark off New Smyrna Beach, Florida, US, on Sunday evening, 3 September.

Volusia County Beach Patrol officials said the shark was probably only about three feet long. The incident occurred about 5:30pm.

Duncan was taken to Bert Fish Medical Center in New Smyrna Beach.

No other details were reported.

Sources:
Orlando Sentinel

SCARED -- 2 September 2006 -- Noordhoek beach, Cape Town, South Africa -- surfer attacked

Surfer Steven Harcourt-Wood, 37, was surfing with friends at Noordhoek beach, Cape Town, South Africa on Saturday 2 September, when a 3.5-metre Great White tried to attack him while the other surfers looked on, according to a report on IOL.

He told the Cape Times: "It came at me, thrashing its tail and bashing the board.

"There was no doubt in my mind that he wanted to serve me up for dinner.”

The surfers were all caught in a flat spell in the surf and couldn’t get a wave to the beach.

"It was completely flat. We were stuck,” Harcourt-Wood said.

"And no one paddled away because the shark could have chased them.

"I was trying to get a look at its eyes and mouth so I could position myself correctly, but it was coming from far below the water."

Harcourt-Wood said he squared up to the shark and paddled at it face to face.

"I think that's what saved me. If you move fast or paddle away they are more likely to see you as prey and go for you," he told the newspaper.

"The sharks were never a problem in the past - they've always been there but they never used to attack people.

"I've seen small ones out at the back from time to time but this is different.

"Their behaviour has changed completely."

There is an ongoing debate in and around Cape Town whether chumming the water at nearby Gansbaai to encourage sharks to approach for shark-cage diving - a big tourist attraction - has lead to a noticeable increase in the number of unprovoked shark attacks in Cape Town waters in recent years.

Great White sharks are a protected species in South Africa.

Sources:
IOL