FATAL – Reported 18 September 2009 – Outer Banks, North Carolina, US – swimmer attacked

This brief report showed up on wearecentralPA.com on 21 September.

A Pittsburgh man has been identified as the victim of a rare shark attack while vacationing in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

The body of 60-year-old Richard Snead was found Friday (18 September)  about 18-miles away from where he went for a swim a week prior. The medical examiner listed the cause of death as injuries from "extensive" shark bites. Snead is expected to be buried at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies.

Another report on 18 September on WVEC.com says:

Richard A. Snead, 60, was reported missing last weekend (12-13 September 2009) by family members staying in Corolla and his body washed up Thursday (17 September) morning on the beach at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, US.

Snead had been swimming after dark.

The autopsy, performed Friday morning, determined Snead died of “multiple injuries over the whole body”, a spokeswoman for the Office of the North Carolina Medical Examiner told WVEC.com. She said the autopsy showed the bites didn’t occur after his death.

There was no determination of what kind of shark inflicted the injuries.

Sources:
wearecentralPA.com
WVEC.com

INJURED – Terramar Beach, Carlsbad, California, US – 25 August 2009 – swimmer attacked

 

Bethany Edmund (age not reported) was swimming about 100 metres offshore of Terramar Beach, near Carlsbad, California, US, when she was bitten on the left foot and leg by what is thought to have been a juvenile great white. She received minor injuries and bruising and didn’t require hospitalisation. The incident occurred on Tuesday, 25 August 2009.

She told San Diego News:

"I felt a sharp pinching pain on my foot.” She thought she had kicked the reef.

"I started swimming sideways on my side and that's when I got hit for the third time, about 30 seconds after I started swimming and that one propelled me about a foot out of the water."

The shark took another bite on her calf.

"I went and caught the next wave and I felt the same sharp pain on my calf, but this time I got pulled down and shaken around for four or five seconds and I accidently kicked it and it let me go and to that point I was in waist-high water and I started running," said Edmund.

A shark expert said Edmund's bright-green toenail polish might have triggered the attack.

Sources:
San Diego News (with video interview)
CBS8

Picture source:
CBS8