FATAL – 24 January 2009 – Port St Johns, East Coast, South Africa – swimmer attacked

Lifeguard, Sikhanyiso Bangilizwe, 26 was killed by a shark while swimming off Second Beach at Port St Johns on the Wild Coast, South Africa.

He suffered three bites from what is believed to be a 2.5 metre Zambezi (Bull) shark.

The incident occurred on Saturday 24 January 2009. Bangilizwe was off duty when the attack occurred.

Tshintshekile Nduve, a fellow lifeguard, had been swimming with Bangilizwe at 1.30pm was quoted as saying he heard the cries of his friend and saw that he was in trouble with the shark on him. “ I saw blood and I went out of the water to get help,” he said.

Sources:

Wavescape

INJURED – 12 January 2009 – Windang Bridge, Lake Illawarra, New South Wales, Australia – snorkeller attacked

Steven Fogarty, 24, was bitten on the calf by what is believed to be a Bull shark, while snorkelling under the Windang Bridge on Lake Illawarra, New South Wales, Australia. The incident occurred around 10.50am on Monday, 12 January 2009.

An ambulance spokesperson said he was swimming in a school of fish when he noticed a brown shadow behind him. His leg was then bitten. “He punched the brown shadow and it let go.”

He suffered around 40 puncture wounds to his calf, but there was no muscle or tissue damage. He had some abrasions to his right fist where he punched shark.

He swam to nearby mudflats where he flagged down a boat. He was taken to Shellharbour Hospital and was reported in a stable condition.

This was the third shark attack in Australia in two days.

INJURED Binalong Bay 11 January 2009

INJURED Fingal Head 11 January 2009

Sources:

The Age

INJURED – 11 January 2009 -- Binalong Bay, near St Helens, Tasmania – surfer attacked

In a second shark attack in Australia in the same day, a 13-year-old girl, Hannah Mighall, was bitten on the lower right leg by a 5-metre white pointer shark while surfing with her male cousin at Baileys Rocks, Binalong Bay, near St Helens, Tasmania. The incident occurred around 3.45pm on Sunday, 11 January 2009.

The shark dragged the girl underwater twice before the cousin, in a remarkable act of bravery, reached the scene on his surfboard and hit the shark which was latched onto the girl’s leg. The shark let go and he put her on his surfboard and paddled with her to shore. The shark kept circling them as they made their way to the beach.

A policeman is quoted as saying the cousin, Syb Mundy, a man in his 20s from Queensland, managed to pull the teenager onto his surfboard and began to paddle towards the shore. But the shark followed and circled the frightened pair as they frantically paddled towards shore. At one stage they caught a wave, but the shark was in the same wave

Ian Hollingsworth was surfing 20 to 40 metres away and saw the attack, and the efforts of the girl’s male cousin to protect her.

“It was basically a scene out of 'Jaws',” he told the media.

“The shark went around and I saw it actually come out of the water and hit her.

“It then went around, I believe I saw her going backwards, and she was screaming.

“The guy was just fighting to save her. All the time the shark was circling.”

Hollingsworth says he then helped the cousin apply first aid.

“We carried her up onto the beach,” he said.

“I got the leg rope off the surfboard and put a tourniquet around her leg, then I raced up to the car because I knew I had a lot of towels in the car, and we bandaged her leg, and we just got her stabilised on the beach.”

The policeman said there was a significant bite out of the surfboard.
“I understand there was a fair bit of blood in the water.”

He said when she was brought ashore “she was really calm, she was brave, probably in a little bit of shock. There were no tears.”

He said the actions of the teenager’s cousin had saved her life.

The teenager was airlifted to a hospital in Hobart. Her injuries were not expected to be life threatening.

Sources:

Adelaide Now

ABC

Sky News

INJURED – 11 January 2009 – Fingal Head, New South Wales, Australia – surfer attacked

Jonathon Beard, a 31-year-old surfer, was bitten on the left thigh by a shark while surfing about 70 metres offshore of South Fingal beach, New South Wales, Australia. The attack occurred around 9.30am (local time) on Sunday,11 January 2009.

A lifeguard at the scene said the man was surfing with three friends when he was attacked.

"Witnesses indicate that there were a number of dolphins close to the group ... and the next minute there was a violent splashing in the water,” the lifeguard said.

The shark attack left a 40-centimetre wound between the knee and his left hip

"The good news is that no major arteries or bones were destroyed."

The victim’s surfer friends brought him to shore and used the leg rope as a tourniquet and applied towels to stem the bleeding.

The victim was airlifted to Gold Coast Hospital where he was reported in a stable condition.

The type of shark was not known.

Sources:

Sydney Morning Herald

ABC

Photo credit:

Adelaide Now

INJURED – 6 January 2009 -- Tukituki river mouth Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand – swimmer attacked

Greg Sims, 49, was swimming with his partner just south of the Tukituki River mouth, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand when he was bitten on the upper thigh by a shark. The attack occurred around 5.30pm on Tuesday, 6 January 2009.

Experts believe the shark may have been Broadnose Sevengill Shark – “a common large coastal shark species, which is most abundant near shore at this time of year”.

“I felt a sharp, painful bite on the back of my leg and couldn't leave the surf fast enough,” Sims told media.

“I screamed at Pauline (his partner) to get out of the water, she just stood there not comprehending what had happened.”

Sims used his towel as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding before the two drove to Hawke's Bay Hospital.

“I saw nothing at all. Nothing broke the water so there was no warning and no sighting. We thought maybe it was a stingray, but from what we know they leave a sharp whip-like laceration, but this wound is the shape of a bite, and has taken a chunk of flesh away so we think it was a shark,” Sims said.

Sources:

Hawke’s Bay Today

Photo credit:

Hawke’s Bay Today

FATAL – 27 December 2008 -- Port Kennedy, Western Australia – snorkeller attacked

Brian Guest, 51 was fatally attacked by what is presumed a Great White shark while snorkelling for crabs with his son in about 3 metres of water at Port Kennedy beach, Western Australia. The incident occurred around 7am on Saturday 27 December 2008. Guest’s body was never recovered despite several air and sea searches. Police found pieces of wetsuit believed to have been worn by Guest.

Witnesses on the beach told of seeing a 'flash of fin' but local man Luke Tubbs, who lives near the beach, described a horrific scene in which the shark could be seen with Guest’s body in its jaws, according to media reports.

While he did not witness the event personally, he said it had been described to him by another man who had run to his home to raise the alarm.

“He told me he just saw a big splash and then the shark roll over in the water with the guy -- and then (he saw) no body or anything.”

Guest’s son was swimming some 20 feet from his father when the shark struck and while Daniel is understood not to have witnessed the actual attack, he realised his father was in trouble when he saw the water turn red with blood. He swam quickly to the beach, shouting for help.

Guest’s family asked for the shark to be left alone to 'respect' nature.

Sources:

Courier Mail

Daily Mail

INJURED – reported 20 December 2008 – Maraetai, near Auckland, New Zealand – fisherman attacked

Ken Lindberg spent five days in hospital after suffering injuries to his lower leg after being bitten by a shark while fishing with a friend off Maraetai, near Auckland, New Zealand. The date of the attack was not reported.

“We were just checking the net, just walking along lifting the top up a bit,” he told media.

“The next thing I felt this almighty clamp go around my leg. I said to Jeremy, 'We're out of here'.”

Lindberg said his left leg started to tighten up as the pair waded back through the surf but was only able to look when they reached shallow water.

“All I could see was this almighty gash and a lot of blood pouring out. I thought, 'All I want to do is get back to shore'.”

He made it back to his friend's house where a towel was wrapped around the wounds to stop the flow of blood.

His friend's wife then took him to Beachlands Medical Centre from where he was taken to hospital. He received 10 stitches above his ankle, four stitches to close his severed Achilles tendon and will not regain any feeling around his little toe, according to media.

New Zealand Department of Conservation shark expert Clinton Duffy said if Lindberg’s wounds were the work of a shark it was probably a bronze whaler.

While they don’t usually attack humans, it could have been attracted to Lindberg’s fishing spot if there were distressed fish in the net. “That would be enough to attract a shark into the area looking for a feed.”

Duffy described such shark attacks as “slash and run attacks” that usually target a person’s hands and legs.

Sources:

New Zealand Herald

FATAL – 10 November 2008 – high seas off Taiwan – seaman attacked

A brief report from Reuters says 18 seamen were declared missing and another was killed by a shark after their fishing boat was swamped by high waves off Taiwan on Monday 10 November 2008, according to Taiwan’s coast guard. The coast guard had rescued another nine crew members from the boat.

High winds whipped up huge waves, forcing the crew to send a distress signal from 80km south of Kaohsiung near the southern tip of Taiwan, a coastguard spokesperson said.

"The ocean conditions were terrible," he said. "The waves were so big they just inundated the boat."

He said one crew member was killed by a shark but gave no other details.

Source
Alert Net

FATAL – 6 November 2008 – deep sea off Paoay town, Ilocos Norte, Philippines – fisherman attacked

Joel Bacud, 39, was attacked and killed by a shark while fishing in deep sea some three hours offshore of Paoay town in Ilocos Norte, Philippines. The attacked occurred on 6 November 2008.

Bacud was fishing with his 17-year-old son Louie in their motorized banca when the elder Bacud dived in deep water to check on their fishing net.

A shark suddenly sprung and attacked the elder Bacud, Paoay town police chief Senior Inspector Dexter Corpuz told the Philippine Star.

The victim’s son, who was unhurt, brought his father’s body to shore in the banca.

The shark bit Bacud’s back, particularly on the right side, his right arm had a big wound while his upper torso had nine lacerations from the shark’s teeth, according to the report.

The father and son went fishing around 5am and the attack happened around 10 to 11am local time.

He told the newspaper that the elder Bacud jumped from the motorized banca with some bloodied fish catch which apparently drew the shark’s attention.

Sources:

Philippine Star

INJURED – 14 September 2008 -- Ocean Shore Boulevard, Ormond-by-the-Sea, Florida, USA– swimmer attacked

A 32-year-old man was bitten on the heel by a shark while swimming swimming off the 1000 block of Ocean Shore Boulevard in Ormond-by-the-Sea, Volusia County, Florida, USA. His injuries were minor and would “probably require just a few sutures,” said a beach official at the scene.

The incident occurred on 14 September 2008.

The man, whose name was not released, was swimming in waist-deep water when a wave knocked him from his feet. While his feet were off the bottom, the swimmer felt something grab his heel. He received two minor lacerations.

Officials said that based on the pattern of bite-mark, the shark was most likely a 2- to 3-foot juvenile shark.

Sources:

News Journal Online

INJURED – 9 September 2008 – Kahana Bay, Ka'a'awa, Oahu, Hawaii – surfer attacked

Todd Murashige, 40, suffered deep lacerations right round his right thigh after he was bitten by a shark while sitting on his surfboard in Kahana Bay, Ka'a'awa Oahu, Hawaii, on 9 September 2008.

He told media that he put his fingers in the shark’s mouth to pry himself free from its jaws and that the shark took no further interest in him after that.

"I didn't see it at all. It just seemed so surreal, like it wasn't real, just head of a shark right there in my lap," he said.

"I stuck my fingers into his mouth to try to pry him off, but I didn't feel any teeth. I think I was grabbing onto his gums or the lip part," he said.

Murashige said the shark didn't pursue him, and thinks it was a test bite, "because he never came back to me, and really aggressively never really bit me and shook me. He just took a test bite and it wasn't too good tasting."

After freeing himself, Murashige managed to get back to shore on his board, which was missing a piece from the bite, by paddling and catching a wave. He also had the help of a fellow surfer who staunched the bleeding until paramedics arrived.

Once on solid ground, a towel was used to tie off the wounded thigh and a call was placed to 911.

"While I was lying on the shore, I thought I was going to black out," Murashige said. "I told myself if I black out, I'm going to die. That's what I really felt in my gut, so I called my wife and I called my mom."

Murashige was taken to Queen's Medical Center.

Since he didn't see the shark's body, Murashige said he didn't know what kind it was or how big it was. But based on the size of its head — Murashige raised his hands about the width of his shoulders — he suspects it was a tiger shark.

Murashige lost a lot of blood, with the wound going almost all around the thigh, but there were no broken bones and his prognosis is good.

Sources:

KITV

WTOL

SCARED – 7 September 2008 -- Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia – surfer scared

John Morgan, 51, said a large shark became entangled in his surfboard leash and dragged him for about 50 metres like a "powerful jet ski", about 300 metres offshore of Byron Bay, NSW, Australia. He was not injured in the incident but said he was “freaked” out.

The incident occurred around midday on Sunday 7 September 2008.

"I had just come off a wave when I saw a large swirl of water," Morgan told the Northern Star newspaper.

"I was then suddenly hauled backwards ... like I was riding behind a powerful jet ski."

Morgan said he laid down on his longboard as the shark, which he estimated was about three metres long, dragged him about 50 metres.

"I think the shark was as scared as I was,” he told media.

Sources:

Sydney Morning Herald

INJURED – 7 September 2008 – Ponce de Leon Inlet, Florida, US – 2 surfers attacked

Two surfers were bitten a shark or shark almost simultaneously ay Ponce de Leon Inlet, Florida, US around noon on Sunday 7 September.

A 43-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy were surfing about 200 feet away from each other when they were bitten. The surfers, who did not know each other, were catching waves in the area between Beach Street and the jetty rocks. They each suffered "very minor" puncture wounds on one foot and were treated by Beach Patrol at the scene.

Beach Patrol Captain Scott Petersohn said: "It's just a weird coincidence. One of the surfers asked for help at a lifeguard tower. A Beach Patrol truck was called in, and while officers were on their way to the tower, they spotted another surfer on the beach bleeding from his foot and thought it was the victim they were originally called to treat.”

No other details were reported.

Sources:
News Journal Online

INJURED – 2 September 2008 (reported) – Lundy Island, near Devon, UK – angler attacked

In a rather strange story, angler Stephen Perkins, 52, was bitten by a shark that he had just caught while he was holding it to pose for a photograph. The Blue shark sunk its teeth into his forearm causing deep puncture wounds.

He was flown to North Devon District Hospital and underwent extensive reconstructive surgery on his arm.

Perkins told media: “We don't harm the sharks when we hook them. We just take a picture and put them back in the water but the one I got was pretty lively and put his jaw around my wrist then let go.”

Sources:
Daily Mail

INJURED – 26 August 2008 -- New Smyrna Beach, Florida, US – surfer attacked

Alexander Zgura was sitting on his board in the surf near the jetty on the New Smyrna Beach side of Ponce de Leon Inlet just before 11 am when a shark grabbed him by the lower left leg.

The shark was about six feet long according to Zgura.

According to beach officials Zgura appeared to suffer two bites between the knee and ankle causing about 13 to 15 separate lacerations, which would have required stitches. However, he declined transport to Bert Fish Medical Center, saying he would go by private vehicle.

No other details were reported.

Sources:
News Journal Online

INJURED – 24 August 2008 – New Smyrna Beach, Florida, US – surfer attacked

According to a brief report from Fox News – a shark bit 20-year-old Jacob Shoup’s left foot about 3 pm Sunday 24 August 2008 while he was swimming out to catch a wave, his surfboard in tow.

Shoup suffered four lacerations to his foot and instep. His friends took him to a Bert Fish Medical Center for treatment. Lifeguards said he was expected to be OK.

Sources:

Fox News

INJURED – 20 August 2008 – Cape Coral, Florida, US -- swimmer attacked

Jack Miller, 47, says he was bitten by a shark on the forearm while swimming with his son near the Sanibel moorings, near Cape Coral, Florida, US. The incident happened around 2.45pm on Wednesday, 20 August 2008.

The report said he did not seek medical attention for the three lacerations on his forearm.

No other details were reported.

Sources:
News Press

INJURED - 12 August 2008 - New Smyrna Beach, Florida, USA -- swimmer attacked

A 13-year-old girl (name not released) was swimming in waist to chest deep water off New Smyrna Beach, Florida, USA on Tuesday 12 August 2008, when she was bitten on the right leg by a shark.

Officials said she suffered several small puncture wounds and one gash of about three inches between her ankle and her knee.

No other details were reported.

Sources:

Orlando Sentinel

INJURED -- 23 July 2008 -- New Smyrna Beach, Volusia County, Florida, US -- surfer attacked

 

A 15-year-old boy (name not released) was bitten on the foot by a shark on Wednesday 23 July 2008 while surfing near the inlet Jetty in New Smyrna Beach, Volusia County, Florida, United States.

Lifeguards said he jumped off his surfboard in chest deep water and onto the shark, which retaliated by biting his foot.

He was taken to hospital and received several stitches for lacerations on his foot.

A beach witness told media: "He was bleeding real good but they had him wrapped up, but he had some deep lacerations on the top of his foot as well as the bottom."

No other details were reported.

Sources: Central Florida News 13

INJURED – 11 July 2008 – Isle of Palms, Charleston, South Carolina, US – swimmer attacked

A brief report in the Daily Comet says a 24-year-old man (name not released) was bitten by a shark on the forearm while swimming off the Isle of Palms, near Charleston, South Carolina, United States. The incident occurred around 2pm on Friday 11 July 2008.

The man was taken to the hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

No other details were reported.

Sources:
Daily Comet