Shark Attack

This from usatoday.com:


Surfer recounts fatal shark attack in Fla.
DESTIN, Fla. (AP) ? The beaches of northwest Florida opened swimmers Sunday, despite a deadly shark attack that killed a 14-year-old girl on Saturday.

Beachgoers walk along the shore near the Camping on the Gulf Campground in Destin, Fla.
Mari Darr-Welch, AP

A surfer who tried to rescue the girl provided some details on the attack.

Tim Dicus was surfing when he heard the scream. He turned and saw a girl swimming as fast as she could ? and another one face down in a bloody circle of water. Dicus, 54, paddled over to the wounded 14-year-old girl, who had been swimming on a boogie board about 100 yards offshore.

"Right next to her was the shark, about to come up and attack her again," Dicus said. He put the girl on his surf board and the shark ? which appeared to be a bull shark about 8 feet long ? went after her hand.

"He just followed us right to the beach," Dicus said. "He was determined to finish lunch. I hate to put it that way, but that was what he was trying to do."

The girl was bitten on the thigh, and was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, said Walton County Sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Shank.

Her name wasn't immediately released, but officials said the girl was on vacation from Gonzales, La.

Dicus said he punched the shark on the nose as it tried to attack him. Two other swimmers came with a raft, which they put the girl in and towed to shore.

Jeff White, 49, of Atlanta, said his son was in the raft.

"He said at one point, the shark was underneath them," White said. "So they stopped paddling. Somebody distracted the shark and they brought the girl the rest of the way in."

White said his son, Chris White, 23, told his father that "she probably may have already been gone before they got her to shore."

The attack happened near the Camping on the Gulf Holiday Travel Park, about 45 miles east of Pensacola on the Florida Panhandle.

Patrick O'Neill, the campground's general manager, refused to comment.

Authorities closed about 20 miles of beaches to swimming shortly after the attack. It's the height of the summer tourism season along the coast and the beaches were packed with people.

"It was a bad attack," said George Burgess, curator of the International Shark Attack File located at University of Florida. "Certainly it was a reasonably large shark."

Burgess, who was heading to the scene to investigate, said it was the first shark attack of any kind recorded in Walton County.

"It's not a renegade shark looking for humans," Burgess said. "Probably it was a one shot deal and it's not likely to attack again."

Twelve-year-old Robert Goodwin, of St. Louis, Mo., said he was in the gulf during the attack and ordered out of the water. His father, Mark, said the family comes every year and "it was just an eerie feeling to see folks sitting there on the beach" instead of swimming.

Florida had the largest number of documented shark attacks worldwide in 2003 with 30, according to statistics compiled by the American Elasmobranch Society and the Florida Museum of Natural History. There were 12 attacks off the coast of Florida last year.

Sympathy for the shark? You are sick.

JB, he is not sick, he is a biologist. Perhaps you should open your eyes to a wider view of the universe.
Do have a hatred of yourself for eating animals?

shark sighting in Blue Mt. Beach ???

My family and I just got back from Blue Mt. Beach, (beautiful area, by the way, but a little too quiet for us!) We were out on the beach and spotted a dark shadow moving quickly, it moved right down the beach about 50-75 yds. out. We got everyone out of the water. Later, a couple from Atlanta told us they saw a bull shark swim between some swimmers on rafts! 😱 Then, my husband and I were at Pompano Joes in Destin and saw the same thing from the restaurant! jeez! On our way home to Missouri yesterday, about 15 minutes from our home, we happened to hear about the shark attack on the radio!!! I was a little freaked out after seeing what I saw. I wasn't sure if it was a dolphin or shark, but it was big, probably 8-10 feet long. I read some on this forum about what really happened. Sooooo sad, and very scary.

This from usatoday.com:

DESTIN, Fla. (AP) ? The beaches of northwest Florida opened swimmers Sunday, despite a deadly shark attack that killed a 14-year-old girl on Saturday.

Water was closed to swimmers this morning in Grayton Beach. There was a beautiful calm over the water, several people fishing from shore, no one wading in the water, and two kayakers puttsing around enjoying the morning.

Re: shark sighting in Blue Mt. Beach!

Folks are on edge. Last night on the beach a girl about 20 was ankle deep and her mom was yelling at her.

With all due respect and sensitivity, sharks are in our waters all the time and rarely bother people. Most are harmless sand sharks. It's doubtful that the average beach goer would know the difference between a bull and other types of sharks.

Many times people mistake dolphins for sharks, but more often Cobia are mistaken for sharks. Cobia swimming look exactly like a shark to the average person.

Here's a pic of a Cobia:

Re: shark sighting in Blue Mt. Beach!

Yes, I'm sure you are right, I wouldn't know what I was looking at, exactly... :idontno: , it could have been anything, it was just a strange coincidence that this shark attack happened after we'd seen these "dark shadows" in the water. How big are Cobia? (I know they are yummy to eat!). And the pic you showed could have surely been mistaken for a shark. It did scare us 😱

JB, he is not sick, he is a biologist. Perhaps you should open your eyes to a wider view of the universe.
Do have a hatred of yourself for eating animals?

C'mon, Joe. That's not a fair analogy. A little girl is dead. Forgive me if I have no sympathy for the amimal that killed her.

In light of what has happened, I found his comment highly inappropriate, if not downright offensive.

Re: shark sighting in Blue Mt. Beach!

Cobia get up to about 6 feet and 150 .lbs but most are smaller. Remember that fish in the water usually look much bigger than they really are.

Re: shark sighting in Blue Mt. Beach!

Wow! That's very possible that's what it was then!

Re: shark sighting in Blue Mt. Beach!

Many times people mistake dolphins for sharks, but more often Cobia are mistaken for sharks. Cobia swimming look exactly like a shark to the average person.

Here's a pic of a Cobia:

I once had the bageezers scared out of me by a cobia. I was belly button deep in water in lala land having a great time fishing. Then, I saw it coming toward me and I freaked out. When I got to shore and caught my breath, I realized it was a Cobia. I over-reacted by a long shot. The fish was maybe 2-3 ft at most.

Another time, while fishing in belly button deep water at Blue Mtn Beach, I had a 6-7 ft Black Tip Shark swim within 10ft in front of me, and I was fairly calm, of course he wasn't coming at me. I did proceed to fish, but I moved onto shore to do so.

Separate story -- Some friends of mine, fishing between Port St Joe and Apalachicola were not catching anything. The water was a brillant blue green color, and looked rather inviting for a swim. One of my friends had just commented that next time, he was bringing his swim suit. Not five minutes later, a 12-15 ft HammerHead Shark swam right beside the boat. I don't think he has ever worn a swimsuit again.

Re: shark sighting in Blue Mt. Beach!

I think it was last year that I remember seeing a photo in the Destin Log or Walton Sun, of a guy and the Bull Shark which he caught in the Destin Pass. I seem to remember the Shark was about 9 ft in length and weighed around 500lbs. :shock: Nothing like seeing that photo to make me not want to swim.

C'mon, Joe. That's not a fair analogy. A little girl is dead. Forgive me if I have no sympathy for the amimal that killed her.

In light of what has happened, I found his comment highly inappropriate, if not downright offensive.

Okay, you are fogiven. It really sucks that this girl is dead. Her friends and family will be forever changed. I cannot imagine how her friend who was with her is dealing with this. "Why did the shark get her and not me?" I am almost certain that this question will remain with her for the rest of her life. The guy who hauled her in on his surfboard will not be the same person he was while enjoying surfing Saturday morning.

To me, life seems to be filled with ups and downs. Everytime I become aware that life is good, something seems to come along at that very moment and knock me down. Life is filled with uncertainty. We can live a sheltered life, rarely leaving home, and have our house burn with us in it, which has happened to a relative of a dear friend of mine. Another choice is to live life to the fullest and sieze every day. Yes, there will always be obsticles, outside of our control, to our happiness. We will mourn losses along the way. Then, with the strength from within, along with encouragement of our friends, we will proceed to seeking happiness.

I can certainly understand any anger that anyone would have toward sharks, after having someone attacked nearby. It is okay to have those feelings. They are genuine and probably more true than most feelings. You are not wrong for having these feelings. With that said, our (hope it is okay to call him "our" ) friend, the biologist, in addition to having feelings of sorrow for the young girl, has every right to feel sadness for the loss of an animal in the area which he has dedicated his life to study . Humans are not the only creatures on this planet with lives.

Again, it stinks that someone was killed here Saturday, while on vacation with her family. It stinks every time someone is killed here, vacation or not, shark or automobile -- It stinks. Perhaps we will learn more about this girl, and we may be able to carry on some of her dreams in memory of her.

Certainly, it stirs some pretty strong emotions among all of us who love the area and grew up swimming in the Gulf along these same beaches.

I will continue to swim in the Gulf because I find it one of the truly wonderful things in life. It borders on being spiritual. There is nothing like diving straight into a wave and skimming along the bottom until I am out of breath, then taking that first, long pull of salt air. Great stuff. But I will admit I rarely venture more than 75 feet from the break line anymore. Back in the day, I would often swim and snorkel beyond the second sand bar, occasionally venturing out into the dark blue. No more.

Something just seems to stir the sharks up every now and again, thus incresing the number of sightings and raraly, an attack.

It is really sad that the 14 yr old was killed by the shark. I have two very young kids of my own. See, I recently moved here from a :( land locked location and have no experience of knowledge of marine life. I am trying to educate myself and my family (through boards like this) on dangers of the ocean. With that said, it is up to us to learn how to protect ourselves from many potential dangers in the water.

From what I learned sharks and other ocean creatures have the potential to harm if not kill us. They are just doing what their instincts propel them to do. A swimmer on a boggie board can appear to the shark as thier faviorite large fish meal. I don't believe it was a personal vendata against the girl and it would be sad to see the shark die as well for many reasons.

From what I understand, and please correct me, if a shark kills a human many people go off the deep end (no pun intended) by killing every shark they can to keep sharks from killing more children. By doing this it upsets the food chain and other predators take thier places causing just as much risk (if not more) to swimmers and other marine life.


Also, is there any NW FL websites that can provide information on closed beaches (red flag stuff) and shark sighting reports?