I Just Got Back From The Beach... SHARKS!!!

[BamaLefty]

I'm back from the beach... and saw no sharks. But I was 60 yards out just like these two kids were. Yikes! :scared:

Quote
(CNN) -- A 14-year-old girl died Saturday in a shark attack while swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, authorities said.

The teenager was dragged underwater by the shark at about 11:15 a.m. in front of a campground near the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, near Destin, Florida, according to the South Walton Fire District.

She lost a leg in the attack and died afterward, district official John Fitch said.

At the time of the attack, the girl and a 14-year-old friend were swimming and using "boogie boards" about 200 to 250 yards offshore, said Lt. Frank Owens of the Walton County Sheriff's office.

The friend saw the attack and her friend being dragged under, he said.

"For a regular swimmer, she was pretty far out," Capt. Danny Glidewell of the sheriff's office told CNN.

Usually, only surfers go that far out in the water, he said.

Once swimmers pass the first sandbar, or dropoff, "you will experience more sightings of sharks," he said, although this is the area's first shark attack.

Although shark sightings are not uncommon along the coast, Owens said, no one had seen a shark in the area Saturday before the attack. Green flags indicated calm surf, Glidewell said.

Beaches in southern Walton County were closed after the attack and will remain closed for at least the rest of the day, Owens told CNN.

Authorities anticipate opening the beaches Sunday, Glidewell said, but a final decision has not been made.

Observers have not seen the shark since the incident, and it's believed to have left the area, Owens said.

Authorities do not know what kind of shark it was.

Fitch said the shark was about 11 feet long. Owens said he could not confirm that size, but noted that many species swim in the warm waters off the Florida coast.

The shark apparently was chasing bait fish in the water, Fitch said.


http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/25/shark.attack/index.html


Quote
PANAMA CITY, Florida (CNN) -- A 16-year-old boy was bitten by a shark Monday in the Gulf of Mexico, two days after a shark killed a 14-year-old girl off the Florida Panhandle, authorities said.

Craig Adam Hutto of Lebanon, Tennessee, was fishing with his brother on a sandbar about 60 yards off Cape San Blas when he was bitten about 11:30 a.m. Monday, said Gulf County government spokeswoman Paula Pickett.

The boy was in stable condition with injuries to at least one of his legs, said Christa Hild, a spokeswoman for Bay Medical Center in Panama City.

He arrived shortly before noon and was listed in critical condition before undergoing surgery, she said earlier.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/27/shark.attack/index.html

[Teaser]

1. SHARKS ARE EVERYWHERE!

They are the greatest menace of our time.

[Scout1071]

2. Check out this pic!

This was taken two weeks ago off the coast of St. George Island, approximately 75 miles south of Tallahassee in the panhandle.

I'm fairly certain it is a dolphin, but not 100% sure because he/she looked black when it surfaced near my kayak. I'm in the pic with my two (much) younger brothers. Although the fin is slightly curved, that beast was black as night and put enough doubt in my mind to get the boys to shore.

Sure freaked me out.



PS - You can see the sandbar just yards beyond my kayak. Don't the sharks usually swim along the sandbar?

[BamaLefty]

4. Wow!

There were plenty of dolphins at Fort Morgan, AL this weekend... but I didn't spot a shark.

Check this out:

Panama City Beach FL

[Scout1071]

5. Panama City is very close to where my pic was taken!

You see what I'm saying about it looking so dark? I know the fin looks curved and all, but that sucker looked black when it surfaced. Like I said....FREAKED ME OUT!

[BamaLefty]

10. Yeah..

I live about an hour north of the coast. I tell ya what... I might not be going past that sandbar anymore.

Sheesh!

[Scout1071]

11. Don't go past the sandbar? Sheeeet. I'm not goin' past the beach

right now!

[BamaLefty]

12. You Like Your Leg That Much?

I've never been a big fan of my arms or legs. They have nasty birthmarks on them. ;)

[Scout1071]

13. Ummm.....yea. I want to keep everything that I was born with, especially

my limbs! Seriously, that put the scare into me, then reading about the shark attacks in the last 2 weeks? Oh....hell no.

[progmom]

6. are those sharks??

:scared:

[BamaLefty]

9. Yep! :-( n/t

[BikeWriter]

14. Ouch, I lightened the pic up in PSP and I see what you mean!

I'd have gotten out of there, too.

[AlCzervik]

3. We go to Stinson beach and watch the surfers and read the great white

warnings, sharks have been here long before us.

[Arugula Latte]

7. Aren't they very ancient --

I don't think they've evolved much in thousands and thousands of years. Am I wrong?

[AlCzervik]

8. no you're not wrong at all, sharks are amazing really

a perfect fish untouched by time but we are fucking up their living quarters

[fortyfeetunder]

15. Which reminds me of an old swimming joke

Q. What's a shark's favorite color?

A. Yum-yum yellow...

[BamaLefty]

17. LOL

Thank God I left my yellow swim trunks at home. :D

[Scout1071]

16. Bumpin' for the mornin' crowd!

[melv]

18. changes in ocean current/temperature

may be bringing and other critters closer to shore. Or, it's possible their food supply is now coming closer to shore and thus drawing the sharks. OR, their food supply is dwindling and they are coming closer to the beach to *eat* what is available.