mah1980

I've just read that a second teenager has been bitten by a shark in the Florida panhandle. This incident happened today around Cape San Blas, which is 100 miles south of Tallahassee. I've never heard of this area, which is odd b/c I went to undergrad at FSU.

One of my friends e-mailed me the breaking news report. Does anyone that lives in the area of the second incident have any news?

I feel terrible for the families. We vacation in Sandestin, and the area where the girl was killed was directly in front of the Sandestin Hilton where we stayed last month. To make it even more strange, the girl was on vacation from Louisiana, where we live.

starrsville

I love Cape San Blas. It's my favorite part of Florida - between Apalachicola and Port St. Joe. The beach at the state park there is one of the top in the US.

What a shame. Interesting coincidence - all this activity during Jaws' 30th anniversary celebration

Intrepid1

Assume you know that the fiurst victim was said to be swimming far out from the beach and this may have made her more vulnerable to an attack.

mah1980

I read that the first victim was swimming 100 yards out, near/in the area where sharks feed on fish. That is extremely far out, and I've never seen anyone swimming that far in front of Sandestin. I don't know the story with the second attack.

Sunshinesue

It is my understanding that the boys were fishing in water about chest high.

LoveItaly

According to the report on CNN this boy was about 50 yards from shore. What a tragedy.

Scarlett

I watched some sort of news conference on CNN, they were telling about how far out the young girl had gone..right where the Big Fish go.
Sharks do not know what a human is, it is just another Big fish in the water..they think he (a bull shark) attacked her because he was fighting her off from getting his food.
Yesterday they showed the beaches, people were on the beach, swimming and they had seen sharks farther out in the water..if a shark is seen farther out, the beach should be closed.

lucienne78

Here is the article on CNN about the 2nd attack.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/27/sha...ack/index.html

mah1980

Today in the Louisiana newspapers (the first girl was from a suburb of Baton Rouge), they showed a picture of the water in Destin yesterday. The pic showed a large shark in the water, probably 50 yards from shore. It was an aerial shot right in front of the Sandestin Hilton.

It's disturbing b/c it's one thing for something this terrible to happen far out in the sea where the sharks feed on fish, but another thing for the large sharks to be going close to shore in Destin, and evidently, in Cape San Blas where the boy was bit.

Unfortunately, I see this having a potentially large impact on Sandestin tourism. The Destin area is by far the biggest summer vacation spot for people from Louisiana. Because the girl was from Louisiana and it's being reported a great deal on the news here, I see many people, and families especially, cancelling their reservations.

JJ5

PBS or Discovery just had a show on the technology starting to be used on this problem.

From these tech readings, they are starting to learn a lot more about shark lifespan and style.

They hunt in packs as well as singlely.

There are times of year that they are extremely numerous and swim in same sex patterns from the South. It was very interesting, but it made it sound like there is definitely certain times of the year when swimming anywhere in the Gulf would be far more problematic than at other times.

This was last winter, I think, that I watched this program. And I thought, at that time. Then way do they not get aerial reads (tech. used for the research) around the established swim areas?? I think like tsuami warning systems, that it may not be full proof- but that better days are coming for warning.

If you go beyond where it is allowed, and this first girl did- I still think it is just an awful price to pay. But according to this science program, there are times that they come in close to shore with certain temp. currents and swim in patterns there in the shallower water, as well.

Tandoori_Girl

The boy/man is stablized but in critical condition.

here_today_gone2Maui

"PBS or Discovery just had a show on the technology starting to be used on this problem."

What problem? Sharks do what sharks do, and essential that is feed. The ocean is their turf. I don't where there is "problem."

platzman

We just came back from our annual trek to Ft Walton Beach last week. I reminded my kids at the time that when they step into the water at the beach, they're stepping into the "wild". And the further out you go, the wilder it gets. I've talked to relatives from Pensacola and residents of Destin. They tell me that if tourists knew just how close the sharks come to the shore, they'd never set foot in the water.
Even then, we must put this in perspective. At the time we were there, a teenage boy nearly drowned and was airlifted to the hospital.
Drownings from rip currents between the sandbars are a much bigger problem than shark attacks.

mah1980

One of my friends knows someone that was a coast guard on Pensacola's beach. His friend told him a similar thing: if tourists knew how many sharks they see they would never go into the water.

I've always been a scaredy cat and don't venture out very far.

JJ5

Why the hostility? If people like to swim or surf and if there is a way to co-exist so that children can not become food, why NOT learn more to avoid tragic situations as much as possible.

I can't understand the hostility, here today gone 2 Maui! Of course the shark is natural to the ocean, as humans are natural to this planet as well.

There is a very special little girl from Florida that only has one arm after a similar surfing incident. She is up for top awards this year as she is back on board and excellent at what she does. She isn't as hostile as you sound, she's human spirit personified.

pspercy

The boy was fishing ? I've wondered in the past about wading & fishing, nice stringer of fish attached to your waist "chumming" the sharks for you but I guess attacks on wading anglers are rare.

BTilke

It's been all over the news here in central Florida (where I'm visiting for a week, trying out my European sunscreens with Mexoryl)...from what the writers in the Orlando Sentinel are reporting, bull sharks (the type involved in both incidents) are agressive, will come close to shore and can even swim in fresh water. When they bite someone, it's usually NOT because they've mistaken a human foot or leg for a fish, taking one "accidental" bite and then letting go. When they bite a human, it's more likely to be intentional.
I was warned about bull sharks while walking along a beach a few years ago...a local said to avoid swimming in the early evening when the fish are closer to shore because where there are fish, there are sharks.
Obviously these are isolated incidents, but all the same, I'm glad to be inland and swimming laps in a nice, predator-free pool!
P.S. The Mexoryl seems to be working fine.

mah1980

Not to be too reactionary, but another serious shark bite happened today in SW Florida. I have a friend that works for a hospital in Ft. Myers, Fl and she e-mailed me that their hospital has been deluged with news requests.

Apparently the guy got his foot bitten to the bone and they'll probably have to amputate. They think it was a bull shark too.

Clearly there is a reason that the bull sharks are especially aggressive right now and coming in closer. I know the odds are low, but I think that everyone going to the Gulf this weekend and in the upcoming weeks should be very careful.

OldSouthernBelle

JJ5: Is that little girl from Florida...I thought it was Hawaii?? Belle.

Jocelyn_P

Look at this aerial picture of a bull shark swimming close to shore:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8389018/

Yikes!