Shark attack. (Photo) Anyone ever been bitten by one?!

[Nathan1]

A boy was bitten in Florida two days ago by a bull shark.

His uncle wrestled the shark to the shore and the ranger shot the shark, and removed the boy's right arm from down the shark's throat and severed from the boy's body.

These stories make me apprehensive about going snorkeling...

Anyone have a personal shark story they want to share?

The bull shark after being shot 3 times.


-Nathan

[ July 09, 2001: Message edited by: Nathan ]

 

[sawcjack00]

Nope, but a porcupine puffer got me on the hand once. Still got a scar from that one.

 

[Paul A. Ifkovits]

I want to meet the uncle. Talking about some big ba&&s.
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[cindywennin]

Swam with nurse sharks in the keys during camp in 3rd and 4th grades. But that's not a bull shark...

Now that I have a brain I am not sure I would do it again...they still have teeth.
Did you notice the EMS dude on the right...he sure is watching that dead shark's mouth pretty close even though he's at the back end!

Cindy

 

[Bigflatus]

Here's a press release I just read on this....

An eight-year-old boy is recovering in a Pensacola Beach, Fla., hospital after having his arm surgically reattached. The arm had been bitten off by a shark.
The boy, whose identity was not released, was attacked by a shark Friday night while swimming at the Gulf Islands National Seashore Park in the Florida Panhandle. The first ranger on the scene shot the shark three times, pried its mouth open and retrieved the boy's arm from the shark's gullet, chief ranger J.R. Tomasovic told The Pensacola News Journal. He said his best guess was that it was a bull shark.
The shark was killed. Doctors at Baptist Hospital successfully reattached the boy's arm early Saturday, CNN reported. He was listed in critical condition following surgery.

 

[Quillen]

SO.. I want to scuba dive.. and I see things like this. Hopefully, I am more safe in the water

. I don't think it happens very often, but I think the story about the little boy is very sad & I have been keeping my fingers crossed for him.

 

[DeathWish302]

Yet another senseless act of murder, b/c someone was where they do not belong. Sorry guys, but the ocean isn't our environment. I do feel merciful to the boy, but if you swim in any oceanic body expect the unexpected. Besides you have a better chance from falling from a ladder and killing your self than being attacked by sharks.

DW302

 

[Len]

Senseless act of murder ?!?!?!

Give me a break. We're getting a little too righteous here. The boy had his freakin' arm tore off. Getting the arm back is not a senseless act.

 

[Anonymous]

No kidding. I'd want my arm back. We are relatively local to that attack, and you notice guests to the aquarium looking at the 10' bull shark in our display a bit differently, at least, once the guides tell them its a bull shark. Been diving around every hazardous animal local to our waters. The first time you swim/dive/snorkel with one, it really changes you when it comes to respect and dignifying the animal. All you have to do is look in their eye.

[ July 09, 2001: Message edited by: galleon ]

 

[Modo]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Yet another senseless act of murder, b/c someone was where they do not belong. Sorry guys, but the ocean isn't our environment. I do feel merciful to the boy, but if you swim in any oceanic body expect the unexpected. Besides you have a better chance from falling from a ladder and killing your self than being attacked by sharks.
DW302
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm going to stand back and watch this from a distance.....

....I'll be over here with my flame-retardent gear on.

 

[Quillen]

I think I have every right to be in the sea

or to be bitten while there. Growing up off the gulf of mexico, I spent many childhood days swimming in the ocean with no shark bites. I respect sharks as it is, there are many remarkable species.. like the whale shark that is 30 ft long (I believe) and eats plankton. There are lots of things that could hurt you in the sea, we put them in our tanks as well - eels, lionfish, poisonous spikes on fish, urchins.. some even have shark tanks in their homes

. Any beautiful creature has a danger of hurting you. I am more safe in the sea, then I where I lived in Tx with the fire ants (went to the ER a few time from those mean little things), scorpians, and spiders the size of my adult hand.. or maybe on some dates, if nothing else, being a danger of death by boredom

.

 

[Len]

Quillen,

Whales Sharks (Rhincodon typus) have been documented at over 50 feet long! 40 feet Basking Sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) are just as crazy. Animals that size are just crazy.

 

[KenH]

If you want to get a shark thrill, I can recommend the following if you are ever in Tahiti.

I was on vacation in Tahiti (island of Moorea) last fall. I went on a 'dive with the sharks' tour. The locals took us out on a small boat to the edge of the breakers and tied up to a coral outcrop with white nylon line. The rule was that humans stayed on one side of the rope and the sharks would stay on the other. The crew chummed the sharks to bring them in close. They were all relatively harmless blacktips up to about 6' long and one huge old snaggletooth barracuda. They worked the sharks up into a fairly good feeding frenzy, but short of being totally out of control. You were literally within a few feet of the feeding sharks, hoping that they remembered the rule about not crossing the rope. Even though I have swam around non-feeding sharks before, this was a truly impressive experience.

--- Ken

 

[gazpep]

Many years ago my father caught a small Port Jackson shark, considered harmless, off the rocks at Maroubra beach in Sydney. He put the shark in a hessian bag and on his way home called into the local hotel where he was showing the dead shark to a few of the other drinkers.....one of them tried to open the sharks mouth and the shark locked its jaws onto his hand. They had to call an ambulance to get his hand out. That story made the newspapers under the headline " Shark Attacks Drinker in Sydney Hotel".

 

[DeathWish302]

Leonard:

Ok, the next time your in the area around Yellowstone camping, why don't you put some food in your tent. When the bear attacks, kill it. I mean it's "your land to camp on." No, i'm not being too righteous. If my dog (trained attack Rotty) mauls me nearly to death, i'm not going to shoot it cuz' i knew the risk. Not starting a flame war, but everyones making the shark out to be the bad guy. This is how novels like Jaws gets started.

DW302

 

[Jenemone]

Deathwish:
I am utterly astounded that you had the nerve to make such a remark. People like you are why I am not a member of PETA. It is possible to take animal rights too far.

All of that aside, this morning I heard that it took eleven hours to reattach the boy's arm, and he is in kidney failure as we speak. Hope all turns out for the good.

Jen

 

[esmithiii]

DeathWish302:

You animals' rights freaks kill me. Shark attacked juvenile mammal, larger adult mammal attacks and kills shark. MURDER? You are totaly stoned. Don't drink and type, man.

In nature, animals protect their young, often killing the offending animal. This is different how? Your dog attacks my little boy and I don't care if I have to come into your place, I will kill the thing.

Since when is the ocean not our place to be?

I feel for the boy and for his family. This is a tragedy, but I don't feel bad for the loss of another shark.

 

[SPC]

I can't believe that this thread is still going on. During the time this thread has been active, how many 8 year old children have died in Africa? How many children were beaten by their parents today? Lets keep this shark attack in perspective and try not to get so emotional.

Steve

 

[bowfront]

Hi, not sure if everyone knows this but the attack in Pensacola supposedly took place in about 3 feet of water, which is not that unusual here in Florida. Bulls and other sharks roam the shallows along the beachs here in the summer looking for food (not human). The vast majority of the time they leave people alone but not always. I've seen sharks many times both at the beach and while snorkeling or diving. Bulls are particularily intimidating to me mostly because I don't trust them. They can be very unpredicable and certainly aggressive. They are an interesting species though. They actually have been sighted in some of the freshwater rivers here where I live sometimes in the summer. I think I read somewhere that the femals drop their pups up there and then return to the ocean.

BTW I certainly don't feel sorry for the shark in this case and hope the kid makes it. According to today's news he's still in very critical condition. He had no pulse, no blood pressure and hardly any blood by the time they got him to the hospital. They are expecting neurological damage if he recovers.
Lets all hope for the best and not talk about sharks rights here.

 

[ronjon]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DeathWish302:
<STRONG>Yet another senseless act of murder, b/c someone was where they do not belong. Sorry guys, but the ocean isn't our environment. I do feel merciful to the boy, but if you swim in any oceanic body expect the unexpected. Besides you have a better chance from falling from a ladder and killing your self than being attacked by sharks.

DW302</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

sorry, but if it comes to whether i get my arm back or not, i hope someone would have the brains/ballz to shoot the damn thing. i think there are enough bull sharks to go around. myself on the otherhand, well, i only got 2 arms.

rj

[ July 09, 2001: Message edited by: ronjon ]