Yet Another Attack in Florida

BOCA GRANDE, Florida (7/1/05) - A shark bit an 19 year old Austrian tourist on an ankle Friday while the man stood in chest-deep water near the lighthouse at Gasparilla Island Beach.in the Gulf of Mexico. This makes the third shark attack in the Florida Panhandle within seven days. The victim was airlifted out by helicopter to a hospital in Fort Myers, where he was said to be in stable condition. Eyewitnesses said it was definitely a shark that attacked the 19 year old. Paramedics also said the wound was consistent with a shark bite, but the type of shark involved in the attack has not yet been determined. Last year, there were only 12 attacks in the state of Florida.

Second Shark Attack in Three Days

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA (6/27/05) - A boy fishing in waist-deep water was bitten and critically injured Monday in the second shark attack on a teenager along the Florida Panhandle in three days.
Craig A. Hutto, 16, of Lebanon, Tennesse., was taken to the Bay Medical Center in Panama City, where his leg was amputated. He was listed in critical condition but was expected to recover.
The boy was attacked off Cape San Blas, a popular vacation destination about 80 miles southeast of the Destin area, where Jamie Marie Daigle of Gonzales, La., was killed by a shark on Saturday 6/25/05.
The boy had been fishing in chest-deep water close to a steep underwater drop-off and was reeling in a catch when the shark attacked and bite him in the right thigh, one eyewitness said.
The youth's brother and friends then tried to wrestle the shark off the boy, hitting it in the nose several times. The teen was pulled ashore by his friends, and a doctor who happened to be nearby began treatment before the boy was taken to the hospital.
The shark severed the main arteries in the right leg, causing the boy lose a large amount of blood. The shark was about 6 to 8 feet long, witnesses said. Apparently Gulf County has no lifeguards on any of its beaches. Officials closed the county's beaches until late Tuesday morning. According to the American Elasmobranch Society, Florida averaged more than 30 shark attacks a year from 2000 to 2003, but there were only 12 attacks last year.

Girl Fatally Attacked off Florida

FLORIDA (6/25/05) - A young girl named Jamie Marie Daigle of Gonzales, La., was attacked and killed by a shark on Saturday. The 14 year old had been swimming on a boogie board with a friend about 60 feet from shore when a shark bite and tore away the flesh on one leg from her hip down to her knee. She died after being taken to a hospital.
Experts say that the girl was probably attacked by a bull shark, judging from the bite measurements they say it was at least 6-feet in length. A 20-mile stretch of beach was closed on Sunday, but reopened on Monday with extra beach patrols to watch for sharks.

New Jersey Surfer Attacked

LONG BEACH, NEW JERSEY (6/8/05) - A 17-year-old surfer in New Jersey lost a small piece of flesh from his foot in what is likely the state's first shark attack by a Great White shark in 30 years. A 17-year-old New Jersey resident named Ryan Horton was surfing in about 25 feet off the beach at Long Beach Island Sunday afternoon when he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his ankle but didn't see what caused it. He paddled back to shore, where his brother helped him off the beach and took him to a hospital where he was treated. One expert from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, New Jersey said after looking at the photos of the wound, in his opinion that it could only have been made by a Great White. Although such attacks are very rare, naturalists say there is evidence that Great Whites live in the waters off New Jersey. Two dead sea turtles with 26-inch gashes were found in recent years that could only have been caused by a Great White. The last recorded shark attack in New Jersey was at Sandy Hook in 1975; the same year that the movie JAWS was released.
Experts say there was no reason for people to change their swimming habits because of this incident, shark attacks are very rare. Worldwide, there were about 60 shark attacks on people in 2004 according to the International Shark Attack File, located in the Florida Museum of Natural History.

California Surfer Attacked

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) (05/31/02) - A 24-year-old surfer riding the waves off a popular northern California beach was attacked by a shark Friday, suffering leg and back injuries and prompting authorities to close part of the beach, fire officials said. The man, who was airlifted in critical condition to a nearby hospital, was pulled off his board by a shark that other surfers said had a 12-15 inch dorsal fin, Stinson Beach Assistant Fire Chief Pat Norton told reporters.
"The victim fought off the attack and returned to his board," Norton said. "He was in a moderate amount of pain and looking forward to a good helicopter ride."
A spokeswoman for the hospital said the man was listed in critical condition, although his injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.
The attack, the first in four years at the site, occurred at the north end of Stinson Beach, a popular surfing spot some 24 miles north of San Francisco.
Offshore waters around Stinson Beach and nearby Bolinas are a major breeding ground for Great White Sharks, which have regularly been sighted in the area.
05/31/02 19:26 ET

Tiger Sharks (3) attack Humpback calf in Hawaii waters (03/02).