3rd Shark Attack in Florida Gulf

[IDK]

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle...SHARK-DC.XML (http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2005-07-01T193812Z_01_N01629504_RTRIDST_0_USREPORT-LIFE-SHARK-DC.XML)
MIAMI (Reuters) - A 19-year-old Austrian tourist was attacked by a shark along Florida's Gulf Coast on Friday, the third victim in less than a week of the ferocious predators that roam the waters around the Florida peninsula.

Armin Trojer from Baden, Austria, was bitten on the right ankle by the shark while swimming in chest-deep waters off Boca Grande, 140 miles northwest of Miami, said Lee County Sheriff's Deputy Angelo Vaughn.

Vaughn said the extent of Trojer's injuries was not clear but "it's more than just a scrape."

The Austrian was flown by helicopter to a hospital and was undergoing surgery. Vaughn said he was pulled out of the water by rescuers after the attack.

Craig Hutto, a 16-year-old boy fishing in waist-deep water off Cape San Blas in the Florida Panhandle, was bitten by a shark on Monday. His leg had to be amputated.

Last Saturday, 14-year-old Jamie Marie Daigle of Gonzales, Louisiana, was killed by a shark near Destin, about 60 miles north of Monday's attack. Officials believe she was bitten by a 6-foot (1.8-meter) bull shark, an aggressive shark species that can survive in both salt and freshwater.

Florida recorded about 33 shark attacks a year from 2000 to 2003. The number dipped to 12 last year, possibly because a series of strong hurricanes kept swimmers, surfers and divers out of the water and kept sharks away from the coastline.

Fatal shark attacks are rare. There were seven reported deaths from 61 unprovoked shark attacks recorded worldwide last year, according to the International Shark Attack File, a group at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Worldwide, there were four fatal attacks in 2003, three in 2002 and four in 2001, the group's statistics showed.

[Melanie]

I would imagine his injuries may well be 'more than just a scrape.'

I haven't wanted to swim in the open sea since I watched Jaws when I was a lil' girl - the scene with the diver and the skull gave me nightmares for a week.

[Craig]

I would imagine his injuries may well be 'more than just a scrape.'

I haven't wanted to swim in the open sea since I watched Jaws when I was a lil' girl - the scene with the diver and the skull gave me nightmares for a week.

The thing about sharks is that they're really overrated as a threat. Obviously, there's some areas that are more dangerous than others, but sharks are very rarely a threat; if I am not mistaken, your chances of being bit by a shark are around (or even less) than being struck by lightning. Another thing that my dad always mentions to people who are afraid of sharks is that the vast majority of shark attacks never happen in the open water, but rather in less than 2 meters of water. The other thing he points out to people who are scared of going diving because of sharks is that you're actually more likely to get bitten when you're swimming. Sharks don't really like the sound of bubbles coming out of regulators and almost always stay away from divers. On the other hand, when you're swimming in shallow water and thrashing about like a marine mammal, you look like something that might be worth "sampling".

[Mirror Lake 444]

I was watching CNN the other day and a shark expert was talking about shark attacks while people were swimming in the background. Not to far from the swimmers fishermen were chumming for and catching sharks off a pier. The reporter asked if that was a good idea considering how close the swimmers were to the chumming and the reponse was "absolutely not." :eek: