Fatal Shark Attack in Solana Beach, CA!

[tabs]

Originally Posted by nostatic

just another risk to benefit calculation. Everything in life has risk...just depends on what is important to you and what feeds your soul. If I couldn't ride waves, my life would be seriously diminished, and the time I spend with my son at the beach is pretty priceless.

Yayyyy..FISH FOOD

[kang]

Originally Posted by Mule

I don't have to outswim the shark. I just have to outswim you!

Reminds me of that old joke about two hikers in the woods. A bear started chasing them, and they ran away. One hiker stopped to switch from his hiking boots to his running shoes. The other one said “you fool, you can’t outrun a bear in running shoes!” The first one replied “no, but I can outrun you!”

[tcar]

Whew. Thanks for the map. No attacks in Colorado.

[Super_Dave_D]

Originally Posted by tcar

Whew. Thanks for the map. No attacks in Colorado.

The price we pay to drive our cars all year long

[Sunroof]

The victim was a retired 66 year old Veteranarian. It was early in the morning when sharks enjoy their hunting. A seal was spotted earlier in the week near that location and they surmised the Great White was indeed on the hunt. With a wetsuit on in 20-30 feet of water, the shark allegedly came up for the attack assuming he was the seal (humans in black wetsuits and seals do not look any different to a shark!). He came up and bit both thighs. Bite radius indicated a 12+ footer. Obviously, the swimmer was not eaten nor swallowed whole, but bleed to death while being rescued by fellow swimmers. Apparently, the shark was not starving nor had an appetite for homo sapien. Sad indeed.

Bob

[911pcars]

Originally Posted by tcar

Whew. Thanks for the map. No attacks in Colorado.

I need to remind you that in Jaws III or was it VI, the great white followed Lorraine Day from CA to NJ, or was it Maine?. Colorado is much closer to the west coast.

Sherwood

[kstar]

Originally Posted by tcar

Whew. Thanks for the map. No attacks in Colorado.

I believe the map/survey posted only refers to marine shark attack fatalities, not land sharks.

[mikester]

I recall in my youth beach fishing at Jacksonville (Jax), Vilano and St. Augustine beaches. During those wonderful days - especially in the summer months into September we would catch 4 things mostly:

1. Blue fins
2. Catfish
3. Whiting
4. Baby sand or white tip sharks

The baby sharks were typically less than 3 feet in length when we would catch them but boy were they fun. It was always funny to see the kids playing just a few feet from us while we reel in ANOTHER shark. Of course it never kept me out of the water until my own shark attack in 1998 but THAT is another story entirely.

The summer months of Florida see a large number of shark attacks but typically they are small deals where these small sharks are just biting anything that moves - they don't know any better. They do damage of course but usually the 'victim' doesn't loose much more than some blood. Sometimes they get the little kids and that's when it is really unfortunate.


I live out here in Socal now and the sharks are typically bigger here. It doesn't really do much for me to hear about a blue shark or something of that nature but a WHITE shark really freaks me out. I surf a lot less these days...

[JeremyD]

All I catch in the summer in Tampa Bay is sharks - the black tips taste good - every once in a while I snag a monster that takes my line like it doesn't even know I'm there.

But I agree with nostatic - there's a cost benefit - AND your trip in your car to the beach is statistically the most dangerous part.

[charleskieffner]

was reported 12-17 great white. helos searching for shark.

since i spent a hell of alot of time there in high school this caught my eye big time. surfed there, dived there, swam there and then of course blacks beach down south.

last in depth specials i saw on great whites had 2 very interesting results from their studies.


whitey tagged off farallons swam to oahu hawaii circled island numerous times and came back to farallons. studies figure they are following migrating fish schools along currents.

other study south of new zealand showed whiteys form WOLF PACKS ie a number of them to herd seals towards cliffs(no easy exit) and then nail them for snacks.

friend of mine off santa barbara a few years back had a whitey go over his head at about 40 feet. of course didnt have his camera but has memories for a life time.

too many people think calif. waters are warm. with upswell currents coming up from south america and currents from alaska water temps even in aug are not that high. ie. hypothermia at depth for divers. unlike hawaii and other pacific areas.

whiteys like cold water . but studies show they will move anywhere there is adequate food sources.

note to self ..............NEVER LOOK LIKE A SEAL! LOL! are there any seals colored in bright blue and international orange like my dry suit??????

[mikester]

Originally Posted by JeremyD

All I catch in the summer in Tampa Bay is sharks - the black tips taste good - every once in a while I snag a monster that takes my line like it doesn't even know I'm there.

But I agree with nostatic - there's a cost benefit - AND your trip in your car to the beach is statistically the most dangerous part.

You need to talk to my Dad in clear water - there is plenty to catch besides sharks in the gulf.

[artplumber]

Originally Posted by Super_Dave_D

Prety cool site - again only unprovoked - I dont know why I think that is funny

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/isaf/graphs.htm

LOL, even the sharks don't like LA!

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by charleskieffner

too many people think calif. waters are warm.

who thinks that? The California Current runs south out of the gulf of Alaska. Tops out maybe into the low 70s in the late summer in LA. Usually upper 60s. Winter is mid 50s. SF is colder still, and I surfed with water down into the upper 40s. Damn cold - took 5 minutes after getting out of the water to be able to manipulate my car key to open my truck's door.

water today was 56 at Zuma. Waves were for crap, but plenty of dolphins.

[BRPORSCHE]

Three years ago I had a classmate that was killed by a shark during Spring Break in Florida. Still remember going to the funeral. I am not really a fan of the ocean anymore.

[DavidI]

I have a phobia of sharks. In the Marine Corps when we did amphibian landings, all I could think about was a shark attacking me! That stupid "Jaws" music thundered in my skull, David

[billyboy]

There will be more and more shark attacks. Various factors at play here. More people in the water, white sharks are a protected fish in California, marine mammal populations have exploded due to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and gill nets are not allowed near the coast of California anymore. I know a commercial diver who was bit by a white shark. Fortunately for him, the shark got his air hose in the same mouthful and had a big blast of compressed air along with neoprene wetsuit. The guy has a nasty bite mark that fully encompasses his upper torso, front and back. If the shark had not opened back up at the moment the air blast hit it, it would have been over right there with one bite. Some woman got it here in our county a couple of years ago. She was doing something very stupid. Swimming with, and feeding sea lions early in the morning about 50 yards offshore of a popular swimming beach. From what I have heard, whites usually spit out human flesh but by then, they have already done deadly damage.

[stuartj]

Many years ago, in the cold southern ocean, I had an eye ball to eyeball experience with a very large Great White. She appeared out of the white foam lying on the deep green water and passed right under my board like a submarine, actually displacing waterwith her bulk . I estimate from the width of her head she was +5 mtrs. She just let me go on my way. It was an "oh ****" moment, to say the least.

IIRC, there was one shark fatality world wide in 2007. There were, by contrast, something like 14,000 people killed with firearms in the USA last year. Dont worry about sharks.

[JCF]

Originally Posted by nostatic

who thinks that? The California Current runs south out of the gulf of Alaska. Tops out maybe into the low 70s in the late summer in LA. Usually upper 60s. Winter is mid 50s. SF is colder still, and I surfed with water down into the upper 40s. Damn cold - took 5 minutes after getting out of the water to be able to manipulate my car key to open my truck's door.

water today was 56 at Zuma. Waves were for crap, but plenty of dolphins.

I do fer sure !
Here the water is still below 40 !
Good waves last week.
Saw no sharks - but a few years ago someone caught a record (rod and reel)
Great White 20 miles off Kennebunkport.

[charleskieffner]

Originally Posted by nostatic

who thinks that? The California Current runs south out of the gulf of Alaska. Tops out maybe into the low 70s in the late summer in LA. Usually upper 60s. Winter is mid 50s. SF is colder still, and I surfed with water down into the upper 40s. Damn cold - took 5 minutes after getting out of the water to be able to manipulate my car key to open my truck's door.

water today was 56 at Zuma. Waves were for crap, but plenty of dolphins.

newbie az. divers buying .5mm wetsuits and going over to san diego and freezing their butts off.

only place i havent used my dry suit is hawaii,sea of cortez, barbados............anywhere else DRYSUIT!

[charleskieffner]

another point to make. 99% of divers are usually diving off of boat with a large group. 4-20 people or more with size of dive boat.

underwater thats a lot of noise from bubbles. sharks are not likely ever to approach a group underwater. their scared. its lobster/abalone/black coral divers alone that usually get nailed. or divers coming to surface far from boat who get nailed.

snorklers/surfers/swimmers/divers at surface look exactly like a seal sandwich and the buffet is open for whitey.

its always best to dive with group and stay with group. strength in numbers.

sharks are actually cool as hell to see. give humans same rush stimulus as rattlesnakes or bears. its inbred and to go shark diving in a cage would be a hell of a rush.