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Steve, We will miss you.--a story

About 80 incidents with sharks in 2006--some where the boats were bitten or provoked--(nice job Richard)..or just plain attacked. 2007 started off with a bang with a board being bitten on Jan 1st!

A VICTORIAN man is lucky to be alive after surviving a shark attack at Bells Beach yesterday. The 25-year-old surfer suffered puncture wounds to his left calf and a major gash to a bone under his knee.Peter Galvin, of Torquay, was waiting for a wave with a friend about 100m offshore at surf spot Winki Pop, when he was attacked about 7pm.Sen-Constable Lisa Kearney, of Torquay police, said the shark attacked Mr Galvin from behind.The shark has grabbed his leg by the calf and taken a pretty nasty bite out of it," Sen-Constable Kearney said."He's very lucky he wasn't pulled off his board. It was an extremely large, deep bite. He's one very lucky man to be alive."Mr Galvin, formerly of Yarraville, was helped to shore by his friend. English backpackers then applied pressure on the wound until paramedics arrived.He was treated by paramedics then flown by air ambulance to Royal Melbourne Hospital where he was in a serious but stable condition last night.Rural Ambulance Victoria spokesman John Mullen said he could not remember the last time anyone was attacked by a shark on the west coast.

The 10-year-old son of TV3 presenter Melanie Reid was attacked by a shark while surfing at Manu Bay , Raglan, earlier today. Elliot Paerata-Reid was surfing with his father Jamarl when the shark came up and snapped at the boy's foot."I thought it was a rock at first, then it just came up and bit me," Elliot said. He became frightened when the water around him started to discolour from blood. Mr Paerata, who was in the water with Elliot at the time, said a degree of panic set in. "I just thought it was a sort of a nudge, but I heard Elliot say 'get out, get out.' I said to him 'it's just a small one' but it rolled over and took off, and then I saw blood coming out of his foot."The shark was about the same size as Eliott, Mr Paerata said. He did not know what kind of shark it was but described it as a grey one with darker grey spots on its white belly. Elliot said his father ditched his own board, asking another surfer to take care of it, and immediately began paddling in to shore with him. Mrs Reid saw the drama unfolding from the water's edge and heard her son screaming. She felt dazed about what her son had gone through but managed to calm down once medics had attended to the injury. Mr Paerata said his son had received cuts to the base and top of the foot, which had been stitched. Elliot, who lives at Piha with his parents, said it was "a bit of a shame" the summer had got off to such a frightening start, but promised he would be back in the water surfing once the injury had healed.

A Sonoma County man was bitten by a shark off Dillon Beach today. Royce Fraley, 43, of Guerneville was attacked while surfing the big surf off shore at Dillon Beach. His board took most of the attack. Fraley suffered three wounds to the groin. The shark was estimated to be eight feet long. Dozens of other surfers were in the water at the time of the attack -- most were unaware of the encounter. Fraley was taken by private vehicle for medical treatment. His wounds were not life-threatening. Fraley was prone on his board when he felt a swelling pushing up. The shark bit through the board and nicked his groin. Farley hung onto his board as the shark took him down about 15 feet. The shark let go and he "popped up like a cork." Captain Rick Wonneberger of Marin County Fire said Fraley and a partner were not very far offshore. -- not as far out as the surfing hot spot known affectionately among locals as "the shark pit." Afterward Fraley recounted his experience with other surfers on shore. Fraley was visibly shaken. Fraley had a close encounter with a shark several years ago while surfing at the mouth of the Russian River . Megan Halavais, Bodega Bay, who was attacked by a shark off Salmon Creek Beach last year, said, "I know exactly what he is going through." Later estimates of size based on tooth marks put the shark at 12-15 feet and 1200 to 2000 pounds.

A Pretoria fisherman got more than he bargained for when he found himself on the receiving end of a bite from a ragged-tooth shark after hooking the creature off the beach at Cape Vidal on Tuesday evening. Peter Willoughby returned home from a trip to the popular resort at the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park with 65 stitches after being bitten on the hand, thigh and calf. The 25-year-old rock and surf angler was fishing with other experienced fishermen.

He was trying to unhook the 150kg shark when a wave washed the creature against him while he was waist-deep in the water and it bit him. One of its teeth apparently went into his right thigh and then scraped down his calf. He was also bitten on the hand as the shark tried to roll away from him. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife staff at Cape Vidal immediately arranged for him to be taken to St Lucia where he was stitched in a doctor's surgery,before leaving the resort as planned on Thursday.

A teenage victim of a shark attack at a remote West Australian beach is recovering in hospital, as authorities take to the sea and the sky to find the white pointer that bit off part of his leg.WA Premier Alan Carpenter said the shark should be killed if it threatened more lives and WA Fisheries stressed it would only do so as a last resort.Fifteen-year-old Zak Golebiowski, from Mt Gambier in South Australia, had been body boarding with his 18-year-old brother off Wharton Beach, 70km east of Esperance when a five metre shark attacked him.Part of Zak's right leg was bitten off by the huge shark, which also mauled and punctured his other leg, leaving it severely lacerated.A New Zealand couple at the beach tied an extension cord around Zak's leg to stem the bleeding and he was flown to Royal Perth Hospital.A hospital spokesman said Zak was now in a "stable condition" after surgery.A spokesman for the Golebiowski family said no comment would be made while an exclusive media deal was negotiated with commercial television.Zac's mother, Anne, has flown from Mt Gambier to Perth to be with her son."He knows that people get taken by sharks and that they die, so he's very fortunate to be alive," she said.WA Fisheries officers are patrolling the beaches and waters in the area of the attack and flying over the coastline to try and spot the shark.They are also flying between Wharton Beach and Esperance to ensure the shark has not moved on to other popular beaches in the area.WA Fisheries incident controller Tony Cappelluti said his staff would call for beaches to be cleared if a shark was spotted and a five metre WA Fisheries boat would be sent to "herd" it from the area."We are not in a position to hunt down the shark," he told AAP."We have shark capture equipment on the boat, but that is an absolute last resort."Trying to deal with a big animal with a relatively small boat is just not an option."Mr Carpenter expressed his sympathy for Zak and said if necessary the shark should be destroyed."Much as I respect the fact the ocean is the shark's domain and we enter it at our own peril, if a shark is in a place where people are swimming and is endangering lives then I have no hesitation in seeing it destroyed, (it's) unfortunate but I don't," Mr Carpenter said.Mr Carpenter said it was impossible to patrol isolated areas such as Wharton Beach and praised the New Zealand couple who helped Zak."I thank those people down there in that remote spot for saving that boy's life, he could have easily died."The New Zealanders, Amy Worling, 26, and Pete Hickmott, 32, said they thought Zak might die when they first saw him."I was talking to Zak, trying to keep him talking to us and keep him focused on staying awake," Ms Worling told Perth's Sunday Times."He said: 'Can you please not talk to me', He just wanted to stay calm and zone out."There have been three shark fatalities in Western Australia since 2000.In 2000, Perth businessman Ken Crew, 49, died after his leg was ripped off by what was believed to be a white pointer up to four metres long off Cottesloe Beach.In July 2004, Brad Smith, 30, died after being attacked by a shark while surfing at Gracetown, about 270 km south-west of Perth.In March last year, 26-year-old Geoffrey Brazier was killed by a six metre shark while snorkelling off the Abrolhos Islands, 60km west of Geraldton.

POSTED: 11:10 a.m. EST, November 12, 2006 KIHEI, Hawaii (AP) -- A shark attacked a man swimming at a Maui beach Saturday, injuring his leg and hand, authorities said. Kyle Gruen, 29, of Vancouver, Canada, was about 30 to 40 feet offshore when the shark grabbed his left side, said his twin brother, Jeff Gruen, who was at the beach when the attack happened."He was swimming along when just all of a sudden it got him," Jeff Gruen told The Honolulu Advertiser. "He pulled away and kicked it off, and it took off right away."Maui County spokeswoman Ellen Pelissero said the victim was attacked near Kihei. He was listed in stable condition at Maui Memorial Medical Center.As a precaution, authorities closed beaches about one mile in either direction of the attack.

Canoeist bitten after grabbing predator’s tail to help angler By LUYANDA MAKAPELA

AN East London canoeist found himself in serious deep water after he mistakenly grabbed a Zambezi shark by the tail near the Nahoon River mouth this week. Zambezi sharks are considered among the most dangerous ocean predators.

Richard Tebbutt was paddling on the river on Thursday afternoon when he saw a fisherman on the bank battling to pull in what seemed to be a “very big fish”. The civic-minded canoeist leapt out of his canoe, intent on helping the fisherman. “I just jumped out of my canoe and dived down and grabbed the fish by its tail … I got a shock of my life when I saw a big Zambezi shark, charging towards me,” Tebbutt told the Saturday Dispatch yesterday. “The shark quickly turned around, grabbed my left arm and lacerated it. Within a split second, I saw my blood in the river. “I just smacked the shark as hard as I could with my right arm to get it to let go of me,” said Tebbutt. He succeeded in getting the roughly 1,5-metre predator to back off – but only for a few moments. “I was in the water holding my arm which was bleeding profusely, and the shark started coming towards me very fast. “I immediately jumped out of the water onto the rocks and it missed me … I could have been dead by now,” he said. Once on shore Tebbutt realised he was losing blood. His son, also out paddling, helped take him to a family friend, who rushed Tebbutt to St Dominics Hospital where he had 50 stitches to his left arm. “I was shocked that I had overcome the shark. Its strength was unbelievable. “In my 30 years in surfing, I never thought I would have this kind of experience,” he said. Asked how he felt about canoeing in future, Tebbutt said: “I can’t wait to go back.”

Zambezi sharks are: • Also called Bull Sharks, they are among the most dangerous. • Short and powerful, growing up to three metres. • At home in murky waters and river mouths. • The Zambezi has been implicated in many attacks on bathers and surfers worldwide, mostly in murky waters around river mouths and estuaries.

ENGLEWOOD -- Blaise Castellano Jr. went to Florida's east coast hoping to catch a big one. Instead, a big one caught him.The Lemon Bay High School sophomore was bitten by a shark during a surfing and fishing trip to Sebastian Inlet this week."It was pretty crazy," Blaise said Friday. "I guess the shark thought my foot was a mullet. Then it was gone."There was blood everywhere."The shark left three 5-inch lacerations in the boy's shin, 10 small puncture wounds in the bottom of his foot and one large hole in his heel.Blaise, 15, got 34 stitches at Sebastian River Medical Center.The hospital confirmed that emergency room doctors treated a shark bite Monday.Blaise and his father also said the doctors told them it was a shark bite.With Charlotte County schools closed Monday and Tuesday, Blaise and several friends decided to go to the beach to celebrate one buddy's birthday."I wouldn't call it a shark attack; I would just call it a shark bite," said Randy Fogo, the birthday boy's father and the one who drove Blaise to the hospital.The waves weren't good for surfing Monday, so the group decided to fish about a mile north of Sebastian Inlet, Blaise said.There was a lot of bait in the water, but no one saw the shark that bit Blaise, said Kevin Fogo, who was celebrating his 16th birthday on the trip.Blaise was in chest-high water when the shark clamped down on his right leg.Sainy Taha, 16, said he had just started wading away from Blaise when he heard the boy say, "Aaaugh.""I turned back around and saw him paddle in as fast as he could," Sainy said. "He was telling everyone 'Don't go in the water.' I was looking right at his ankle, and I just saw white tissue."When Blaise reached down and touched the wound, "it started gushing blood," Sainy said.Sainy handed Randy Fogo his shirt and pulled a shoelace out of a sneaker. Fogo wrapped the shirt around Blaise's leg and tied it off with the shoe string.Only Fogo went with Blaise to the hospital, but none of the boys went back into the water Monday, Sainy said.They did go swimming Tuesday, but "not at that spot," he said with a chuckle.When Blaise returned to school Thursday, everyone knew about the bite. Freshmen he had never met and students behind him in the lunch line pointed him out, he said.Because so many people asked about the injury, Blaise put photographs of the bite on his MySpace.com Web page.Blaise has to use crutches for two weeks and stay off his right foot completely, he said.Within six weeks, he'll be back to running and skateboarding.I did a pretty good number for getting my first stitches," he said. "It's a good story."

It may sound like a big fish tale -- but one surfer says the bite marks on his lower leg prove -- this was no lie... Freddy Torres was out surfing 50 feet from the shore at Isla Blanca park when he says something fierce struck him... "Everything happened really fast -- I thought a guy had come and hit me with his board then I felt something tearing thru my skin, my ankle somewhere." Even he was surprised it was a shark that grabbed him....but the 20 year veteran surfer quickly realized the pain was caused by something more than a gash from a surfboard's fin... The bite measures 7 inches and nearly goes all the way around his calf and Freddy says it felt like he'd broken a bone. "So I hopped a little and tried to run again because I thought I was going to bleed to death...there was blood everywhere." Friends helped Freddy get medical assistance -- luckily the shark only clamped down and didn't pull away... The incident put other surfers on alert -- especially since Freddy's shark wasn't the only one in the waters off Isla Blanca... "The day that Freddy got snagged up with one we had been out surfing and we saw some and we kept surfing -- when there are good waves -- it doesn't tend to stop us.." Freddy agrees saying as soon as he's healed -- surf's up. And to think he's heading back out into the water... Experts say small fish near the shore are what's bringing the sharks too close for comfort. We're taking action to keep you safe...

We had another shark mishap - the 10th incident of the year, but fortunately, none have been serious.
In this latest scare, a Sanford teenager was treated for a bite on his foot. Stephen Munoz, 18, was in shallow water near the jetty in New Smyrna Beach when he was nipped.The water was murky at the time of the bite, which is when these things typically happen. Beach patrol officers said a small shark, 2 to 4 feet in length, are going after bait fish, and in the churned up water, they often mistake a hand or foot for fish.

Volusia County Records 11th Shark Bite Of Year
POSTED: 1:22 pm EDT October 10, 2006
UPDATED: 1:32 pm EDT October 10, 2006
BEACH, Fla. -- Volusia County recorded its 11th shark bite of the year on Tuesday. A surfer from North Carolina was bit above his left ankle while he was in knee-deep water, WESH 2 News reported.
His injuries are very minor. "I was just standing there watching little fish jump and I felt a bite," said Kyle Cody. "We jumped out of the water. I never saw the fish or anything." He was treated by an emergency crew on the beach, and rescuers advised him to get a stitch or two at a hospital.
The fall season is baitfish season, which is what the juvenile sharks are after. Experts said they are inexperienced hunters who often mistake surfers and other swimmers for fish. Typically, the 1-foot to 4-foot-long sharks nip and immediately let go. Beach Patrol officers said on Tuesday the ocean is like an aquarium with a lot of small fish, such as mullet and jackfish, near the shore. None of this year's bites have left the beachgoers seriously injured.

New Smyrna Beach -- A 19-year-old DeLand man was bitten on his big toe Friday by a shark while surfing near the jetty, officials said. Chris Andrews required stitches for his injuries". The shark grabbed the end of his foot," Volusia County Beach Patrol Capt. Scott Petersohn said. He said area where the attack occurred is where 90 percent of the county's shark bites take place.

Jake Poland went to Onslow Beach on Saturday to catch a few waves. Instead, he came out of the water with a new nickname: “Shark Bait.” Poland , 16, spent five hours at Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital on Saturday being treated for a shark bite. The bite was confirmed by personnel in the emergency room, according to Naval Hospital officials Monday. “I couldn’t believe it,” Poland said. “Out of everyone in the water, I got bit.” Poland had just gotten off his surfboard Saturday morning in waist-deep water when he felt something hit him in the leg.

“A wave came in and it felt like it knocked my board into my leg,” he said. It wasn’t until a friend pointed out that his shorts were shredded that he noticed a deep gash. Poland said he walked out of the water, while his two friends went to get help. “I had just left the beach for 35 minutes,” said Poland ’s mother, Twila. “He called me on my cell phone and I panicked when I got there and saw the big gash on his leg — it was disgusting. I was even more panicked when they told me it was probably a shark bite.”

oland had a deep, jagged gash on his left thigh that went through the muscle, Twila Poland said. “It was a long process,” Jake Poland said. “They were cleaning it out, and the shots were painful. I have 10 stitches and they are real deep.” Though he said the wound was painful, on Monday the Jacksonville High junior was back in school and sharing his adventure with classmates. “He’s kind of become a celebrity,” his mother said. “The phone has been ringing off the hook.” The Poland family has been swimming at Onslow Beach for eight years, she said. And while she tried to prepare her children for rip currents, she never thought to prepare them for a shark bite. “You hear it happening to other people, but you never think of it happening to your kid,” Twila Poland said. Jake Poland said he feels some apprehension about getting back in the water, but said the experience didn’t scare him away. “As soon as it’s healed, I’m going to go back out,” he said. “I have a slight fear, but it’s rare to even get bitten once, so I doubt it’ll happen again.” Shark bites are very rare in North Carolina , said Paul Barrington, director of husbandry and operations for the N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher . “There have only been about seven to 10 documented cases in the last 30 years or so,” he said. “Humans are not naturally shark’s prey; it’s more that the two are in the same vicinity.” Locally, one 15-year-old girl was bitten in 2002 at Emerald Isle by a 6 or 7-foot bull shark, according to a Daily News report. Twila Poland said doctors at the hospital suspected Jake’s bite to have been by a shark 2 to 3 feet in length. “There are numerous sharks in the water, especially this time of year,” Barrington said. “Many have recently pupped (given birth) in last few months. They are typically found in near-shore waters. Two or three other fish, such as barracudas, have the capability of biting humans, but are not known to.” A “huge congregation of bait fishes,” including mullet, are currently heading south to Florida and “hugging the beaches,” Barrington said. “What will bring in those sharks is the abundance of the food fish, so being at swimming-depth water can put you in their path,” he said. Barrington said he recommends that swimmers and surfers be aware of what is in the water around them. “If there is a school of bait fish in the water around you, you should be careful because someone could very be easily mistaken for food during a feeding frenzy,” he said. Just ask Shark Bait.

PALM BEACH SHORES --Taking a swim on Singer Island around 2 p.m. on Thursday was more pain than pleasure for William Carol when a shark bit him on the hand. Carol, 55, of Riviera Beach , suffered minor injuries after the small brown shark attacked him, Palm Beach Shores police said. Carol was transported to St. Mary's Medical Center .

FORT PIERCE -- Dennis Macy spent 20 minutes surfing after a shark's teeth pierced the left lower side of his torso Monday in New Smyrna Beach . "I felt lightning wouldn't strike twice," said Macy, 52, who made no attempt to move away from New Smyrna Beach County Park . "Maybe I've got a little reckless abandon about me." While paddling out, he felt a burning sensation on his side after he saw what he thought was a 5-foot shark leap out from the water beside his board. At first, he assumed the encounter was just a sideswipe -- his first physical contact with a shark in his 39 years of surfing. But his surfing pals soon alerted him that the marks on his side were clearly those of shark teeth. He said he figured the large amount of bait fish in the area where they surfed was the likely attractor. "I thought the shark just roughed up my skin after he slammed me. I could feel my skin kind of pricked up, but I knew I wasn't bleeding really bad, so I kept on surfing," Macy recalled Tuesday. "If he would have bit me, it would have been bad news. This is the best possible shark-hit story." He has some advice for those surfing in bait-infested waters. "When those northeasterlies blow in, then the bait fish come and sharks follow them in to feed. They're not after you, they just want the food, but you might get in the way," he said before heading out to surf again at Fort Pierce Inlet Park . "I just want to say, it's just by the grace of God that I was as fortunate as I was and made it out of there with just some teeth marks."- lisa.riddle@scripps.com

It was fourth time lucky for Brad Jamieson when he had a close encounter with a bronze whaler shark at Pennington Bay last week. Mr Jamieson was surfing about 30m off shore with friend Damien Berden when he looked back to shore as another friend Dave Waldeck arrived. That's when he saw the shark – between him and the shore. "It was at least six foot. We see sharks out there all the time," Mr Jamieson said. He said he yelled "shark" and pushed at the animal with his board as it approached him. It neared a second time and he hit it harder. A sharp blow to the head at the third encounter caused the shark to descend, where it became partially entangled in Mr Jamieson's leg rope and began to drag him. "I was pretty much submerged then, still on my board but just my head above water." After it freed itself, the shark returned for a fourth time. Mr Jamieson punched it hard between the eye and gills and then caught a well-timed wave to shore. "We just got out of the water and laughed and laughed. I wasn't really that scared, except the first few seconds. "The thing is, if Dave hadn't turned up when he did I might not have seen it behind me and it could have taken a bite of my feet or legs," Mr Jamieson said. "Damien just kept yelling 'how big is it'. He thought it had hold of me." Shauna Black

A surfer has narrowly avoided becoming the latest victim of a Great White shark encounter after one circled him and rammed his board in waters off Noordhoek beach on Saturday.The 3.5-metre shark circled Steven Harcourt-Wood for around five minutes while 10 or 12 other surfers looked on, unable to move for fear of provoking an attack. "It came at me, thrashing its tail and bashing the board.'I was the first surfer out of the water' "There was no doubt in my mind that he wanted to serve me up for dinner," said Harcourt-Wood.Neither Harcourt-Wood, a 37-year-old surfer from Noordhoek, nor the others in the water were able to escape as there was a lull in the waves at the back line."It was completely flat. We were stuck. "And no one paddled away because the shark could have chased them."I was trying to get a look at its eyes and mouth so I could position myself correctly, but it was coming from far below the water."'The sharks were never a problem in the past' As the shark came at him water sports fanatic Harcourt-Wood bravely squared up to it and paddled at the shark, face to face."I think that's what saved me. If you move fast or paddle away they are more likely to see you as prey and go for you," he said. "Eventually a set of waves came and we all went for it at once - I was the first surfer out of the water," he said. Although Harcourt-Wood has been surfing for 27 years it was his first real encounter with a shark."The sharks were never a problem in the past - they've always been there but they never used to attack people. "I've seen small ones out at the back from time to time but this is different. "Their behaviour has changed completely."From now on Harcourt-Wood will use a shark-repelling electronic device."If the leash on the device touches your skin you get a sting... but that's better than a bite. I've had my warning now," he said. Boats worked to protect surfers at the Roxy Surf Jam at nearby Long Beach on Sunday.

New Smyrna Beach -- A 33-year-old Orlando man was bitten on the right thigh by a small shark off New Smyrna Beach on Sunday evening.Officials with the Volusia County Beach Patrol said the shark that bit Christopher Duncan, who recently moved to Central Florida from Michigan, was about 3 feet long.Scott Petersohn, a Beach Patrol spokesman, said the incident occurred about 5:30 p.m. in the northern section of the beach near Sapphire Road.Duncan went to Bert Fish Medical Center in New Smyrna Beach because he probably needed stitches, Petersohn said.Petersohn called it a minor incident. "The shark was not out to eat this guy," he said. "It basically bumped into him and bit him."

There was another bite on 9/2 06 from the same area—listed as a child-arm bitten while swimming—that was it..

FLORENCE - The first sign of danger came right after the small pack of surfers hit the water Tuesday off the South Jetty. The wind was blissfully dead. Small waves were breaking just off shore. And Tom Larson's buddy Keenan Keeley thought he saw a dorsal fin. "We were like, `No, dude, that's a porpoise,' " Larson said. "We'd seen some porpoises in the water earlier." It didn't look "sharky" out, Larson recalled. No ominous overcast skies, no sea lions barking, no dead fish on shore. Just a calm, idyllic day for surfing. As evening came, the sun dropped low in the sky. Larson angled his longboard out of the water to block the light. Normally, the group would have packed it in by then. But they'd driven from Eugene after work, and the waves were still breaking clean. His feet dangling in the water, the 23-year-old welder says he suddenly felt something grab him by the foot, yanking him off the board. He looked down and saw a 2-foot fin and an 8- to 10-foot long creature, circling him. It was a shark. "It clamped down and started shaking my foot," Larson said. Instinct kicked in. Larson screamed "Shark!" and reached for his board. "I heard him screaming," said Larson's brother Sam, 21. "I looked and saw him splashing, holding onto his board, half in the water. He had a complete look of terror on his face. All the color had left his face. I guess we were both in shock, because I couldn't see in color. Then at least two feet out of the water, I saw this black dorsal fin swimming around him. The tail lashed out and threw a bunch of spray. That's when it grabbed him again." Tom Larson, pulled down to his chest in the water, says he stabbed at the shark with the tip of his surfboard - once, twice, three times, then missed. "It just felt like a vice, a bear trap clamping down," the older Larson said. "There wasn't any pain - probably because my adrenaline was going." By the fifth stab, the big fish was gone. "The scariest thing was paddling in," Larson said. On shore, he surveyed his injuries. The bites had torn the toe off the surf bootie on his right foot, and he'd begun to bleed through his wet suit. He wrapped a shirt around his wounds and limped to the car, shrugging off an ambulance called by a passer-by in favor of a free ride to Peace Harbor Hospital in Florence. More than 30 stitches later on the eight lacerations on his right foot, Larson recuperated at his mother's house in Eugene on Wednesday, pledging to get back in the water in a week or two. "Nobody's ever been attacked twice," he said. Shark attacks in Oregon remain quite rare. Since 2000, only three shark attacks have been recorded in state waters, according to West Coast shark researcher Ralph Collier. None were fatal.

Saint-Denis-De-La-Reunion, La Reunion - A 34-year-old surfer has died of injuries he sustained when a shark attacked him off the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, police said on Monday.The shark attacked him at La Pointe du Diable (Devil's Point), off the island's south coast, on Sunday morning. The local man's left arm was severed at the shoulder but he was rescued and immediately taken to hospital.Water sports are banned at La Pointe du Diable but surfers ignore the ban to ride large waves there.La Reunion's marine observatory has recorded 24 shark attacks off the island's shores since 1980, 13 of which have been fatal. Surfers, fishermen and underwater hunters have been attacked.Bull sharks and tiger sharks are the two types most commonly involved in attacks at La Reunion, a French territory and tourist destination east of Madagascar.

A 24-year-old surf lifesaver lost his foot when he was bitten by a shark in False Bay on Sunday morning, said the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI).Achmat Hassiem was flown to hospital in a rescue helicopter. On Sunday afternoon he was undergoing surgery at the Constantiaberg Medi-Clinic in Cape Town."He's in theatre at the moment. He lost a foot. He's stable at the moment," said Constantiaberg nursing manager Frankie Redfern.Hassiem's father, Moegsien Hassiem, said the family was awaiting the outcome of the surgery. He said Achmat and his brother, Taariq, 17, had been in the water together when the shark bit Achmat.He said Taariq, who is in Grade 12 at Bergvliet High, had helped to save his brother and was undergoing counselling.

"He's the one who saw everything and was in the water with him," said his father.The incident took place about 11am off Sunrise Beach in Muizenberg.

Achmat Hassiem was with the surf lifesavers from Lifesaving SA's False Bay Lifesaving Club which was practising surf rescues at the time, said NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon.He said Hassiem was treated on the scene by medics from the lifesaving club.

"Lifeguard medics had controlled the bleeding, elevated the patient's leg and had the patient in a stable condition."

Chairman of the lifesaving club, Graham Lewis, said the lifeguards were conducting a routine surf rescue exercise when the incident occurred. Hassiem was immediately brought to shore aboard the lifeguard's rigid inflatable boat while treatment began for the injury and emergency services were called.Lambinon said an NSRI craft in the area at the time also went to help.

"Although the injury is severe the patient is in a stable condition. He has been flown to a local hospital by the Metro Red Cross AMS helicopter," said Lambinon.

The rescue also involved Metro Ambulance and Rescue Services, False Bay EMS Metro volunteer paramedics, Emergency Medical Training Metro volunteer paramedics, Cape Medical Response paramedics, Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services, the police and Netcare 911 Ambulance Services.

Lambinon said the incident took place about 200m offshore in "glassy, clear seas with approximately half a metre swell and a slight on-shore breeze" at a depth of two to three metres. There was clear water visibility although there was murky water nearby due to a river mouth

He urged bathers, surfers, paddlers and boaters to be careful along that stretch of coast. - Sapa

A Fish Hoek lifesaver has survived a shockingly close encounter with a large shark that attacked his surf ski while he was out paddling in the bay.

Lyle Maasdorp, 19, felt himself and his ski being lifted out of the water and then heard a loud sound like a car smashing against something, before he realised that a shark had taken a large bite out of the rear end of his borrowed surf ski.

Maasdorp and four friends from the Fish Hoek Lifesaving Club were paddling about 20m off Jaeger's Walk, near the point of Fish Hoek Bay about 4.30pm on Friday.

"I did not see or hear anything until I suddenly found that I was being lifted up from behind," he said. "At first I thought I was on a rock and the water was receding and then I thought one of the guys was playing a trick on me, but then I heard the sound and more crunching sounds."

'At first I thought I was on a rock' Maasdorp looked around and saw the shark with its huge jaws wrapped around the side of the ski's rear.

"Then he started thrashing, obviously to tear out a piece. The ski started shipping water and with the buoyancy changing I was sinking down.

"I fell out of the ski, between the shark and the ski with my one hand on the shark's back."Lifesaver Anthony Pearse, 37, was about 10m behind Maasdorp when the shark attacked."There was the shark, out of nowhere, I could not believe it," Pearse said. "I saw him fall out of the ski onto the shark and then climb onto his ski and over the other side."

Pearse paddled up to Maasdorp and helped him get onto the back of his ski, before rowing for the rocks nearby, where they both got out of the water "quite quickly", Pearse said.When he realised that he had escaped the shark and survived, Maasdorp screamed.Maasdorp caught a lift back to the club, while his companions paddled back, hugging the rocks. He then sped out with a rubber duck to recover the damaged ski.

But the experienced young lifesaver put on a brave face over his fright. "On Sunday I will be out there again," he said.

A Houston man is recovering in a hospital after being bitten by a shark while fishing off the shores of Sargent Beach in Matagorda County. R.K. Halbert said the close call won't stop him from surf fishing again.As an avid surf fisherman, R.K Halbert knows exactly why a shark took a bite out of his right foot. "I had the rod over my shoulder and I was dragging bait behind me. Probably smelled the bait, came from behind, smelled the bait and hit my foot," said Halbert.

The shark -- believed to be a bull shark about 4 or 5 feet long -- bit Halbert just above his right ankle. It tore a hole through his wading bootie and almost knocked him down.

Halbert says he didn't see the shark but he knew what happened. "He grabbed me, jerked me for a minute, pulled me backwards and then let go," said Halbert. "It felt like a bear trap closing in on my foot." Immediately after he was bitten, Halbert was taken to a Lake Jackson Hospital where they dressed the wound, gave him antibotics and sent him home. By Monday morning, he found himself in the emergency room at the CyFair Medical Center. An infection had caused his foot to swell. Now recovering, Halbert said he plans to surf fish again.

He blames himself for this attack. "Wasn't his fault it was my fault. You are no longer the top of the food chain when you're in the water," said Halbert.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A 14-year-old beachgoer suffered Volusia's fifth shark bite of the year, Volusia County Beach Patrol said Wednesday.The teen, who officials did not name because of his age, was walking along a jetty in the 2900 block of Atlantic Avenue in New Smyrna Beach on Tuesday when he was bitten, beach patrol Capt. Scott Petersohn said.

"Something grabbed his foot when he was walking out," Petersohn said. "He had five little, teeny tiny, puncture wounds on his foot."Petersohn said the bite appeared insignificant but was definitely caused by a shark.Beach patrol officials have been warning beachgoers that the abundance of bait fish in the murky water could contribute to shark bites.Petersohn said beach officials have been flying a purple warning flag to notify swimmers of the danger.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, -- A 14-year-old surfer suffered minor lacerations when a shark bit the teenager's right foot, authorities said.

The unidentified teen was surfing in knee-deep water when he felt something grab him about 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, Beach Patrol Capt. Scott Petersohn said. He was treated at the scene and left the beach with his mother.

The teen was likely bitten by a juvenile shark who mistook the victim's foot as a baitfish, Petersohn said. Beach officials have been warning swimmers that conditions over the past week have been favorable for such incidents because there has been a large amount of bait close to the shore.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND -- A Sylvania, Ohio, man apparently was bitten by a shark at Singleton Beach on Hilton Head Island on Monday, requiring about a dozen stitches on his leg above his ankle.

Authorities have not confirmed the attack, but Dallas Jackson said the teeth marks and puncture wounds on his foot and ankle are all the confirmation he needs.

If the shark bite is confirmed, then it will be the fourth recorded attack in South Carolina and the second on Hilton Head Island this year.

Jackson's trouble began at about 10 a.m. Monday while he was standing in waist-deep water watching his wife and 8-year-old son boogie-board.

"I just felt a very large, almost like a baseball bat, hitting me in the leg," Jackson said. "It was really hard. It kind of knocked me off balance, and I felt a little bit of a tug at the same time.

Jackson, who is staying in a villa in Singleton Beach, yelled to his wife and son to get out of the water as he bolted ashore."I realize while I'm running that my foot must still be here," Jackson recalled.Once he made it out of the water, he saw the blood and a piece of skin flap open above his ankle. He wrapped it in a beach towel and his relatives helped him to their car.

His family called 911 to get directions to Hilton Head Regional Medical Center, where he said he was treated by the same doctor who attended to a 7-year-old Missouri girl who was bitten by a shark last month at Coligny Beach.A spokeswoman with the medical center would only say Jackson was treated and released.Jackson said he has about 12 puncture wounds in rows on the bottom of his foot, indicating where the shark's teeth clamped down on it.An average of three shark attacks occur each year in South Carolina, most of which are not life-threatening. Last week, lifeguards cleared the water near Coligny and South Forest beaches for about an hour after two sharks were spotted following bait fish about 100 to 200 feet offshore, Wagner said.The Missouri girl was bitten while playing in water about two feet deep near the Breakers resort area of Coligny Beach. Earlier this month, a 14-year-old girl was bitten while swimming off Pawleys Island,

********* and last week a 21-year-old woman suffered a foot injury during a shark encounter off Kiawah Island.

Los Angeles - Five-time Olympic gold medal winner Gary Hall survived a shark attack while spear fishing with his sister off the Florida coast.The 35-year-old American fought off the shark by punching and kicking it in the nose until his injured sister was able to shoot it in the mouth with a spear gun, Hall said during the Janet Evans Invitational meet."Fortunately she injured the shark badly enough that a lot of blood was pouring from its mouth," Hall told the Los Angeles Times newspaper."The shark swam off. Otherwise with her bleeding as much as she was it could have been disastrous."The US swim hero emerged unscathed from the attack, but his 28-year-old sister, Bebe, suffered a bite wound on the arm that required 19 stitches.The incident took place two weeks ago in the Florida Keys, a string of small islands 24km south-west of Miami.The drama began when the Halls were spear fishing about 200m from their boat and spotted a shark. They started swimming back to their boat when a 1,8m black tip reef shark attacked."Another shark larger than the first one we saw came in from the side and bit (Bebe) on the arm," Hall said. "I didn't realise she had been bit before the shark was on me."It was swimming after me and thrashing and had its back arched in a frenzy mode. I kept punching it in the nose and kicking it and it kept coming after me.

'The shark charged her with its mouth open and she shot it' "I was eventually able to get underneath it and roll it off of me. That's when it charged toward my sister."She had already been bit, but in the meantime she had enough sense to load the spear."The shark charged her with its mouth open and she shot it."The shark swam away and they managed to get back to the boat where Hall fashioned a tourniquet for Bebe's arm."It was definitely a shot of adrenaline," Hall said. "I don't know what my split was for the 50m, but I am sure I haven't swam that fast in years."

CHARLESTON, S.C. — South Carolina has recorded its third shark attack of the year after a 21-year-old woman suffered a foot injury during an encounter off Kiawah Island.

The woman, whose name was not released, was taken to St. Francis Hospital about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, a town spokesman said. She was listed in good condition, and doctors confirmed the injury was inflicted by a shark.

Last month, a 7-year-old Missouri girl was bitten by a shark in shallow water off Hilton Head Island. Then earlier this month, a 14-year-old swimmer visiting from Florida was bitten in deeper water off Pawleys Island. The teenager, Caelin Lacy, was released Thursday morning from Georgetown Memorial Hospital following two surgeries on her foot.

South Carolina averages about three shark attacks a year. The vast majority are not life-threatening.

The last fatal shark attack recorded in the state's waters happened in 1883, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Despite a worldwide decline, the number attacks in the United States rose slightly from 30 in 2004 to 38 in 2005, but well below the record of 52 in 2000, according to a report issued in February by George Burgess, director of the museum's International Shark Attack File.

Florida remained the U.S. shark attack capital, where the number of attacks increased from 12 to 18 last year, Burgess said. South Carolina reported the second-highest number of attacks: five.

PLAYALINDA BEACH , Fla. -- Saturday night, doctors at an Orlando hospital were trying to save the leg of a 14-year-old boy, who had been badly mauled by a shark. That afternoon, the boy was swimming in the ocean off Playalinda Beach , east of Titusville , when he was attacked. His screams attracted attention from the people onshore. “We heard him yelling,” Rocky Vitale told Channel 9 Eyewitness News. “At first, we thought he was stuck in the surf. We ran out to help him and found out he had been bit by a shark, and he was bleeding pretty bad from his leg wounds.” Rescue crews determined the shark had torn through much of the boy’s calf and Achilles tendon. Rescuers did say the boy was conscious and talking once he was brought onshore. He was taken to Parrish Medical Center by medical helicopter. A couple of hours later, a second helicopter took him to Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando . Authorities did not release the boy’s name. There’s also no word on what, if anything, may have provoked the attack.

FORT PIERCE -- A 9-year-old girl was apparently bitten by a shark Tuesday as she played in the surf on a barrier island off Florida's Atlantic coast, authorities said, but her injuries were not considered serious.Juliette Shipp of Harleysville, Pa., was taken to a hospital for treatment of a bite wound on her right calf, Fort Pierce police spokeswoman Audria Moore said. She was in stable condition Tuesday night, officials said. "She's going to be fine. She will need some stitches," Moore said. "She's not losing her leg. It's still intact."The girl, who was visiting her grandmother, was standing in the surf with a boogie board -- a type of surfboard -- at about 11:10 a.m. on Hutchinson Island when she was bitten, Moore said. Her mother was sitting on the beach.Moore said authorities flew over the coastline shortly after the attack "to see if they could locate the shark and make sure there wasn't a school of sharks in the area." She said the water was too murky to see anything. The beach remained open.

POSTED: 12:24 pm EDT June 21, 2006NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- It's the first day of summer, and Volusia County has recorded its third shark bite of the year.A 22-year-old woman suffered a very minor shark bite on Tuesday afternoon in New Smyrna Beach, WESH 2 News reported.She was standing in shallow water when a small shark nipped her on her right foot. The injury was so minor that she was treated at the scene. Officials said she just a had a few small puncture wounds.The woman was in the water south of the jetty and north of North Flagler Avenue. On Thursday, a 24-year-old surfer from Flagler Beach was bitten by a shark in the jetty at New Smyrna Beach.In April, a girl visiting the Daytona Beach area was bitten in the leg. Her injuries were a little more serious than the most recent injuries. She was treated at a hospital for the multiple bites and puncture wounds on her leg and ankle.Beach Patrol said the latest incidents likely involved juvenile sharks, probably black tip or spinner sharks, that are between 1 and 3 feet long. The sharks are inexperienced hunters and they bump into what they think is food, officials said.They are not man-eaters, but they help contribute to Volusia County's title of Shark Bite Capital.The water is very warm right now and there are a lot of bait fish in the shallow waters, which draws the young sharks toward the shore.

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 18 June, 2006 : - - Surfer Humberto Pessoa Batista, 27, died in this Sunday morning in Olinda, close to Recife, Brazil, after being atacked by a shark at the beach of Punta del Chifre. The Young man was helped by a friend and taken by lifeguards to the hospital in Recife. According to the lifeguards, the shark bit the leg of the surfer and the death would have been caused by a hemorrhage. The area was cleared for surfers, although in the nearby city of Recife the practice of surfing is prohibited, to avoid further attacks. According to the lifeguards, this was the first shark attack case in Punta del Chifre beach.

The Flagler County man suffers minor wounds to his foot and refuses to be taken to a hospital.

Christine Dellert | Sentinel Staff Writer Posted June 17, 2006 Volusia County, often dubbed the shark-bite capital of the world, had its second bite of the year, Beach Patrol officials said Friday.A 24-year-old surfer from Flagler County suffered minor cuts from a shark bite in New Smyrna Beach, Beach Patrol officials said. He was the second victim this year.Mike Milea was wading just south of the jetty at Ponce de Leon Inlet around 3:30 p.m. Thursday when he felt something grabbing at his left ankle, Beach Patrol spokesman Scott Petersohn said.Petersohn said Milea told the Beach Patrol he was standing in about 4 feet of murky water when the attack happened. "This is very typical," he said. "It's how 99 percent of our bites happen."Milea had three or four puncture wounds on his foot, each less than an inch long, Petersohn said. He said the surfer was treated by the Beach Patrol for the "very minor" injuries and refused transport to the hospital.Milea could not be reached for comment.Most of Volusia County's shark bites occur in New Smyrna Beach. Its waters aren't known for the aggressive bull sharks like the Gulf of Mexico, Petersohn said. Most Volusia County victims are bit by smaller, juvenile blacktip and spinner sharks that mistake hands and feet for bait fish.More shark bites occur later in the summer, Petersohn said, when people flock to the beach in larger numbers. Swimmers are advised to stay out of murky water and stay away from schools of small fish.

The shark bite happened Wednesday afternoon on Coligny Beach in Hilton Head. We're told seven year old Megan Wallis, from Ballwin , Missouri was swimming when a shark bit her on the foot and behind. The Beaufort County Sheriff's office says her dad was nearby and helped stop the incident. Her mother says she's doing fine. more

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 22 May, 2006 : - - A 23-year-old man suffered injuries to his left calf and foot when a shark attacked him while he surfed Sunday in Brazilian waters declared off-limits to surfers. Antonio Carvalho was attacked while surfing off Boa Viagem beach in Recife, some 1,300 miles (2,100 kilometers) northeast of Sao Paulo, firefighters said.

Shark attacks are a fairly common phenomenon off the beaches around Recife, where sharks feed in waters beyond a large coral reef. Signs along the beaches warn not to swim beyond the reef and surfing is now prohibited. Gleison Sena of the Pernambuco state fire department said Carvalho was surfing in a high-risk area, where signs warn keep surfers away due to the frequent shark attacks.

Carvalho was the 48th person to suffer a shark attack in Pernambuco state since 1992. Seventeen of those attacks were fatal.

Volusia County authorities are trying to figure out if a shark bit a 13-year-old girl near Daytona Beach , WESH 2 News reported. Megan Prescott is from the Clearwater area. She and her family were on vacation in Central Florida , and she said she never saw whatever left bite marks on her leg. She was taken to a hospital and treated for her injuries. Doctors said she'll be fine. Investigators will study photos of the wounds before they make an official ruling. more

Also, there's no question about another person's injuries. Davis Bunn was surfing off south Melbourne Beach when a shark bit him. Bunn said he has 100 stitches in one foot and 20 in the other. ...

MELBOURNE , Fla. -- Truth turned out to be stranger than fiction for an author who was surfing off the Brevard County coast. A shark attacked Davis Bunn, a christian novelist, off the Melbourne Coastline, leaving him severely injured. Like all surfers, Davis Bunn knew it could happen. He has paddled into the deep blue waters of four continents, but nothing could prepare him for the attack. "When it hit, I didn't know if I had a foot. The pain was so intense," said Bunn. He was surfing in one of the best places on the East Coast and then the shark came out of nowhere. "There is nothing more silent than an attack at sea," said Bunn. It took all he had to swim the 50 meters in with two wounded legs, before fellow surfers could get to him and help. Then not wanting to worry his wife with a phone call, he drove home. "I drove home. I didn't think I was in shock," said Bunn. Now the shock has worn off. "It's 20 stitches in this and 100 in that one," he said. The reality of his injuries have set in. Bunn writes books for a living, but surfing remains his passion. He's ridden a board for four decades and now just can't wait till his wounded legs heal. "There is more of a joy now than there was before. I was just so fortunate so blessed," Bunn said. Now just happy to be alive, he says he has learned a valuable lesson the hard way. "There is that desire to go surf the waves by yourself, just you and nature and I will never do it again, never," Bunn said. Bunn has written a number of Christian-themed novels, the latest being "The Lazarus Trap." Bunn may need an extra operation to fix two skin grafts. Doctors said Bunn may be able to make a complete recovery by the first of the year.

A TOOTH lodged below the big toe of teenage surfer Luke Cook will be a lasting reminder of his freakish escape from a shark attack yesterday. The 15-year-old from Caves Beach had an operation on his left foot last night to remove the tooth – which is destined for a necklace. The tooth is believed to have come from a juvenile bronze whaler, which grabbed a mouthful of Luke's foot off the Newcastle Ocean Baths. Recovering in hospital, the remarkably calm surfer vowed to be back in the surf within weeks. Luke had been surfing among a school of fish at a break known as the Cowrie Hole when the shark struck about 1.30pm. "I was a bit tired and my feet were dangling over the edge of my board," Luke said. "The bronze whaler came up and grabbed my foot. I could feel it inside its mouth. "I put my hand down there and punched it and it let go. It was a bit of a shock. I didn't know what it was at first but once I got out on to the sand I realised it must have been a shark, I was bleeding and it was quite painful." "When I got out I calmed down a bit and realised I was already bitten so what else was it (the shark) going to do to me." Luke wrapped a sock around his foot to stop the bleeding before walking up to a lifeguard and casually commenting: "I think I've been bitten by a shark". Luke was more worried about when can play soccer again as he will tour

Italy

in September with Soccer NSW.

MARCO ISLAND -- An 11-year-old tourist was cut on his right hand and thigh after a reported shark attack today. Authorities said the boy, who wasn't immediately identified, dove into a school of fish just before he was bitten. He was being treated at Marco Urgent Care, where his father said through a nurse the family would have no comment, the Naples Daily News reported. The most recent known shark bite in southwest Florida happened off Boca Grande in Lee County in early July 2005. Sharks attacks in Florida are relatively rare. Most attacks are minor bites on the feet or ankles.

FREETOWN, March 29 (Reuters) - An amateur angler in Sierra Leone has caught a 300 kg (660 lb) shark that local fishermen say killed four of their colleagues at sea off the impoverished West African country. Riad Hassan, a 61-year-old jeweller, said he caught the shark on Tuesday while fishing in Atlantic waters off Lumley Beach in the capital Freetown where sport fishermen more often catch barracuda, snapper and grouper fish. "I realised that a very big fish had swallowed the bait, but definitely I was not expecting it to be a shark," Hassan told Reuters on Wednesday. Hassan and another man fishing with him fought the shark for an hour before sighting the 9-foot (3-metre) fish. "This is the shark that has killed four fishermen during the past two weeks," said local fisherman Samuel Friday, adding that some people had been afraid to go out in the small dugout canoes they use to fish around the estuary of the Sierra Leone river. Hassan, who had a larger boat with an outboard motor, towed the shark back to harbour and gave it to local people to eat.

Liz Dunn faced her worst fear when a shark bit her leg, piercing it to the bone, while she surfed the North Shore yesterday. "The bite was almost not the scariest part -- it was seeing the fin," a jagged dorsal fin a foot and a half wide at its base, said the 28-year-old visiting surfer from Canada. "I knew it was a big, serious shark."Dunn was attacked shortly before 11:40 a.m. at a surf spot called Leftovers, about a mile south of Waimea Bay."I had just gotten the perfect wave --- one of the best waves of my life, but I rode it so far that I ended near the murky water," said Dunn.Dunn was unaware sharks are attracted to murky water, and would have stayed out had signs been posted.People are discouraged from entering the ocean after heavy rains because muddy runoff, especially near stream and river mouths, attracts sharks. City lifeguards posted shark warning signs and encouraged people to get out of the water between Laniakea and Waimea Bay after the attack. National Marine Fisheries Service biologist John Naughton said, "People are absolutely crazy to be surfing in these conditions."

"I'm almost surprised it hasn't happened earlier with all the debris and mud in the water," he said.

Leftovers is not near a stream or river, but near-shore waters there were murky because of several weeks of heavy rains, said Brian Cheplic, city Ocean Safety and Lifeguard Services Division spokesman.Dunn had just begun paddling back out in muddy water through the channel where waves were not breaking"I felt a big bump under my board," said Dunn, who guessed it was a big rock or a turtle. She saw something move, then felt the bite on her calf.The gray shark kept circling her, with the large fin above, then below the water, and Dunn feared the worst."I screamed, 'Shark, help!'" Dunn said."It felt like it took a taster bite," she said.The bite left three puncture wounds near her shin. The largest was 2 1/2 inches wide and went to the bone. Two local men with whom she was surfing heard her screams and rushed to her aid. They pulled her to shore on her 7-foot board and later washed her wounds at a private home with soap and water, and wrapped it in paper towels and blue packing tape. Dunn thinks her wet suit protected her leg and might have prevented a serious bite. Her boyfriend, Chris Smith, drove her to Kahuku Hospital, where she received a tetanus shot and intravenous antibiotics and her leg was bandaged. Last June, she moved to Vancouver, Canada, where she teaches, among other things, statistics at the University of British Columbia.Dunn admit she has a shark phobia, but she feels a little safer now knowing that statistically it is less likely she will get bitten again.

Bite marks, possibly those of a shark, have been found on the body of a schoolboy that has washed up a day after a rip current swept the teenager out to sea off Port Alfred's West Beach.Lorenzo Kroutz's body washed up on West Beach yesterday afternoon, National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) spokesperson Craig Lambinon said.He said Lorenzo, 17, had been bitten. He declined to give details of the extent of the bites, but said they appeared to be from a shark.An autopsy, to be performed early next week, would establish whether Lorenzo had drowned before being bitten and what kind of shark attacked him."We are trying to establish when last there was a shark attack here - no one can remember one in the past 10 years."Lambinon said Lorenzo, who was from Philipstown, had been attending the Grahamstown sci-fi festival with other pupils from his school, Colesberg High. Lorenzo disappeared when he and the others went swimming on Wednesday afternoon. Members of NSRI Port Alfred, the police service and Ndlambe Environmental Conservation searched for Lorenzo until late at night. Patrols looked for him at intervals yesterday.

QUICK thinking by several surfers and intervention by a foreign nurse saved the life of a national surfing representative after a shark attacked him on Saturday evening. Paul Chong Sue of Kulukulu in Sigatoka was out training with friends close to the Sigatoka River mouth when the shark attack took place.The 21-year-old was trying to paddle out for a wave when the shark attacked him from beneath his surfboard. Fellow surfer, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu said Mr Chong Sue was still paddling out to catch a wave when the shark bit his arm at about 6pm. "The shark came from below his board and bit his right arm," he said. "It tried to pull him under but Paul fought back and managed to free his arm from the sharks grip," said Ratu Naiqama. Ratu Naiqama said after he pulled his arm free, he called out to the other surfers for help. Ratu Naiqama said as soon as the surfers heard his call for help, everyone rushed to his aid.

"There were about 15 of us out at sea with him. We all surrounded him and started making our way back to the beach," he said. "After the attack, the shark kept circling the area. Even though we thought that it was going to strike again, we did not pay much attention because we were rushing to get Paul onto the beach," Ratu Naiqama said. He said fortunately, a nurse from Australia was also at the river mouth surfing and she helped us treat the wound before we took him to the Sigatoka Hospital. Mr Chong Sue was admitted at the Sigatoka Hospital before being transferred to the Lautoka Hospital for further examination.

When The Fiji Times visited the Lautoka Hospital yesterday, Mr Chong Sue was undergoing surgery. Ratu Naiqama said even though doctors reassured them that everything would be all right they were anxious to see him after the surgery. A relative who did not wish to be named said Mr Chong Sue was finding it difficult to use his arm. He said they would only find out whether Mr Chong Sue would be able to surf again after surgery.

Shark attacks Maui girl

Witnesses say the Kihei teen was pulled under in shallow water and bitten on her calf

WAILUKU » A 15-year-old Kihei girl was attacked by a shark yesterday afternoon -- the second time in less than a week in which a person has been bitten by a shark in South Maui waters.Maui police Sgt. Natalie Ching said a shark's teeth marks were visible as the girl lay on a table at the beach after she had been bitten on her right calf.

"It was pretty shredded, from what people were describing," Ching said.The attack happened near the shoreline in about one to three feet of murky water at Makena State Park at 4:39 p.m., Ching said.The girl was taken by ambulance to Maui Memorial Medical Center, where she was treated yesterday evening in the emergency room.The parents of the girl declined yesterday evening to release information about her medical condition.Two boys, ages 17 and 15, who were with the girl said they saw a gray shark about 5 to 7 feet long attack her and pull her down."She didn't see the shark. ... One of the boys said he had to grab her and pull her out," Ching said.A beachgoer tried to stop the bleeding before paramedics arrived.Police and firefighters cleared the beach shortly after the attack, and the beaches and nearby coastline, including Makena Landing, were expected to remain closed at least until noon today, when water conditions are expected to be reviewed again.

The attack upon the girl occurred a few miles south of a diving place known as "Five Graves," where the body of San Jose resident Anthony Moore was found Friday, bitten by a shark.Moore, 45, was last seen Thursday afternoon as he planned to go free-diving in the Makena area.Maui police Lt. Glenn Cuomo said that so far, an autopsy has been unable to conclusively confirm if Moore was killed by the shark. Cuomo said it is possible that Moore was dead before his body was bitten by the shark.

A SHARK has bitten an 18-year-old man in shallow water on Queensland 's Sunshine Coast . Fisheries Minister Tim Mulherin said Fisheries Minister Tim Mulherin said the man was wading in 30cm of water at Golden Beach at Caloundra this morning when he was bitten. The wound required 11 stitches, Mr Mulherin said. The attack follows the weekend closure of Gold Coast beaches after scores of sharks were seen swimming close to the shore. Last month, Brisbane woman Sarah Whiley, 21, was fatally mauled by bull sharks at North Stradbroke Island off Brisbane . Mr Mulherin warned bathers to beware with bull sharks, bronze whalers and tiger sharks spotted in estuarine, canal and near shore waters. "There are numerous reports of sharks chasing people in knee deep water in pursuit of food, with some even stranding themselves in the shallows," he said. "Swimming at patrolled beaches is certainly a safer option as shark safety equipment is strategically placed off 84 beaches along the Queensland coast. "These beaches have the added protection of having lifesavers on duty." Over the weekend surf patrols shut beaches from Burleigh to Southport on the Gold Coast as around 100 hammerhead, grey nurse and whaler sharks fed violently on schools of bait fish in the nearby shallows.

AN afternoon of surfing turned ugly for a Bonnie Doon teenager when he was attacked by a shark while surfing off Nahoon Beach on Wednesday. Jason Noades, 15, made a daring escape from the jaws of a shark by kicking it with his left foot as it was trying to bite his right leg. "I was surfing when I fell and the wave took me down. I felt something grab me on my right leg. "Then I saw the fin, which was about 15 centimetres long, as the shark was taking me." Noades said he kicked out with his other leg and then "I paddled faster...without even looking back." hen he was out of the water he told the lifesaver who called everybody in. Noades has two shark-bite marks on his right calf to show for his encounter with the shark, which has yet to be identified by experts. Noades said there were about seven other people surfing in the area when the incident happened in the late afternoon. His friend, who was surfing a few metres behind him, also saw the shark. Noades, who has been surfing for about three years now, said he would be returning to the water as soon as his injury is better. "I will go back into the water in another week ...once the injury is properly healed I will go back," he said yesterday. Noades said when he told his father he did not believe him. "He thought I was joking as I was walking fine when he saw me later." Explaining his disbelief, his father and former Springbok pedal surfer Barry Noades said: "I think it was because it's my son ...you can't believe that something can happen to your own son". Barry thinks the situation has come to a stage where something needed to be done to protect people at the Nahoon Beach stretch. "Sharks are now moving to the shore to get food. ... even fishermen say there are fewer fish." Noades senior also had a run-in with a great white while surfing on the Nahoon Reef some time back. Jason had been in the water for about an hour when the incident happened.

Mauled: Michael Vriese, with a heavily bandaged arm, about to undergo a further surgery at Entabeni Hospital in Durban last night after being attacked by a shark while spearfishing at Coffee Bay . The shark severed two arteries on his right arm, damaging muscles and nerves on his wrist and forearm. Photo: Tony Carnie, The Mercury

Mauled and bleeding after a shark attack on the Wild Coast , a Scottburgh man watched his emergency air ambulance circling vainly above Mthatha Airport for more than an hour, unable to rescue him because no one was around to switch on the runway landing light s. Eventually, with the rescue aircraft running low on fuel, a doctor grabbed a fire extinguisher in desperation and smashed open an airport window to reach the landing lights' switch. The drama started just after 2pm on Wednesday, when diver Michael Vriese, 34, was attacked by a shark while spearfishing at Coffee Bay . Its teeth severed two arteries on his right arm, damaging muscles and nerves on his wrist and forearm."There was blood everywhere. I don't know how much I lost, but I'm told that I got a transfusion of at least four units in Durban . "By the time I had swum back to the beach, I was getting pretty weak and my friends had to support me by both shoulders to get me to a car," Vriese said on Thursday night after a five-hour operation at Entabeni Hospital , where vascular surgeons repaired his severed arteries. Diving partner Neil Abel initially drove Vriese to a clinic near Hole-in-the-Wall. "They took one look at my arm and told me to rush for Mthatha." The shark's teeth severed two arteries on his right arm

An hour later, Vriese was stabilised at a private clinic in Mtatha by Dr Tinus Laubscher, who recommended that his wounds required specialist emergency treatment by vascular surgeons. Laubscher also clamped Vriese's arteries to stem the blood loss. When family members in Scottburgh heard about Vriese's plight, they contacted Netcare, which arranged for a team of paramedics to fly to Mthatha in a light aircraft and bring the injured man to Durban . Laubscher said he had accompanied Vriese in an ambulance toMthatha Airport , where they waited next to the runway. The aircraft was due to land at 7.45pm, but it was dark and the landing lights were not switched on.Laubscher said he had run to the control tower, where a guard had told him no one had keys to get to the light switches. We couldn't even contact the aircraft by radio from the control tower and eventually we managed to get hold of one of the paramedics on the plane by cellphone. The paramedic said they were low on fuel and could only circle for another 10 minutes. I told him to hang on while I tried to sort things out. "I forced my way into the control tower, but there was a huge Trellidor in the way and the only apparent entry point was through a window. So I phoned a senior SA Police director at 8pm, explained the situation and asked if I could break in."He told me to wait while he contacted the airport manager. I phoned again at 8.35pm and he urged me to wait a little longer. In the meantime, we were phoning the paramedics and pleading for them to circle for another 10 minutes. 'There was blood everywh "Finally, at 8.40pm, I took a fire extinguisher off the wall and smashed a window so the manager could get at the lights. The lights went off twice while the plane was coming in and it finally landed at 8.50pm. "This whole chartered emergency mission was almost a complete waste. He needed treatment urgently because the blood supply to the tissues in his hand and forearm was restricted. Sharks don't brush their teeth, so the risk of infection also increased with time. "The torn muscle tendons also pull back shorter and shorter and eventually disappear if you don't stop them in time. So time was absolutely crucial. We couldn't delay. "This is an airport which has just been upgraded. It was going to be closed down at one point because cattle had be chased away from the runway while planes were coming into land." Back in Durban , Vriese was about to undergo another five-hour operation on Thursday night. We felt so helpless while all this was going on," said his mother, Felicity, and sister, Adrienne. "I could have ended up dead," Vriese told The Mercury. "I'm lucky that Neil and I both know a bit about first aid and I was able to stop some of the blood loss myself by tying a tourniquet around my arm, and loosening it every few minutes to allow some blood to get through." No one from the airport was available for comment.

TONGA: Peace Corps Volunteer Dies In Shark Attack
Thursday: February 2, 2006
A United States Peace Corps volunteer in Tonga was killed in a shark attack on the Tongan island of Vava'u yesterday, Matangi Tonga reports.
She has been identified as Tessa Horan, 24 of New Mexico. Matangi Tonga said Ms Horan lost a leg in the attack while swimming near the Neiafu jetty. Pesalili Kailahi, the Neiafu Police Commander said the attack took place about 6 pm yesterday afternoon. He said Ms Horan was one of the new U.S. Peace Corps volunteers that arrived in Vava'u on 18 January and were billeted at Tu'anuku village. She was believed to have joined village youth in games of netball and soccer before a swim in the harbour. A Tongan youth that accompanied Ms Horan for a swim said she was pulled underwater and attacked by the shark. Her body was flown to the capital, Nuku'alofa today......MATANGI TONGA/PNS

Diver attacked by shark at Perth beach
• January 15, 2006 - 7:00PM
• A scuba diver has been attacked by a white pointer off a Perth beach.
The occupants of a nearby boat tried to warn the man that a shark was in the water.
Brian Williams, 52, of the northern Perth beachside suburb of Sorrento, was bitten on the left elbow after the shark grabbed him from behind as he was scuba diving about 3km offshore from City Beach.
He fought off the animal by hitting him with a spear gun.
His injuries were not life threatening, police and the Fisheries department said.
The predator was believed to be a three to 3.5 metre white pointer.
He was recovering in a Perth hospital after the attack, which happened about 11am (WST) today.
The attack came as the occupants of a boat, which was in the area near the man's unoccupied dive vessel, were being circled by a shark.
They rang police who suggested they try to warn the diver of the danger.
"They advised Water Police that there was a dive vessel nearby with a flag up and there was nobody on board," the Fisheries spokesman said.
"The Water Police requested that they go over in the general vicinity and rev the engine of the boat to attract the attention of the people under water."
Shortly after, the diver surfaced, but he had already been attacked.
It was believed he had separated from the other divers at the time of the attack, the Fisheries spokesman said.
"One of the other divers apparently had some sort of a shark shield device - a commercial shark repellant - and that may have helped them in the process of them getting back on board safely," the spokesman said.
Surf Life Savers plucked the man from the water, taking him to shore in an inflatable rescue boat. He was taken to hospital by ambulance.
"He was walking and talking," a life saver said.
The shark patrol aircraft and a Fisheries and police vessel went to the area to search for the shark but there has been no sighting.
It is not known if the beach was closed.
There have been three shark fatalities in West Australia since 2000.
In 2000, Perth businessman Ken Crew, 49, died after his leg was ripped off by what was believed to be a white pointer shark up to four metres long off Cottesloe Beach.
In July 2004, Brad Smith, 30, died after being attacked by a shark while surfing at Gracetown, about 270km south-west of Perth.
In March last year, 26-year-old Geoffrey Brazier was killed by a six-metre shark while snorkelling off the Abrolhos Islands, 60 km west of Geraldton.
AAP

SYDNEY , Australia (AP) -- Up to three sharks may have been involved in the fatal attack on a 21-year-old woman off an island in eastern Australia , police said Sunday.

The woman, whose identity was not immediately released, died late Saturday after being attacked near North Stradbroke Island , east of the Queensland state capital Brisbane .

Queensland state police inspector Peter Harding said officers were searching for the sharks and had closed several nearby beaches.

"If we found them, I suppose we would try to retrieve them and see if they have any body parts," Harding said. "The idea is to retrieve what we can."

The woman was swimming with friends from a church group in shallow water about 50 feet offshore when the shark attacked, local media reports stated. The woman's dog also was in the water.

The woman was airlifted to a Brisbane hospital where she had to have both arms amputated just below the elbow, according to Queensland Rescue Helicopter spokeswoman Helen Anderson. She also suffered deep wounds to her legs and torso, Anderson said.

Harding said the severity of the woman's injuries indicated she may have been attacked by a group of bull sharks, a species known for aggressive behavior this time of year.

"She was bleeding quite heavily," Harding said, adding that she heard "there was more than one shark involved. There could have been up to three."

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 7 January, 2006 : - - A woman in her early 20s has died after a shark attack in Queensland's south-east. The woman suffered severe injuries in the attack early this afternoon near the Amity Point fishing village on North Stradbroke Island, east of Brisbane. She was airlifted to the Princess Alexander Hospital but died late this afternoon.

"At this stage we know that the woman was taken to the Princess Alexander Hospital by a Queensland Rescue chopper and had to have both arms amputated just short of the elbow," Queensland Rescue Helicopter Service spokeswoman Helen Anderson said. She could not confirm early reports that the girl had also lost a leg during the attack. "I believe she also had flesh wounds to her leg and torso," she said.

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 6 January, 2006 : - - A shark bite Thursday afternoon near a South County public beach sent an out-of-town surfer to the hospital, officials said. The 21-year-old man was on his surfboard about 4:45 p.m. just south of Round Island Park when the shark bit his right hand and wrist, said John Frazier, lifeguard captain for Indian River County. The shark only bit once and let go of the surfer.

The incident happened while the surfer was by himself about 75 yards from the beach and 15 yards south of the lifeguard tower. An on-duty lifeguard noticed him shaking his arm vigorously while coming out of the water. The man's name was not released Thursday evening, but Frazier said initial reports indicated he was an experienced surfer from the Pacific West Coast.

"The surfer said the shark was about 4 feet long," said Frazier, adding the species was unknown. "I think he (the surfer) is going to be just fine." The surfer suffered three puncture wounds from the shark's teeth, according to Frazier. He was taken to the Indian River Memorial Hospital by ambulance. No one else was in the water or on the beach when the bite happened.

The yearly total of 55 unprovoked attacks was lower than the 63 unprovoked attacks recorded in the year 2002, 68 recorded in 2001, and 79 reported in 2000. Four fatalities occurred in 2003, a total similar to the three recorded in 2002 and four reported in 2001, but much lower than the 11 fatalities in 2000. The 41 attacks in United States territorial waters (including incidents in Hawaii, the Virgin Islands and Johnson Atoll) were less than the 2002 (47), 2001 (50) and 2000 (54) yearly figures. Elsewhere, attacks occurred in Australia (6), Brazil (2), South Africa (2), Fiji (1), India (1), Madagascar (1), and Venezuela (1).Florida (31) had most of the unprovoked attacks in the United States. This total also was lower than the 2002 (29), 2001 (34) and 2000 (37) average yearly figures. Additional U.S. attacks were recorded in Hawaii (4), South Carolina (3), California (1), the Virgin Islands (1), and Johnson Atoll (1). Within Florida, Volusia County had the most (14) incidents (down from 18 in 2002 and 22 in 2001), which largely is attributable to very high aquatic recreational utilization of its attractive waters by Florida residents and tourists, especially surfers. Other Florida counties having attacks in 2003 were Brevard (8), St. Johns (3), Martin (2), Palm Beach (2), Miami-Dade (1), and St. Lucie (1).

The yearly total of 60 unprovoked attacks was lower than the 72 unprovoked attacks recorded in the year 2001 and 85 in 2000. Three fatalities occurred in 2002, down from five in 2001 and 13 in 2000. The 5% fatality rate was significantly lower than the 1990's decade average of 13%. The three fatalities occurred in Australia (2) and Brazil (1).

As in recent years, the bulk (82%: 48 attacks) of incidents occurred in North American waters, including 47 from the United States and one in the Bahamas. The 47 attacks in the United States were less than the 2001 (53) and 2000 (54) yearly figures. Elsewhere, attacks occurred in Australia (6), Brazil (3), South Africa (2), and Costa Rica (1).

Following recent trends, Florida (29) had most of the unprovoked attacks in the United States. This total also was lower than the 2001 (37) and 2000 (38) yearly figures. Additional U.S. attacks were recorded in Hawaii (6), California (4), North Carolina (3), South Carolina (2), Oregon (1) and Texas (1). One attack occurred in offshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Within Florida, Volusia County had the most (18) incidents (down from 22 in 2001), which largely is attributable to very high aquatic recreational utilization of its attractive waters by Florida residents and tourists, especially surfers. Other Florida counties having attacks in 2001 were Brevard (3), St. Johns (3), Broward (1), Franklin (1), Martin (1), Monroe (1), and Palm Beach (1).

Surfers (32 incidents: 56% of cases with victim activity information) were the recreational user groups most often subjected to shark attack in 2001. Other attacks involved swimmers/waders (22: 34%), and divers/snorkelers (4: 7%). One attack (2%) occurred during a water entry event.

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