INJURED – 29 April 2017 – Keurbooms, Plettenberg Bay, South Africa – surfer

A 14-year-old boy (name withheld in local media because of his age) sustained minor lacerations to his right calf after he was bitten by a shark while he was surfing with two others at The Waves surf spot on Keurbooms beach, Plettenberg Bay, South Africa. The incident took place around 5pm on Saturday 29 April 2017.

 

 

Shark researchers suspect that it was a 2-metre great white shark, going by the size of the bite marks.

He was treated by NSRI (National Sea Rescue Institute) medics and by paramedics on the scene for lacerations to his right calf before being transported to hospital by ambulance in a stable condition.

According to media reports, the teenager was surfing with two other surfers. At the take-off zone he turned to catch a wave when he saw a fin approaching him; he felt a bump and he felt a bite on his right calf.

He caught a wave to the beach where he was met by his father, who had witnessed the incident, and bystanders who aided and called paramedics.

There had been several sightings of sharks in the bay the day before, prompting the NSRI to issue a warning to surfers and swimmers.

“The increase in shark inshore presence at this time of the year is part of the normal aggregation of these animals. Sharks are aggregating in this area at this time, as they have done in previous years, to take advantage of naturally occurring prey like seals and fish close inshore,” the NSRI said in a statement.

 

Sources:

IOL

News24

Times Live

 

SCARED — Saturday, March 18, 2017 – Monterey Bay, California, USA – kayaker attacked

shark bite marks in Brian Correiar’s kayak

Brian Correiar was kayaking 100 metres offshore in Monterey Bay, California on Saturday 18 March 2017 when a great white shark attacked the 14-foot, single-person ocean kayak he was paddling.

“It all started with a bang,” Correiar told National Geographic. “Suddenly the kayak was launched into the air and I fell halfway out of it. I began yelling. I remember thinking, ‘I have to do a deep-water entry from the kayak, and I haven’t practiced that since my last rescue class.’”

VIDEO: watch video of incident here.

Just 3 feet away he could see the shark which had latched on to his kayak. He says initially he froze, but then slid out the kayak and started to swom to short on his back so he could keep an eye on the shark.

The shark surged towards him with the kayak still in its mouth.

“At this point I was really nervous, I was sure I was done,” he said.

He saw a small yacht approaching and waved to it. At this point the shark dived below him

“It was like a horror movie,” Correiar told National Geographic. “The shark came toward me, dropped the kayak, then dove straight down below me where I couldn’t see it.”

The skipper of the yacht came alongside Correiar and managed to pull him aboard, unharmed.

Sources:

National Geographic

New York Daily News

Photo: Brian Correiar  / National Geographic

INJURED – 8 October 2013 – Poison Creek, Cape Arid National Park, Western Australia – diver attacked

Greg Pickering, 55, is evacuated to hospital. He suffered ‘substantial’ wounds to his torso and minor wounds to his face from a a great white shark attack.

Greg Pickering, 55, suffered ‘substantial’ wounds to his torso and minor wounds to his face from an attack by what is thought to be great white shark while diving for abalone off Poison Creek in Cape Arid National Park, Western Australia. The incident occurred about 10.30am on Tuesday 8 October 2013.

It is not the first time Pickering has been attacked by a shark. In 2004, Pickering survived an attack by a 1.5m bronze whaler while spearfishing with a friend near Cervantes.

The crew of a nearby abalone boat dragged him from the water and tried to stem the bleeding. They rushed him to shore from where he was evacuated to Esperance Hospital where he was treated for bite wounds. A Royal Flying Doctor Service plane then transported him to Jandakot airport from where he was taken by ambulance to Royal Perth Hospital. Pickering underwent a 10-hour surgery at the hospital. He was discharged on 15 October.

Sources:
The Australian

NineMSN

The West 

PIC Source:
(screen grab from video)
The West 

INJURED – 30 October 2012 – North Jetty, Humboldt , Eureka, California, USA – surfer bitten

Scott Stevens’ board showing the chunk bitten out of it by a shark. Stevens suffered lacerations to his left torso.

Scott Stevens, 25, suffered serious wounds to his left torso from a shark bite while he was surfing at North Jetty, Humboldt, Eureka, California, United States. The shark is thought to be a great white.

The incident occured on Tuesday 30 October 2012.

He said he was catching waves about 150 metres from fellow surfers at Bunkers, a popular surf spot near Humboldt Bay.

The shark dragged him under the water and shook him around a bit. Stevens then punched the shark several times in the head, which made it release its grip and swim away. He managed to retrieve his board and paddle back to shore, where other surfers helped stem the bleeding and wave down a truck which took him to hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery to stitch the wounds.

Stevens told the Lost Coast Outpost in a podcast interview:

“I went in the water for a surf about 10am. I had just caught a wave and was paddling back out when the shark came out of nowhere. It grabbed my torso from behind and dragged me underwater and shook me a couple of times.

“I opened my eyes underwater and saw the shark grabbing onto me. I punched it a couple of times in the head and it released me and swam off.

“I recovered my board (the shark had severed the leash)  and managed to paddle to shore on my own.”

Scott Stevens shows where he was bitten by a shark.

He was shouting for help.

“The support of other surfers was amazing. They waved down a truck which took me to hospital. And they put pressure on the wound the whole time to stop bleeding.” One of the surfers actually lay across his torso to put pressure on the wound and stem the bleeding.

He told the Times Standard that when he opened his eyes under water he saw a lot of blood.

“When I reached the beach, I realised how injured I was and how much blood I was losing.”

“I was in shock. I really didn’t feel much, didn’t feel too much pain, until I woke up this morning,” he said.

He said from the time of attack to ER it took about 20 minutes – “An amazing response which helped a lot.”

”Those guys are heroes,” he said.

He said he received lacerations from the top of hip to his upper chest. The surgeon who stitched up the wounds said there were seven to eight deep lacerations, but fortunately the shark did not open the chest cavity and damage any internal organs.

“At the moment it happened I was truly scared for my life. I didn’t know if I was going to make it or not.

“Now I am a little bummed that my surfboard is damaged,” he said from his hospital bed at St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka, California.

Sources:
Lost Coast Outpost – podcast interview
Times Standard
Digital Journal

PIC Source:
Times Standard
Businesswire

FATAL – 23 October 2012 — Surf Beach, Lompoc, California, USA – surfer attacked

Francisco Javier Solario’s board – with the shark bite mark.

Vandenberg Air Force Base security forces block the entrance to Surf Beach at Vandenberg Air Force Base following a fatal shark attack on a surfer at the beach on 23 October 2012.

Francisco Javier Solorio Jr., 39, was killed by a shark while surfing at Surf Beach, Lompoc, Santa Barbara County, California, about 240km north of Los Angeles.

He was bitten on his upper torso.

According to press reports a fellow surfer pulled him to shore and tried to resuscitate him, but when paramedics arrived on the scene they pronounced him dead.

The beach is located near Vandenberg Air Force Base, the site of a fatal shark attack in 2010.

The type of shark involved and other details were not immediately available.
UPDATE:

The shark is believed to be a 15-16 foot great white.

Sources:

CBC News
BBC News
ABC News
Huff Post

PIC source:

CBC News
SFGate

FATAL – 14 July 2012 — Wedge Island, north of Lancelin, Western Australia – surfer attacked

“By the time I got out there half of him had been taken and the shark was circling.”

Ben Linden was killed by a shark while surfing off Wedge Island in Western Australia

Ben Linden, 24, died from his wounds after being attacked by a shark while surfing about 4 km south of Wedge Island, north of Lancelin, Western Australia. The incident happened around 9am on 14 July 2012.

Linden was reportedly with a friend when the attack happened. The attack is believed to be by a great white shark.

A Fisheries Department spokesperson was quoted as saying:

“The two people were in the water surfing or waiting for a wave when the victim was attacked by a shark.”

He said two other surfers, one on a jet ski and the other being towed came over to help when they saw a commotion in the water.

He said the man’s friend and the others surfers were not in a position to help and went back to shore and contacted the police.

He said Linden’s body was not recovered.

The guy on the jetski was quoted as saying:

“I was towing my mate on the back of the jetski and in front of us I just saw a guy get attacked by a shark and I just took my mate straight to the shore and went straight out and there was just blood everywhere and a massive, massive white shark circling the body.

“By the time I got out there half of him had been taken and the shark was circling.

“I tried to lean off the side and pull him on the back, but as I did that, the shark came back and nudged the jet ski to try to knock me off.

“When I came back the second time, he took the rest of him. I just thought about his family and if he had kids. I just wanted to get him to shore. I gave it everything I had.”

Sources:
Illawarra Mercury
Daily Telegraph

PIC Source:
Daily Telegraph

FRIGHTENED – 20 June 2012 — Mullaloo Beach north of Perth, Western Australia – surf skier attacked

Martin Kane, 62, examines his surf ski that was bitten in half by a 3-metre great white shark, flinging him into the water.

Martin Kane, 62, escaped injury, but was badly shaken when a 3-metre great white shark attacked his surf ski, biting it in half. The incident happened around  7.15am on Wednesday 20 June 2012.

He was paddling with a group of 4 other surf lifesavers about 150 metres off Mullaloo Beach north of Perth, Western Australia.

He was flung into the water but was rescued by a friend who was in the group of paddlers.

He said it felt like being rammed by a jet ski and made a loud exploding noise.

“I seriously thought it was a row of dolphins smashing into the ski.

“What really confused me was the extent of the noise and the crunching sound, it really surprised me, I really didn’t know what it was until I saw the fin and realised it was a shark.

“Because it is a sealed unit, when the shark bit it, it went off like an explosion.

“Soon as I saw his tail and thrashing around with the ski coming right out of the water, I said it’s time to get out of here so in defiance I threw my paddle at him and started to swim away.”

He told reporters he suspected stringers that run down the length of the ski and control the rudders saved his life.

“I suspect that its teeth were caught up in that and it was too bothered trying to get rid of the ski to chase me, so I’m very, very happy that was the case.

“I’m just very lucky to be here, very lucky to be able to see my grandkids again.”

Sources:
ABC News
Sydney Morning Herald

PIC Source:
ABC News

UPDATE to FATAL shark attack on surfer at KOEEL BAY, outside Cape Town, South Africa – 19 April 2012

The shark responsible for the attack – shot by Sven Thoresen shortly after the attack and uploaded to Twitter. @sven110975

It was like someone pushed a button to turn the sea from a clear blue to dark red, that’s how quickly he was losing blood from the wound.

David Lilienfeld, 20, was killed by a shark while bodyboarding at Koeel Bay (Kogel Baai), near Cape Town, South Africa. The shark is presumed to be a great white 4-5 metres long. There were two sharks in the area when the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) boat arrived on the scene.

The attack took place at a surf spot called Caves at Koeel Bay in the afternoon of Thursday 19 April 2012.

Lilienfeld was a Springbok bodyboarder and placed 5^th in the South African bodyboarding championships in 2011.

David Lilienfeld surfing at Camps Bay, Cape Town

A witness to the attack said the shark repeatedly attacked Lilienfeld. His leg was severed in the ordeal as he tried to fight off the shark with his bodyboard.

Lilienfled was pulled from the water by his brother. He was confirmed dead on the scene by rescue personnel.

A witness who was had just come in from a surf and was on the beach at the time of the attack told the press the surf was “really fun”. He had gone in and was sitting on the beach when “I saw a huge dorsal fin of a shark surface near to the two bodyboarders, and close in on them.”

He said Lilienfeld tried to fight off the shark by pushing his bodyboard between himself and the great white, but “the shark kept coming back, a second and I think a third time, before it got his leg. It was like someone pushed a button to turn the sea from a clear blue to dark red, that’s how quickly he was losing blood from the wound.”

“I think it took about 8 minutes to get the young bodyboarder to shore, but you could already tell by that time that he’d lost a lot of blood.”

The witness told ZigZag that he had been surfing at Koeel Bay for the past 19 years “but something doesn’t feel right there anymore”.

“I’ve got a feeling I am going to regret coming down to the beach for this surf for a long time. The visual memory of the bodyboarder being attacked is going to be stuck in the back of my mind and although I’ve often surfed Caves alone, I don’t think I will be doing that anymore – at least for a long time to come.”

“It was a horror show. It looked like something from the Jaws movie.”

Chumming debate
A serious debate that has been ongoing for some time about chumming — throwing blood and guts into — the water in the vicinity where the attack took place  to attract sharks for shark cage diving and documentary filming has come to the fore in South Africa following this tragic incident. For more on the debate read this article in ZigZag.

The City of Cape Town released a report of the attack – in an effort to clarify exacty what happened and also weigh in on the chumming debate.
Report and Review of Events at Kogel Bay “Caves” After Great White Shark Attack

Sources:

News24

ZigZag

Wavescape

PIC Source:
Sixty40

Shark pic via ZigZag|
Shot by Sven Thoresen and uploaded to Twitter. @sven110975

FATAL – 19 April 2012 – Caves surf spot, Koeel Bay, Cape Town, South Africa – surfer attacked

Koeel Bay, outside Cape Town, South Africa - the site of a fatal shark attack on a surfer.

A brief report from my friend Quentin Fuller: There has been a fatal shark attack on a surfer at Caves surf spot at Koeel Bay (Kogel Bay) outside Cape Town in South Africa. Details are still a bit sketchy, but is seems it was a great white and another surfer who witnessed the attack told Quentin that the body washed up on the beach.

The attack happened after noon local time (about 2 hours ago) on Thursday 19 April 2012.

We await more details.

PIC source

Global surfers

FATAL – 31 March 2012 — south of Stratham near Busselton, Western Australia – diver attacked

Peter Kurmann was killed by a shark while diving off Western Australia

Peter Kurmann, 33, was attacked and killed by a four-metre great white shark around two kilometres off Stratham Beach, near Busselton, Western Australia. The incident happened on Saturday 31 March 2012.

Kurmann was diving with his brother, who was not harmed in the attack. His brother reportedly dragged Kurmann’s body back onto the dive boat and took him to Port Geographe Marina, near Busselton.

The brother is reported to have said he saw a 4-metre shark in the area at the time of the attack.

No other details of the incident were reported.

Sources:

ABC

The Telegraph

Asia One

PIC Source:

ABC