INJURED – 30 November 2012 – Kihei, Maui, Hawaii – snorkeller bitten

Thomas Floyd Kennedy recovers in a Maui hopsital after being bitten by shark while snorkelling

Thomas Floyd Kennedy, 61, was bitten on the thigh and lower left leg by a shark while snorkelling off Kihei, Maui, Hawaii. The incident happened around 9.40am about 250 metres offshore near Kihei.

The victim was treated on shore and taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center.

“Initially it didn’t hurt so much. It was mostly just fear of a second attack,” he was quoted as saying.

He said he was snorkelling with two others. They rode paddle boards to a spot more than 250 metres off the Kihei coastline.

Kennedy said he felt a tug and looked down to see his leg in the shark’s mouth.

“It released me. So I started swimming as fast as I could. I would guess I was a still a hundred yards from my board,” he said. “As I went further, I started to bleed. I could see a string of blood, which was my next concern.”

Crew from Wailea Canoe Club who were in the water at the time helped him to shore.

Kennedy and experts reckon it was 10 foot tiger shark that bit him.

Sources:
Maui News

Oregon Live

PIC Source:
Screen grab from Maui News video

INJURED – 19 January 2012 – The Lagoon, Coral Bay, Western Australia – snorkeller attacked

David Pickering was bitten on the right forearm by a tiger shark while snorkelling at The Lagoon, near Coral Bay, Western Australia

Tour Operator David Pickering, 26, was bitten on the right forearm by what is believed to be a 3-metre tiger shark while guiding a group of snorkellers at The Lagoon, north of Coral Bay in Western Australia.

The incident happened about 100 metres from the shore at around 2pm on 19 January 2012.

According to press reports Pickering suffered tendon damage, but his injuries were not life threatening.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service, which flew in to pick him up, said he suffered some nasty lacerations to his forearm and that he was being taken to Perth for treatment. He was reported in stable condition.

According to press reports, another operator said he highly doubted it would be a tiger shark claiming it was more likely to be a reef shark that bit Pickering since there were thousands in the area.

No other details were immediately available.

Sources:
Perth Now
Sydney Morning Herald

PIC source:
Perth Now

UPDATE – 2nd FATAL shark attack at Anse Lazio, Praslin, Seychelles – 16 August 2011 – snorkeller attacked

The beautiful Anse Lazio, Praslin island, Seychelles - scene of two fatal shark attacks in 16 days.

UPDATE:
22 August 2011

Just to clarify, following conflicting reports, Ian Redmond was bitten on the back and arm, not on the leg as initially reported.

Also, researchers from South Africa’s Natal Sharks Board have examined a tooth that was embedded in the wound. They say the tooth is from a great white about 10 foot long.

UPDATE:
19 August 2011.
BBC News online has a moving piece quoting the widow of Ian Redmond who died in the attack.

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We have more details of this second fatal shark attack at Anse Lazio, Seychelles, widely recognised as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world

A British tourist Ian Martin Redmond, 30, died from a massive wound on his left leg after being bitten by a shark while snorkelling about 20 metres off Anse Lazio on Praslin Island in the Seychelles.

He was just married and was on honeymoon with his wife who was on the beach at the time of the attack.

It is not known what type of shark it was – although people commenting on SharkAttackMonitor suggest it was a either a bull shark or tiger shark, both of which are found around Seychelles.

A witness on the beach at the time of the incident

Anse Lazio (the beach on the left) is regarded as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

described the scene in a comment to SharkAttackMonitor.

I was seated on the beach when a lady beside me starting shouting something and pointing towards the water … I could see someone in the water with a mask and snorkel about 20 yards offshore.

Dinghies launched from both catamarans [anchored in the bay]. They circled the swimmer and pulled him into one of the dinghies.

He said when the dinghy landed on the beach he saw the shark attack victim in the boat “who was missing a huge chunk of flesh from his left leg, so much so that I could see the bone of his thigh”.

He was sickeningly pale, but still had his flippers on both feet. At this point a woman ran over and started screaming… she said “that’s my husband! We were just married…”

I wanted to burst into tears. People all over the beach where just hugging whoever was close to them or squatting in the sand pulling on their hair, or trying to keep any children from witnessing what was going on.

After some time, perhaps 5 minutes I saw someone doing chest compressions and that’s when I knew this was a fatal attack.

He said an ambulance arrived at the scene 30-40 minutes after the attack took place.

According to a report on Sky News online the Seychelles government issued a statement after an emergency meeting last night saying that “with immediate effect, the Seychelles Maritime Safety Administration has issued a temporary ban on swimming or entering the water in certain bays of the island of Praslin and islands off the coast of Praslin following two fatal shark attacks this month in the northwest area of the island”.

The report also said officials have reinforced a ban on the dumping of waste from yachts and other boats into coastal waters to prevent sharks being lured to beach areas.

Some people writing to SharkAttackMonitor after the first fatal attack at Anse Lazio on 1 August 2011 said crew had been dumping waste off boats anchored in the bay and that this had attracted the shark into shallow waters.

Sources:
Sky News

PIC Sources:
Seychelles-islands-beaches.com
Flikr – Stewart Morris photostream

FATAL – 2nd fatal shark attack on snorkeller at Anse Lazio, Seychelles – 16 August 2011 – witness account

This is a witness account (from one of several comments to SharkAttackMonitor ) of the second fatal shark attack in 16 days at Anse Lazio, Praslin, Seychelles which took place today – 16 August 2011. Original comments are attached to this post:   http://wp.me/pMcbs-eH 

This witness account is from Ian who was on the beach when the attack took place.

I just wanted to give my account of what happened today. I was standing right on the beach during the whole thing. I am an American on honeymoon and decided to go to Anse Lazio because all the guide books say it is the best snorkeling in Seychelles. I had no idea there was a shark attack at this very beach earlier this month. It seems utterly unfathomable that 2 attacks in 1 month could occur on the ‘same’ beach.

This is everything I can remember…

I was seated on the beach when a lady beside me starting shouting something and pointing towards the water. I speak French and English and didn’t recognize it, but I think she was probably yelling that she saw fins?? Her husband ran towards the water and began waving at the nearby catamaran docked about 30 yards offshore. I could see someone in the water with a mask and snorkel about 20 yards offshore.

I didn’t know what was going on, but people started crowding around the edge of the water, and then dinghies launched from both catamarans. They circled the swimmer and pulled him into one of the dinghies.

At this point I thought maybe the swimmer had simply been too tired and called for rescue? Or maybe he had been stung by a sea urchin or something.

This is where honestly my nerves/emotions kicked in and my recollection may not be 100% accurate. I just want to write what I ‘feel’ I witnessed.

I believe the dinghy ended up taking the swimmer ‘back’ to the catamaran. It felt like there were nearly 10 or 15 minutes where people were just standing around on the beach, staring at the water and most of us were wondering what had just happened. Eventually the dinghy began heading back towards the beach. When it landed, many of the men on the beach ran up to help pull the dinghy to shore. This is when I saw the swimmer, who was missing a huge chunk of flesh from his left leg, so much so that I could see the bone of his thigh. He was sickeningly pale, but still had his flippers on both feet. At this point a woman ran over and started screaming… she said “that’s my husband! We were just married…”

I wanted to burst into tears. People all over the beach where just hugging whoever was close to them or squatting in the sand pulling on their hair, or trying to keep any children from witnessing what was going on.

After a few minutes some men moved him to the shore, I believe they tried to put a tourniquet on his leg, and I thought I saw a saline drip. At one point a man rushed over to help, I assume he was a doctor… I saw someone had a saline drip and they were elevating his right (uninjured) leg presumably to preserve blood.

After some time, perhaps 5 minutes I saw someone doing chest compressions and that’s when I knew this was a fatal attack. The ambulance arrived around 5 or 10 minutes even later than that (a full 30 to 40 minutes from the time of the accident).

I am so deeply saddened for the loss of the young woman. I had been snorkeling in the same area not 30 minutes before and was seconds away from actually jumping in the water to snorkel again (with my wife!) when the accident happened. I feel so lucky to be alive right now, I have never experienced anything like this.

My heart goes out to all those who were affected by today’s tragedy.

UPDATE – Seychelles FATAL shark attack – 1 August 2011

This is just a brief update to this story which has received a lot of attention on the SharkAttackMonitor.

The Shark Attack File names the victim who died following a shark attack at Anse Lazio, Praslin, Seychelles as Nicolas Virolle, age 36.

From a series of witness accounts it is clear that he was snorkelling off Anse Lazio on Praslin island, Seychelles when the attack took place around 3.30pm on Monday 1 August 2011.

It is not known what species of shark it was or how big it was.

He suffered a massive bite to his left thigh – from the knee to the hip exposing the bone. He was brought ashore by two Seychellois in a small boat. It appears he died from blood loss before an ambulance could get to the scene.

Some locals say the shark was attracted into the bay by fish waste that was thrown overboard from boats anchored off Anse Lazio.