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 – 23 July 2012 – Trois-Bassins, Reunion island – surfer attacked

Trois-Bassins surf spot on Reunion – the scene of a fatal shark attack on a surfer on Monday 23 July 2012.

Reports with few details say Alexandre Rassica, 22, a resident of La Reunion, died from his wounds after a shark bit through his leg while he was surfing at popular surf spot Trois-Bassins, on Reunion island.

According to media other surfers managed to bring him to shore but were unable to resuscitate him after he suffered a cardiac arrest.

He was surfing 100 metres offshore when the attack took place on Monday morning 23 July 2012.

No other details were reported.

Sources:
Reuters
Transworld Surf

PIC source:
Magic Seaweed

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

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 – 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

FATAL – 15 January 2012 – Second Beach, Port St Johns, Eastern Cape, South Africa – surfer attacked

This surfer died after trying to fight off a shark attack at Second Beach, Port St Johns, South Africa

A 25-year-old surfer (name not released) was killed by an unidentified shark while surfing with friends at Second Beach, Port St Johns, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The incident happened about 3pm on Sunday 15 January 2012.

According to a report in the Daily Dispatch the surfer sustained severe injuries to his chest and arms after fighting off the shark  with his surfboard.

According to the report, he fought the shark for at least 5 minutes before being pulled from the water by a surfer and other swimmers. Lifeguards and a doctor at the beach at the time treated his wounds before emergency paramedics arrived. He died on route to hospital.

An eye witness was quoted as saying:

“I saw the fin of the shark and  as I told people to get out of the  water I heard him scream and  within seconds the water had  turned red.”

“He had a surfboard with him and he used it to wrestle off the shark.

“Lifeguards started blowing their whistles, but by that time there was blood everywhere.

“I have never seen so much blood in my life. I am not sure if I will ever be able to swim there again.”

According to the newspaper, the surfer called on others in the water to get out while he tried to fight off the shark with his board.

National Sea Rescue Institute  spokesman said the sea at the time had poor visibility and the water was very warm.

There has been a spate of shark attacks at this beach in the past few years – several of them fatal.

Sources:

Daily Dispatch
IOL

PIC Source
Daily Dispatch

FATAL – 22 October 2011 – Rottnest Island, Western Australia – diver attacked

A 32-year-old diver (name not reported) was killed by a three-metre great white while diving 500 metres north of Rottnest Island, Western Australia.

Initial reports are quite thin. All they say is that witnesses on the dive boat saw a large amount of bubbles before the man surfaced with ‘horrific’ and ‘obviously fatal’ injuries.

Two people on the boat described the shark as a 3-metre great white.

It is the third fatal shark attack off the west coast of Australia in two months.

The blog will be updated when we have more details.

Sources:

The Guardian
Channel News Asia

FATAL – 10 October 2011 – Cottesloe Beach, Western Australia – swimmer disappears

It is believed a shark took swimmer Bryn Martin, 64, while he was swimming off Cottesloe Beach, Western Australia on Monday morning 10 October 2011. He disappeared while taking his regular early morning swim. His body has not been recovered.

His bathing costume was recovered with bite marks consistent with a 3-metre great white shark, according to press reports.

At the time of this blog post police were searching for his body and had classified it as a recovery operation, rather than a rescue operation.

Martin was last seen by a friend swimming out past the pylon in front of the Indiana Tea Rooms at about 8am on Monday morning.  He was a couple of hundred metres offshore when he disappeared.

Further details are awaited.

Sources:

Perth Now

FATAL – 19 September 2011 — Boucan Canot beach, Reunion – surfer attacked

Boucan Canot beach, Reunion. -- Photo credit: Philippe Amiot

Mathieu Schiller, 32, was dragged off his surfboard while surfing off Boucan Canot beach on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion. The attack by a tiger shark reportedly lasted less than 30 seconds. His body was not recovered.

The incident happened on Monday 19 September 2011.

Schiller, a European team body boarding champion in 1995, was surfing with a group of surfers when the attack happened.

Witness report:

There were around 20 people in shallow water and about five surfers out deeper when it happened.

We saw the shark’s nose emerge and then the man just vanished. It was very sudden, then the animal just swam off.

According to other witness accounts the shark circled Schiller before moving in “with terrifying speed”.

Witness report:

I was waiting for a wave with my feet in the water. We saw the shark and the next thing I knew was that he screamed and raised his arm.

We then saw a cloud of red blood in the water where he had been.

Reports differ about what happened next. Some say the surfers then managed to get Schiller, who was suffering from a gaping wound in his leg, back onto his board. One  report says that the shark, which had become frenzied because of blood in the water, returned and hit the surfboard, knocking the victim back into the water. Another report says that a wave hit the board and Schiller fell off and disappeared beneath the surface.

Rescuers in a dinghy searching later for the body reported that a 4 metre bull shark had struck the dinghy trying to overturn it.

Sources:
The Local

EuroSport Yahoo

Mail Online

PIC Source:
The Local

FATAL – 18 September 2011 — Mamangina Drive, Mombasa, Kenya – swimmer attacked

The victim of the fatal shark attack in Mombasa, Kenya.

A 16-year-old Kenyan boy (name not released) died from his injuries after a shark bit off is left leg while he was swimming off Mamangina Drive in Mombasa, Kenya. The incident was reported by NTV Kenya on 18 September 2011, but does not say when the attack happened.

According to the report, the boy lost a lot of blood before his admission to a coastal hospital and died two hours later.

There was no mention of the possible species or size of the shark.

Some fishermen said that the dumping of “sea worms” into the sea nearby the site of the attack was attracting sharks inshore.

No other details were reported.

Source:
NTV Kenya

PIC Source:
Still from video
NTV Kenya