FATAL – 29 April 2017 – Pointe au Sel, Reunion – bodyboarder attacked

Adrien Dubosc, 28

Adrien Dubosc, 28, was bitten in the right thigh and groin area by a shark (species not identified – though it was likely a bull shark or tiger shark) while body boarding with two friends at Pointe au Sel, on Reunion island in the Indian Ocean. The attack happened on Saturday morning 29 April 2017.

Pointe au Sel is a short distance south of the well-known St Leu surf spot.

The attack came two months after one of his best friends, Alexandre Naussac, 26, was killed by a shark at a nearby beach.

Dubosc was a shark enthusiast and member of Shark Watch Patrol, whose job it is to keep an eye out for sharks while people surf and swim. The Shark Watch Patrol was set up as the number of shark attacks on Reunion has increased dramatically with 21 attacks, nine of them fatal, in the past six years.

 

 

“The young man was in the water with two friends, when a shark attacked him, biting his right thigh, and his groin area.

“The victim was pulled out of the water, and emergency workers arrived very quickly. Despite cardiac massage, he died within half an hour of the attack,” police were quoted as saying.

 

Sources:

The Morning Bulletin

The Sun

New Zealand Herald

Photo: Facebook

 

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

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