Sad news - shark attack

Louisiana girl dies in Florida shark attack
Teen was bitten during swim in Gulf of Mexico
Associated Press — June 27, 2005
SANDESTIN, Fla. — A 14-year-old girl died Saturday after a shark attacked her while she and a companion were swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, authorities said.

The teenagers were swimming on boogie boards about 100 yards offshore when they noticed a dark shadow in the water, authorities said.

'One of the swimmers was bitten. It was the lower portions of her body,' said Walton County Sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Shank. The other swimmer was not injured.

Both girls swam to shore, and the victim was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, Shank said. The girl was on vacation from Louisiana, but her name was not immediately released.

The attack happened near the Camping on the Gulf Holiday Travel Park, about 45 miles east of Pensacola on the Florida Panhandle.

Patrick O'Neill, the campground's general manager, refused to comment.

It wasn't clear what kind of shark attacked the girl, said Stan Kirkland, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

'The girl was some distance off from the shore,' Kirkland said. 'I don't think anyone got a good view of the shark.'

Authorities closed about 20 miles of beaches to swimming shortly after the attack. It's the height of the summer tourism season along the coast and the beaches were packed with people.

'This doesn't happen very often at all - very, very seldom,' said Mike McKee, front desk supervisor at the nearby Hilton Sandestin Beach Resort and Spa.

Florida had the largest number of documented shark attacks worldwide in 2003 with 30, according to statistics compiled by the American Elasmobranch Society and the Florida Museum of Natural History. There were 12 attacks off the coast of Florida last year

But shark attacks in the region are rare. The attack Saturday was the first documented in Walton County in more than 100 years, according to the International Shark Attack File Web site.

[LiesaAnna]

just seen on GMTV that there has been another attack here and the 15 year old boy has had his leg amputated, whats wrong with these people, they showed on TV yesterday these sharks hanging around!, wont catch me further then my knees in the water!!

[domster]

If I knew a shark was in the area I would be not within 100ft of the water.

[rebekah.g]

I was very saddened to hear on the news about this young girl. To be honest though I would never swim in the water anyway due to sharks. I was surprised when I saw the itv news yesterday morning and showed the beach and people were still swimming in the water.......I was astonished to say the least.

I know its crasy but my slight fear is the crocs by the wetland were we are staying in the sanctuary taking a walk to the villas. I will be checking the pool each day...........probably me just being anxious but has anyone ever had an experience with a croc by the wetlands near the villas.

thank you. I agree though with the comments made. People after hearing about a shark attack in the area,,,,,,,,,,,why oh why go on swimming in the area...........wouldnt catch me on the beach cause of fear.......rather be at the pool. rebekah

[Jill]

This area is on the shark migration route and each year they travel through these waters. Most attacks happen late afternoon which is shark feeding time. A lot of accidents also involve people swimming on boogie boards because to a shark underneath the water you look like a tasty fat seal who is not moving very quickly and therefore an easy catch. This attack was actually filmed from overhead on a video camera and it clearly shows there were 5 sharks in the area who were following a group of bait fish which would have been there normal 'dinner'. It is rare though for a shark to take more than one bite and follow the board into the shore. There must have been some blood in the water from the bait fish which confused it as humans are not the dish of choice for sharks and they can tell the difference between human and fish blood.

[Tonish]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:I know its crasy but my slight fear is the crocs by the wetland were we are staying in the sanctuary taking a walk to the villas. I will be checking the pool each day...........probably me just being anxious but has anyone ever had an experience with a croc by the wetlands near the villas.
[/quote]

I have, although it was on Alligator Alley, about 30 years ago. We had stopped half way across for a break and were at a rest area. I went down to the water's edge and was paddling about when my mother yelled at me to run. There was an alligator (not very big, about 4-5 feet long) coming straight at me and it was only about 6 feet away (or so it seemed at the time). I ran. It's given me something to talk about for years.

Tonish

[chrisflowers]

Shark attacks in florida are very rare - you are more likely to get eaten by an Aligator!!

Once a year the shark migrate up the Florida coast - it was the Atlantic last year, and swimmers were not allowed in the water for 2 days (I think it was from Miami to Daytona last year).

The shark attacks were around the panhandle, miles away from Orlando, where the area was known to be dangerous - 2 sandbanks and the girl was 200 meters out from the beach. The surfer who rescued her said he often warned people not to go out so far.

[josephinekelly]

Give me a swimming pool anyday! I once got bumped on the leg by something in the water off the Persian Gulf. Didn't stay long enough to find out what it was...

Some new visitors to Florida can be naive about wildlife anyway. I remember when we first arrived, we told our neighbour that we were going for a stroll around the lake in the evening - he informed us we would be lucky to return as it had alligators. He said please do not feed the alligators even with bits of ourselves..

[caroline]

Let's get this into perspective, these attacks make the news because they are SO RARE, thousands of people are killed eveyday on the roads around the World, whether as pedestrians or as drivers and passengers in vehicles, yet these stories don't get anywhere near the coverage that shark attacks get.

[pieman790]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by caroline

Let's get this into perspective, these attacks make the news because they are SO RARE, thousands of people are killed eveyday on the roads around the World, whether as pedestrians or as drivers and passengers in vehicles, yet these stories don't get anywhere near the coverage that shark attacks get.
[/quote]

Caroline your comments are spot on. It just goes to show that these are rare otherwise they would not hit our national news.
Still very sad especially for the girls family