Shark Attacks 2nd Teen Off Fla. Panhandle

[Mom23boys]

By BILL KACZOR
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - A teenage boy was bitten and critically injured Monday in the second shark attack in three days along the Florida Panhandle.

He was attacked off Cape San Blas, a popular vacation destination about 80 miles southeast of the Destin area, where 14-year-old Jamie Marie Daigle of Gonzales, La., was killed by a shark on Saturday.

Daigle had been swimming on a boogie board with a friend about 100 yards from shore when a shark tore away the flesh on one leg from her hip to her knee.

Erich Ritter of the Shark Attack Institute said the girl was probably attacked by a 6-foot bull shark, based on measurements of the bite wound. He said it was unlikely the same shark was responsible for Monday's attack.

After Saturday's attack, a 20-mile stretch of shore was closed to swimmers, but beaches reopened Sunday with a double staff of sheriff's beach patrol officers.

[QuilterMom]

This is a real shame. It will be interesting as more details are available to learn just what kind of bait and such the 3 boys today were surrounded with in the water (since they were out standing in the water fishing) that may have led to this attack.

[QuilterMom]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/27/sha...ack/index.html


Boy stable after 2nd Florida shark attack
Death of girl Saturday blamed on 6-foot bull shark

Monday, June 27, 2005; Posted: 6:24 p.m. EDT (22:24 GMT)

PANAMA CITY, Florida (CNN) -- A 16-year-old boy was bitten by a shark Monday in the Gulf of Mexico, two days after a shark killed a 14-year-old girl off the Florida Panhandle, authorities said.

Craig Adam Hutto of Lebanon, Tennessee, was fishing with his brother on a sandbar about 60 yards off Cape San Blas when he was bitten about 11:30 a.m. Monday, said Gulf County government spokeswoman Paula Pickett.

The boy was in stable condition with injuries to at least one of his legs, said Christa Hild, a spokeswoman for Bay Medical Center in Panama City.

He arrived shortly before noon and was listed in critical condition before undergoing surgery, she said earlier.

Hutto and his brother were fishing in waist-deep surf off the Gulf side of Cape San Blas, a narrow spit of land about 40 miles southeast of Panama City. (Map)

The boy was reeling in a fish when he was attacked, said Gulf County Sheriff Dalton Upchurch.

The boy's brother pulled him from the water, and two vacationing medical personnel administered first aid, Upchurch said.

The youth was taken to a nearby hospital and then flown by helicopter to Panama City, he said.

Chief Les Hallman of the South Walton Fire District told reporters the boys were using shrimp as bait.

"The victim was struck unexpectedly," he said. "They did not see the shark before the shark attacked."

Witnesses told WMBB reporter Kira Mathis that Hutto was "in and out of consciousness."

Cape San Blas is on St. Joseph Peninsula, about 95 miles southeast of Miramar Beach where 14-year-old Jamie Daigle from Louisiana was killed Saturday in a shark attack. Autopsy results indicate the girl fell victim to a 6-foot bull shark, officials said Monday. (Full story)

Beaches in that area were closed after the attack but reopened Sunday -- though many visitors shied away from the water.

Daigle died Saturday morning from bites on "the lower portions of her body" after being attacked while she and a friend were swimming about 200 yards from shore, according to a statement issued Sunday by the Walton County Sheriff's Office.

Deaths from unprovoked shark attacks are rare, according to statistics compiled by the International Shark Attack File.

Seven people were killed in shark attacks worldwide in 2004, including two in the United States. California and Hawaii each recorded one shark attack death last year.

There were 12 shark attacks on Florida beaches in 2004, down sharply from 30 in 2003. Experts credit the busy hurricane season in 2004 for the lower numbers.

[QuilterMom]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,160774,00.html


Teen Loses Leg in Second Fla. Shark Attack

Monday, June 27, 2005



CAPE SAN BLAS, Fla. — A boy fishing in waist-deep water Monday was bitten and critically injured in the second shark attack (search) on a teenager along the Florida Panhandle in three days.

Craig A. Hutto (search), 16, of Lebanon, Tenn., was taken to Bay Medical Center in Panama City, where his leg was amputated. He was listed in critical condition but was expected to recover, said hospital spokeswoman Christa Hild.

The boy was attacked off Cape San Blas (search), a popular vacation destination about 80 miles southeast of the Destin area, where Jamie Marie Daigle of Gonzales, La., was killed by a shark Saturday. She was 14.

The boy was fishing with two friends when the shark bit him in the right thigh, nearly severing his leg, Gulf County Sheriff's Capt. Bobby Plair said. Witnesses said the boy's brother saved his life.

The shark "would have dragged him away," said Karen Eaker, 42, who was vacationing from Horn Lake, Miss. "His brother literally was beating the shark on the snout."

The teen was pulled ashore by his friends, and a doctor who happened to be nearby began treatment before the boy was taken to the hospital, Plair said.

"It got the main arteries in the right leg," Plair said, adding that the teen lost a large amount of blood. The shark was about 6 to 8 feet long, Plair said, citing witnesses.

Gulf County has no lifeguards on any of its beaches, he said. Officials closed the county's beaches until late Tuesday morning.

On Saturday, Daigle had been swimming on a boogie board with a friend about 100 yards from shore when a shark tore away the flesh on one leg from her hip to her knee. At a news conference discussing the girl's autopsy Monday, shark experts said the size of the bite indicates she was attacked by a bull shark as long as 8 feet.

After that attack, a 20-mile stretch of shore was closed to swimmers, but beaches reopened Sunday with a double staff of sheriff's beach patrol officers. On Monday, off-duty deputies were called in to beef up beach patrols and watch for sharks from the air and the water.

Florida averaged more than 30 shark attacks a year from 2000 to 2003, but there were only 12 attacks off the state's coast last year, said George Burgess, curator of the International Shark Attack File at University of Florida.

Experts said the two recent attacks did not indicate a trend.

"Shark attacks are in the realm of unpredictable phenomena," Dr. Samuel Gruber, a professor of marine and atmospheric science at the University of Miami.

[QuilterMom]

A map of FL's confirmed unprovoked shark attacks from 1882-2004..... http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks...tack/mapFL.htm

It's quite rare for these to be happening in the panhandle. I, on the other hand, unfortunately live in one of the top 3 counties (shown in red on the map).

One thing I found interesting that I heard during the press conference by Dr. Ritter today was that last year's hurricanes have shifted all the sandbars and currents so shark activity this year will be not be 'normal.'

[Michelle]

[SewCrafty]

This is so sad.

[Mom23boys]

Originally posted by QuilterMom
One thing I found interesting that I heard during the press conference by Dr. Ritter today was that last year's hurricanes have shifted all the sandbars and currents so shark activity this year will not be 'normal.'

That is interesting. I think I would stay close to shore in ankle deep water.

When we go out in the ocean and I feel something touch my leg, I "almost" freak. I try not to think about anything being in the water, but you know there is.

[QuilterMom]

Ankle deep water is not safe in my county! We've seen a shark here practically beach itself! We were at the water's edge and could have reached out and touched it.

[Mom23boys]

YIKES KIM!! I think I would just stay out of the water. That is scary!

[QuilterMom]

I should have mentioned it was feeding on bait fish at the time! You just have to be aware of your surroundings and realize you're in their territory. Gulp!

[Chea]

Everytime we head down to FL -- the week before there's always shark attacks. Its a scary reminder to be alert for sure. I can only imagine how helpless you would feel being attacked by a shark.