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| Situation Update No. 1 Ref.no.: BH-20100204-24788-USA
Situation Update No. 1
On 2010-02-05 at 03:59:41 [UTC]
Event: Biological Hazard
Location: USA State of Florida Stuart
Number of Deads: 1 person(s)
Situation: An experienced 38-year-old kite surfer was surrounded by sharks and killed about a quarter-mile offshore here this week and a scientist says that young great white sharks - the fish of “Jaws” notoriety - are among the suspects. Stephen Schafer died from his injuries after being pulled to shore by lifeguard Daniel Lund, who spotted the trouble while looking through his binoculars from shore. Lund jumped on his board and began paddling against the wind in waves that were swelling 4 to 6 feet. Once he got within 15 to 20 yards of Schafer, he heard his cries. Schafer was telling Lund that a shark had bit him. That’s when Lund saw the blood. It tinted the water red, and Lund knew he needed to move quickly to avoid another attack. “You could see some other sharks in the area,” he said. The animals were darting through waves and swimming under the surface. Lund occasionally spotted their dark shadows. He pulled Schafer onto his board, cradling his head with one arm and paddling with the other. He tried to comfort him, but the rough surf dumped both men off the board. As quickly as he could, Lund, 46, got them back on, and finally to the beach. Officials performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the victim, who had multiple bite wounds, and he was rushed to Martin Memorial North Medical Center, where he later died. Lund said he himself suffered a shark attack two decades ago when he was bitten on the leg, severing his Achilles tendon and damaging his skin and calf muscle. It was four months before he could walk well again. “It feels like someone takes a vise and just clamps it on you as hard as you can imagine,” he said. Scientist Grant Gilmore said he and colleagues could learn the size and type of the sharks in Wednesday’s attack by comparing characteristic bite patterns from among many species that live or visit off the Treasure Coast to S chafer’s wounds. "It can be done,” Gilmore said. “It would be nice to have closure on this, to know what it was, especially since the man, tragically, died.” Great whites prefer colder northern Atlantic Ocean waters and aren’t usually thought of as a Florida shark. But smaller 6- to 8-foot sharks migrate to Florida’s east coast during winter. Of the many types of sharks off the Treasure Coast, three of the four species known to attack humans - great hammerheads, bulls and tigers - prefer warm water. They leave the area or go deep in winter. “The only other species that gathers in abundance out there in the winter are the juvenile great white sharks,” Gilmore said. They eat their way through a migrating parade of 3- to 4-foot sharp-nose sharks that travel south from New England waters to Florida. Cooler ocean water usually keeps great whites north of Cape Canaveral, Gilmore said, but this winter has been unusually cold. Gilmore said it is unusual to have a person bitten by a shark off Florida’s east coast this time of year. |  | | | |
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