New Details in Killer Florida Shark Attack

New Details in Killer Shark Attack

New Details in Fatal Shark Attack

MARTIN COUNTY, FL-- A man encircled by several sharks was pulled from the water Wednesday afternoon off Stuart Beach.

Lifeguard Daniel Lund noticed 38-year old Stephen Schafer, who was apparently kite boarding, in trouble about a quarter-mile offshore. When the lifeguard paddled out to him on his rescue board, there was blood in the water and Schafer was screaming that he'd been bitten by a shark.

Lund put Schafer on his rescue board and returned to shore.... During the trip back to shore, Schafer was talking to Lund though "eventually stopped," according to a report from the Martin County Sheriff's Office.

Schafer later died at Martin Memorial Medical Center.

While there have only been 14 fatalities due to shark bite in Florida waters since they started keeping records of such things, the fact is that there are lots of shark bites and attacks in Florida waters that never make the national headlines, simply because the victim doesn't die.

No death = No story

I know this to be a fact because I lived in Florida, on the beach, for 2 straight years, and while they report these shark attack stories locally, the Florida Tourism authorities and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce see to it that nothing gets out about non-fatal shark attacks in Florida.

But they happen all the time. Woman gets finger bitten off = no story. Kid loses a couple of toes = no story. Man has a chunk the size of a coffee saucer taken out of his thigh = no story.

And my favorites of all are the porpoise attacks, which are NEVER reported in national news. Happens all the time in Florida, but they won't give Flipper any bad press.

— Doc Velocity

And my favorites of all are the porpoise attacks, which are NEVER reported in national news. Happens all the time in Florida, but they won't give Flipper any bad press.

Now are you sure it's an attack or is it the purpose of the porpoise to push the person back to shore? Or is the person annoying the dolphin and getting an ass whooping for his trouble? Sometimes people have to question these things. I once tried to swim up to a dolphin in the wild down in Florida, it swam away as if to say "Yea right buddy, like you have a chance in hell of catching me."

As far as the sharks go, well, unfortunately the kite surfer is in their territory, and when you are in an animals habitat, these things can happen, I don't recall hearing of a gang shark attack though, probably what happened was a feeding frenzy when one shark bit the surfer and the other sharks smelled the blood.

Originally posted by whatukno
Now are you sure it's an attack or is it the purpose of the porpoise to push the person back to shore?

I lived in Sarasota (actually, on Siesta Key) from 1992 through 1993. We used to wade and play around with the porpoises, which seemed pretty tame — or as tame as a 500 lb wild animal can seem in 5 feet of clear water. I always felt perfectly safe with them.

However, just a few miles south in Port Charlotte, the story was somewhat different. On local radio, I first heard reports of genuine porpoise attacks in open water at Port Charlotte. The wild porpoise population there is an old one, several generations old, well-accustomed to human presence and human feedings, right. They loved popcorn and candy and whatever garbage you threw to them.

Until, that is, they apparently acquired a taste for something a little meatier.

The first I ever heard of it, an off-duty Port Charlotte policeman was down at the bridge, entertaining his kids by swimming among the porpoises, when a big male porpoise grabbed him by the thigh and drug him to the bottom of the 20-foot channel, holding him on the bottom, obviously trying to kill the man.

He fought and escaped back to the surface, gasped for air, and was attacked again in the same manner. The animal was not playing with him. The water was turning red with blood — the officer had sustained a massive 13-inch gash in the thigh which severed the femoral artery, and he was dying mui pronto.

Finally, other swimmers were able to fight the animal off of the man and rescued him, but not before he was half-drowned and had lost a great deal of blood. He lived, no thanks to Flipper.

In the months that followed, such attacks increased, apparently unprovoked, until the city of Port Charlotte called in the Wildlife people to "relocate" the animals — hopefully about 600 miles away in the Dry Tortugas.

But this story did not leave Florida, it would have been a public relations fiasco for the state's tourism.

— Doc Velocity




[edit on 2/4/2010 by Doc Velocity]

reply to post by Doc Velocity


See that is the problem with playing with what are actually wild animals. They are WILD. Sure they might be cute and seem tame, but in all reality, they have no problem in killing you if you piss them off. Being in the water with them can be provocation enough.

Originally posted by whatukno
reply to post by Doc Velocity

 

See that is the problem with playing with what are actually wild animals. They are WILD. Sure they might be cute and seem tame, but in all reality, they have no problem in killing you if you piss them off. Being in the water with them can be provocation enough.

Well you said it before I could.I mean yeah they are wild animals and can attack.People should just learn that not everything is just a cute little playful animal and they can still kill you.

Originally posted by indy0725
I mean yeah they are wild animals and can attack.People should just learn that not everything is just a cute little playful animal and they can still kill you.

And, actually, porpoises are among the larger wild animals that people regularly approach. An average-sized porpoise is around 500 lbs, and it's as strong as a horse, can toss the average human being around like a rag doll. Like any other wild animal, they are attracted to the garbage that humans produce and to the little "goodies" we feed to them.

On land, the next nearest wild animal to which I would compare the porpoise is the black bear, which humans are constantly feeding and approaching with less-than-appropriate caution. The average black bear weighs between 300 and 400 lbs, and that's when they're well-fed, with a lot of stored fat.

A porpoise, as stated earlier, is around 500 lbs, and they're basically all muscle.

Black bears are known to attack humans under a few basic conditions: When the bears are sick or wounded; when they are starving; and when they're protecting their young.

Porpoise attacks, on the other hand, generally occur when the porpoise is having a bad day — porpoises usually attack for emotional reasons, the way humans do. Which makes them far less predictable than bears and far more dangerous.

As with the police officer I mentioned above, the porpoise was smart enough to know that humans can be drowned fairly easily, and it intentionally submerged the man, in addition to ripping his leg damn near off.

What makes porpoises so goddamned dangerous, most of all, is the widely propagated myth that they are friendly and helpful and compassionate creatures, and that they instinctively try to protect human beings in the water.

This is one of the biggest wildlife lies ever perpetrated by Disney (with their movie "Flipper") and by the tourism industry (with their travel packages inviting people to "come play with friendly wild dolphins!"), a lie that has gotten many unsuspecting people mauled by porpoises countless times.

Actually, porpoise attacks on humans are about as common as shark attacks — which is a lot more common than is reported.

— Doc Velocity






[edit on 2/5/2010 by Doc Velocity]

Back in my hometown in Colorado we have Elk, Elk are large herbivores, weighing in the neighborhood of 500 to 700 lbs, and the ones in town are pretty used to people. That being said, they still are WILD animals.

I was working one night, and taking a break I was standing out front of the hotel, I see this car pull up next to a large bull, the passenger was taking pictures of an elk, they were really close, and as I have said, the Elk are pretty used to the tourist routine.

However, the passenger did something incredibly stupid, he leaned out the window and grabbed this bull by the antlers. I didn't see what happened next, because I ran inside to call 911. When the paramedics arrived a few minutes latter (small tourist town, response time is great) they had to flight for life the man to Greeley and weren't expecting him to live.

During the rut, we often had a bull that would gather his harem near the hotel, he would stand on the front lawn and bugle for mates, we often had to go outside and bring people in through the side door, because during the rut, a bull is not in the greatest of moods, and people mistakenly thought that they would be able to pet the damn thing.

People should understand the WILD in wild animal. Dolphins while very intelligent can kill you as Doc has pointed out. It does not surprise me one bit that one would beat the hell out of a person because it was not having a good day.