St. Augustin Beach, Florida surfer Andrew Birchall, 37, is recovering from two shark bites to his foot after jumping off his board and stepping on a shark, according to a story in Action News Jax.
“When he got off the board, he apparently stepped on the shark in about waist deep water. The shark bit him we think twice. We think he bit him once, then kind of pulled his foot out of the shark’s mouth, then he got another bite on his toes,” mother Nancy Birchall said. . . She said her son has been surfing the St. Augustine Beach area for years, and never had a problem.
After a trip to the hospital and surgery to remove a shark tooth from his foot, Birchall is doing well. Seems it’s hard to step off your board in Florida without stepping on a shark.
A least one surfer in Santa Cruz, California was apparently hoping to grab more than his/her share of the first major summer swell when they posted close to 10 fake shark warning signs at Pleasure Point, according to a story on KTVU.com.
Warning signs with the California State Parks logo were posted Wednesday night at Pleasure Point Beach near Santa Cruz warning people of a shark. . . At first glance the sign, which tells surfers to go to another beach, appears real. . . The sign ends with “Surf Cowells instead.”
It fooled some surfers for a while, but most figured it out after reading the “Surf Cowells instead” line. Desperate times requires desperate measures. We’re surprised this doesn’t happen more often.
A 36-year-old French surfer who was spending his honeymoon on Reunion Island was attacked and killed by a shark, according to a story on Sky.com.
The 36-year-old French national was in the sea just off the popular beach of Brisants de Saint-Gilles on the west of the island when a shark charged at him twice, prompting a nearby swimmer to raise the alarm when he saw blood on the water, the local prefecture said. . . Lifeguards jumped in the water to fetch the victim, who had lost a lot of blood and was in cardiac and respiratory arrest. They brought him back to the beach but were unable to revive him.
The man’s new bride is reportedly being treated for shock. This is the third person to die from a shark attack on Reunion Island in the last two years. Our thoughts are with the man’s wife, their families and friends.
Michael Adler, a 15-year-old surfer from Fort Lauderdale, Florida is kind of glad he was bitten by a shark while surfing in Melbourne on Saturday, May 4, 2013, according to Fox News. There were 20 holes in the top of his foot, but that’s not the important part.
Adler says he is eager to surf again, despite the attack. . . “Now I know I’m not gonna get bit again so I’m not scared,” he told WSVN. “I mean, how many people get bitten by a shark, twice?”
You mean aside from Florida surfers who say they’re never going to get bit again, Michael?
A 21-year-old surfer from DeBary, Florida wins the honor of New Smyrna’s first shark bite of the season, according to a story in the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
The surfer, whose name was not available, was bitten about 1:30 p.m. Saturday as he caught waves off New Smyrna Beach near the south jetty, Marris said.
According to the International Shark Attach File Florida’s Volusia and Brevard counties share the 2012 record for shark bites with eight each in 2012. Yay, Florida.
Paul Santos was surfing Kiholo Bay Wednesday, January 16, 2013 on the Big Island of Hawaii when a 15-18 foot tiger shark bit down on his right arm and leg. His surfing buddy Steve Macres saw the entire thing, according to a story in the Star Advertiser.
“I turned around to go on a wave and heard him. I heard that blood-curdling scream. It was just so primordial. It was unbelievable and it went into an echo so I could tell while he was screaming, he went underwater,” Macres told KITV-TV. Macres said he saw the shark come out of the water, followed by a splash and then nothing. He said he thought his friend was dead and made a quick decision to paddle to shore. About 20 feet later, he decided to turn around to get another look. . . “I just see him paddling for me. It was just incredible. It was like he was just born again, I just went, ‘Oh God. Thank God.’ You know?” said Marcres. “And then he lifted his right arm and his hand was flopping and it was, the bone was connected and it didn’t break, but everything else was gone. I go, ‘Paddle Paul, paddle!”’
On Thursday Santos was at Kaiser Permanente’s Moanalua Medical Cetner in Honolulu, according to the story, where he was “in stable condition with bites to his right arm and leg.”
Thanks to a little technological wizardry from Ocearch (and some tagged sharks) surfers can now track sharks around the world using the non-profit’s Global Shark Tracker. Want to track “Mary Lee” the 16 foot great white and she tools around Jacksonville, Florida beaches? It’s all there for you. Now, if they could just tag all the sharks.
A 60-year-old surfer on the Westside of Kauai was hit on the left foot by a shark on Wednesday afternoon (December 5, 2012) at about 1:20 PM at Pakala Beach, according to a story in The Garden Isle.
The surfer told officials he saw the shark bite his [left] foot. . . Officials estimate the shark to be at least 10 feet long, according to a report from the Department of Conservation and Resources Enforcement.
Sound like the man is doing fine. And that’s good.
Eureka, California Surfer Scott Stephens is glad to be alive today after going through surgery to repair serious damage to his torso after getting hit by a juvenile great white shark on Tuesday, October 30, 2012. If it weren’t for the guys who helped get him to the hospital and the doctors who sewed him up he’d just be another sad statistic. We are super stoked for him and hope he recovers quickly.
A 25-year-old surfer was riding waves at North Jetty on Eureka, California Somoa Peninsula around noon today (October 30, 2012) when he was reportedly bitten by a shark, according to a story in the Times-Standard.
The victim told the deputy he was bitten by a shark while surfing. The victim had an approximate 14 inch bite wound and other wounds on his body that required surgery. . . . [one witness] said the victim had about four 12-inch long gashes from his ribs to below his hips. . . “It punctured all the way through. There were guts and meat hanging,” Gabriel said, adding that the victim appeared to be in shock. “He was going ‘Oh my God, oh my God.'”
According to a spokesperson from St. Joseph Hospital the victim is currently in fair condition. Our thoughts are with him and we hope he has a speedy recovery.
