Shark Attack

jim richardson · Post by **jim richardson** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 9:24 pm

Did you see that gal on the news. Surfing the north shore. Attacked by a shark. She was wearing a FULL SUIT ? What the hell? Either way looked like the shark didnt like the taste. Her injuries looked minor.

Smokin Rock · Post by **Smokin Rock** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 1:14 pm

the water was cleared this morning at the lighthouse after several people saw a big fin. it took everyone all of twenty minutes to get over it and get back to surfing the 4-5' clean lefts.

Mike Fernandez · Post by **Mike Fernandez** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 6:15 pm

Bud · Post by **Bud** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 10:08 am

"Surfing the north shore. Attacked by a shark. She was wearing a FULL SUIT ? What the hell?"

She was Canadian, very pale skinned, coverd in freckles.
Reason enough to wear a full suit all the time.

Local news story about the recent attack on the North Shore

Injured Canadian visitor Elizabeth Dunn, with her partner, Chris Smith, told
her shark story yesterday at Backpackers Vacation Inn.
REBECCA BREYER | The Honolulu Advertiser

PUPUKEA - Yesterday morning held the best and the worst for island visitor
Elizabeth Dunn. She caught the best wave of her life, then realized her
worst fear: shark attack.

Dunn, 28, and her partner, Chris Smith, both of Vancouver, British Columbia,
were at Left Overs, a popular surf spot about a mile south of Waimea Bay
when she was bitten and released by a shark. It happened so quickly that
she's not sure what kind of shark it was, or how big it was.

What she does know is that it left five puncture wounds in her left calf,
one to the bone, and doctors said judging by the spacing of the marks, the
shark was large.

"I was totally terrified and there was nothing I could do," Dunn said while
recuperating at Backpackers Vacation Inn in Pupukea. "It was my worst fear
and it's so bizarre to have your worst fear suddenly come true."

Dunn, a psychology professor, has been surfing for two years and said she
has a shark phobia.

When the shark hit and released, she knew she wasn't badly injured but
couldn't bring herself to put her hands back into the water to paddle in, so
she screamed. She was some 400 feet from shore and was sure the shark would
return. Instead, it swam away.

Two other surfers were far away and seemed to take forever to hear her, Dunn
said, adding that being alone with the perfect wave had its drawbacks.

"It makes you like the crowded Waikiki Beach," she said.

Yesterday's shark encounter was the fourth in Hawai'i this year and the
first reported on O'ahu since Feb. 16, 2005, when a shark estimated to be 8
feet long bit a surfer's board near Sunset Beach. That attack happened at
2:30 in the afternoon in clear water about 10 feet deep.

The weather may have been a contributing factor in yesterday's attack. John
Naughton, a local biologist with NOAA Fisheries, cautioned yesterday that
the runoff from recent rain could bring sharks closer to shore. He said the
runoff brings lots of shark food into the nearshore waters and he is urging
people not to go swimming there.

In tiger sharks that the fisheries have caught, Naughton said, "we find pigs
and goats. One time off Waimea (Kaua'i), we found a horse's head in a
shark's belly. People have got to stay out of the turbid water. There's a
lot of dead animals in there. Cats, dogs, rats, all kinds. I can guarantee
you've got tiger sharks and they're feeding."

Dunn said the surf conditions were perfect before the attack. The water,
though murky, was glassy with well-formed waves about 3 feet high. "I was
just getting my groove on," she said.

Her last ride was long and euphoric, she said. She turned her 7-foot board
to paddle back out.

Then it happened.

The first contact was a bump from below, which she said she thought was a
turtle. She'd just seen a turtle and the local man she was surfing with had
reassured her that he hadn't seen a shark in those waters in five years.
Next, she said, she felt the bite on her left calf before she saw a
2-foot-tall fin, jagged with ridges. The shark released and swam away.

Her rescuers drove her to Kahuku Hospital for treatment.

Dunn's brush with death won't stop her from surfing, but she said she'll be
more careful before going in the water. Dunn said from what she can tell,
shark attacks are rare.

"The truth is it's so unlikely to happen; it's just that it happened to me,"
she said.

Kauaikneelo · Post by **Kauaikneelo** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 11:07 am

IF PEOPLE WERE SHARK FOOD, THEN THE ONLY PEOPLE IN THE WATER WOULD BE SURFERS, PROBABLY WEARING STEEL MESH SUITS.

SHARKS ARE ALWAYS AROUND, LOOK AT SOME OF THOSE PHOTOS FROM BEACHES IN THE SOUTH WHERE SHARKS ARE 100-200 FEET AWAY ALL THE TIME.
IF WE FISH OUT ALL THE WATERS AND KEEP PUTTING WASTE IN THE RIVERS

THEN MAYBE THEY FIND A TASTE FOR US, CUZ THEY WILL JUST KEEP ON GOING, AS HISTORY HAS SHOWED. MORAL OF THE STORY: WE ALL NEED SPACE ON THIS ROUND BALL AND TAKING THE FOOD SOURCES FORCES THE CHANGES

KED · Post by **KED** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 12:05 pm

IF WE FISH OUT ALL THE WATERS AND KEEP PUTTING WASTE IN THE RIVERS THEN MAYBE THEY FIND A TASTE FOR US, CUZ THEY WILL JUST KEEP ON GOING

You are absolutely right. Deplete their food supply of big fish, and of course sharks will come in closer to shore looking for food.
Another problem, IMO, is the fact that "Shark Tour" boats sit right off the coastline (= close to surf breaks) and chum for sharks so the tourists can go down in the cages and see them up close

The boats are supposeed to stay 3 miles off shore, but they do not... and nobody monitors the situation.

jim richardson · Post by **jim richardson** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 1:26 pm

[quote]IF PEOPLE WERE SHARK FOOD, THEN THE ONLY PEOPLE IN THE WATER WOULD BE SURFERS, PROBABLY WEARING STEEL MESH SUITS.

What is the SPF of a mesh suit? I want to protect those fair skinned freckeled up Canadian girls as much possible. Make that any girl fair skinned or not.

KED · Post by **KED** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 2:38 pm

Yeah, but how much do those things weigh? If one of those girls ran into you it would be like being hit by a train

And if the suit had any rust on it, you could die of tetnus

I hear it's pretty bad stuff.

skansand · Post by **skansand** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 4:12 pm

"Dunn, a psychology professor, has been surfing for two years and said she has a shark phobia. "

hahahahahahahahahaha.

thats great!!!

What?, someone afraid of sharks?????

jim richardson · Post by **jim richardson** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 10:47 pm

I'am afraid!!

matt holzman da kauai boy · Tue Mar 28, 2006 3:40 pm

theres been some major shark prombloms on the west side of kauai. There were a huge swarm of 2-5ft black tips with about four 6-8ft tigers. there were so many people taking pictures. and this one guy casted out his pole and one of the huge tigers got his bait and broke the steel wire.

. I've been out of the water since then.

Aloha Matt

matt holzman da kauai boy · Tue Mar 28, 2006 3:41 pm

theres been some major shark prombloms on the west side of kauai. There were a huge swarm of 2-5ft black tips with about four 6-8ft tigers. there were so many people taking pictures. and this one guy casted out his pole and one of the huge tigers got his bait and broke the steel wire.

. I've been out of the water since then.

Aloha Matt

matt holzman da kauai boy · Tue Mar 28, 2006 3:45 pm

oops i sent 2 posts

Aloha Matt

KED · Post by **KED** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 4:31 pm

Same problem over here (Oahu)

Mike Fernandez · Post by **Mike Fernandez** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 6:49 am

Matt, maybe the sharks are hanging around because of the food they might have gotten from the recent dam burst. With time, they will go away.

As far as chumming only three miles off shore, that is crazy, they should be at least 20 miles away.

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