STORM2K

If I didn't know for a fact that he had undergone emergency surgery at UTMB, I would be very doubtful of this. They were in water almost too shallow for a shark of any size, even very small, to get into. Still wondering if it was some other type of fish since no one seems to have seen the shark, at least not in any reports I heard. Don't get me wrong, I have seen sharks in very shallow water before, but not just 20-30 feet offshore where the waves are breaking because the water is less than knee deep.

Up here we sometimes have sharks in very shallow water and close in to the beaches... I think they find food or chase food into shallow water.

Occasionally they go up the estuaries...

Knee deep water does seem very shallow, especially when you are talking knee deep to a 12 yr old, considering he is an average 12 yr old of under 5 feet in height. Could it have been a small breed of shark? Even a small shark could do alot of damage to a 12 yr old kid. Does the "Dead Zone" along the Tx coastline have anything to do with sharks coming into shallower water to feed? I pray that this 12 yr old will have a good recovery!

David, try 10 to 15 feet!! They've been very shallow a little to your east as well. They had to close Sea Rim State Park. Here's a few pics from recent news articles from KFDM in Beaumont, with a few snippets from each story below the pic.



<The manager of Sea Rim State Park calls the number of recent shark sightings unprecedented.
Reports of sharks swimming in the surf filed in throughout Tuesday, including a report of 14 fins in one area.>
< "My staff has seen sharks as close as ten to 15 feet."
And now, Sarah Carnright from Groves can say she's seen a shark, too.
Sarah was walking in ankle high water when she saw this shark's dorsal and tail fin sticking out of the water.
Sarah Carnwright/Visiting Beach:
"That was really close. That probably wasn't even to my knees."
Shark sightings like Sarah's have been common this month.>

http://www.kfdm.com/engine.pl?station=k ... arch.shtml







<Bob Clayton walks within ten feet of what appears to be a bull shark swimming in the surf. According to the International Shark Attack File, you should refrain from splashing too much when a shark is near.>
<"Nine feet, one inch."
It's no fish tale. Five men reeled in this nine foot lemon shark early Sunday morning.>
<Bob Clayton/Shark Fisherman:
"We counted six or eight right in this area.">

http://www.kfdm.com/engine.pl?station=k ... arch.shtml






<Picture of 4 of the 5 Beaumont men who made a big catch Sunday morning, a 9 foot shark>

http://www.kfdm.com/engine.pl?station=k ... arch.shtml

Yep...the Bull Shark is the deadliest shark in the world.

~Floydbuster wrote:Yep...the Bull Shark is the deadliest shark in the world.

I'd always thought the Great White was.

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/07/19/shark.attack/index.html

The shark attack on a little boy in Pensacola several years ago was in shallow waters. That shark was 7 feet long.

You can kind of tell from the pics posted above that the sharks patrol the guts between the sand bars. Off Galveston Island, there's a series of 3 sand bars that cover about 150 to 300 feet from shore depending on where you are on the island. The water can be anywhere from ankle to 3+ feet deep on top of the bars and 6 feet deep and more in between them.