Thu Jan 14 2010.
JOHANNESBURG: Witnesses have described their horror at seeing a tourist being eaten by a ''gigantic'' shark in South Africa's most popular holiday spot.
Lloyd Skinner was pulled under the surf and dragged out to sea by the shark, believed to be a great white, off Fish Hoek beach in Cape Town. His diving goggles and a dark patch of blood were all that remained in the water.
''Holy XXX. We just saw a gigantic shark eat what looked like a person in front of our house,'' Gregg Coppen posted on Twitter. ''That shark was huge. Like dinosaur huge.''
The attack on Tuesday afternoon came after an increase in shark sightings and led to calls for an electronic warning system to alert swimmers.
Mr Skinner, 37, a Zimbabwean who lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was standing chest-deep 100 metres from the shore and adjusting his goggles when the shark struck. It was seen approaching him twice before he disappeared in a flurry of thrashing.
Disaster management services had issued a warning hours earlier that sharks had been spotted in the water, but the shark flag was not flying.
The shark was ''longer than a minibus'', Mr Coppen told the Cape Times. ''It was this giant shadow heading to something colourful. Then it sort of came out [of] the water and took this colourful lump and went off with it. You could see its whole jaw wrap around the thing, which turned out to be a person.''
Four rescue boats and a helicopter searched in vain for him on Tuesday and Wednesday. Ian Klopper, a spokesman for the National Sea Rescue Institute, said: ''You can rule out any chance of finding him alive. Whether we find body parts, it's very unlikely. We think the shark took everything.''
giant shark kills man in shallow water off Cape Town SA
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Re: giant shark kills man in shallow water off Cape Town SA
Definitely a great white. That location its always a great white. Probably from the description about 14-16 feet long. They don't usually get huge around there.
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Re: giant shark kills man in shallow water off Cape Town SA
STUART KITE-SURFER KILLED IN SHARK ATTACK
Wed Feb 3 2010
STUART, Florida - Young great white sharks might be responsible for Wednesday's deadly attack on a kiteboard surfer, a research scientist who investigated a previous shark fatality says.
However, Grant Gilmore said it's too early to say which kind of shark killed Stephen Howard Schafer, who was found with bite wounds about 4 p.m. a quarter-mile off an unguarded beach, just south of Stuart Beach, officials said.
Schafer, 38, of Stuart, was rushed to Martin Memorial North Medical Center, where he later died.
It was Martin County's first fatal shark attack, according to records going back to 1882.
Gilmore said the size and type of shark in the attack can be learned the same way it was when he investigated the 1998 death of 9-year-old James Willie Tellasmon north of Jaycee Park in Vero Beach.
Characteristic bite patterns from among many species that live or visit waters off the Treasure Coast can be compared to determine the kind of shark, said Gilmore, a senior scientist with Estuarine, Coastal and Ocean Science Inc. in Vero Beach.
The 1998 attack happened in shallow water and was attributed to a young tiger shark about 6 feet long.
Great whites prefer colder northern Atlantic Ocean waters and aren't usually thought of as a Florida shark. But smaller 6- to 8-foot ones 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.
Late Wednesday afternoon, a lifeguard was looking through his binoculars and saw Schafer in distress in the water, officials said.
When the lifeguard paddled out to Schafer, he saw blood in the water and Schafer screamed that a shark had bit him, according to a Sheriff's Office report.
The lifeguard put Schafer on his rescue board and paddled to shore. The victim had multiple bite wounds, including an 8- to 10-inch bite on his right thigh and teeth marks on his right and left buttocks, officials said.
Rescue workers gave Schafer CPR before paramedics brought him to the hospital.
George Burgess, keeper of the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History, said he was trying to reach authorities to get more details on the incident.
Burgess said he didn't want to guess on the exact type of shark involved without more details, but that considering the attack was fatal, it's unlikely it was some of the smaller sharks more common to South Florida waters, such as the spinner or black tip.
"Those are the species involved in the occasional nips off the east coast, especially in Volusia County, but they are not man-eaters," Burgess said. "If, indeed, the gentleman yesterday was bitten by sharks, it's far more likely it was a larger species such as a bull or a tiger, or a white shark if it was in the area."
Burgess said white sharks typically don't make it much further south than Jacksonville because of they like the cooler water temperatures.
"The white shark is indeed in the area, or conceivably could be, but they are very irregular visitors," Burgess said.
The Sheriff's Office was investigating the death, said sheriff's Capt. Mark McKinley.
"I've been here 25 years," McKinley said. "To my knowledge, this is the first shark-related fatality we've seen."
Schafer's friends said they are shocked by his death.
"I've never heard of multiple sharks in this area surrounding someone and fatally wounding him," said Teague Taylor, 36, a childhood friend. "He was the nicest person ever."
Normally, sharks appear in the area to eat migrating bait fish.
Taylor said he was surprised to see the sharks because they normally come around springtime. Taylor said he was surfing Tuesday near where his friend was attacked and saw several sharks.
"You always think in the back of your mind that [sharks] are out there," he said.
Jordan Schwartz, who has known Schafer for five years, said he was a very experienced kiteboard surfer.
"He was a super-nice guy, always mellow," Schwartz said. "I don't think he had any enemies."
It was unknown whether Stuart Beach would be open Thursday.
There have been about 14 deaths in Florida attributed to sharks.
Wed Feb 3 2010
STUART, Florida - Young great white sharks might be responsible for Wednesday's deadly attack on a kiteboard surfer, a research scientist who investigated a previous shark fatality says.
However, Grant Gilmore said it's too early to say which kind of shark killed Stephen Howard Schafer, who was found with bite wounds about 4 p.m. a quarter-mile off an unguarded beach, just south of Stuart Beach, officials said.
Schafer, 38, of Stuart, was rushed to Martin Memorial North Medical Center, where he later died.
It was Martin County's first fatal shark attack, according to records going back to 1882.
Gilmore said the size and type of shark in the attack can be learned the same way it was when he investigated the 1998 death of 9-year-old James Willie Tellasmon north of Jaycee Park in Vero Beach.
Characteristic bite patterns from among many species that live or visit waters off the Treasure Coast can be compared to determine the kind of shark, said Gilmore, a senior scientist with Estuarine, Coastal and Ocean Science Inc. in Vero Beach.
The 1998 attack happened in shallow water and was attributed to a young tiger shark about 6 feet long.
Great whites prefer colder northern Atlantic Ocean waters and aren't usually thought of as a Florida shark. But smaller 6- to 8-foot ones 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.
Late Wednesday afternoon, a lifeguard was looking through his binoculars and saw Schafer in distress in the water, officials said.
When the lifeguard paddled out to Schafer, he saw blood in the water and Schafer screamed that a shark had bit him, according to a Sheriff's Office report.
The lifeguard put Schafer on his rescue board and paddled to shore. The victim had multiple bite wounds, including an 8- to 10-inch bite on his right thigh and teeth marks on his right and left buttocks, officials said.
Rescue workers gave Schafer CPR before paramedics brought him to the hospital.
George Burgess, keeper of the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History, said he was trying to reach authorities to get more details on the incident.
Burgess said he didn't want to guess on the exact type of shark involved without more details, but that considering the attack was fatal, it's unlikely it was some of the smaller sharks more common to South Florida waters, such as the spinner or black tip.
"Those are the species involved in the occasional nips off the east coast, especially in Volusia County, but they are not man-eaters," Burgess said. "If, indeed, the gentleman yesterday was bitten by sharks, it's far more likely it was a larger species such as a bull or a tiger, or a white shark if it was in the area."
Burgess said white sharks typically don't make it much further south than Jacksonville because of they like the cooler water temperatures.
"The white shark is indeed in the area, or conceivably could be, but they are very irregular visitors," Burgess said.
The Sheriff's Office was investigating the death, said sheriff's Capt. Mark McKinley.
"I've been here 25 years," McKinley said. "To my knowledge, this is the first shark-related fatality we've seen."
Schafer's friends said they are shocked by his death.
"I've never heard of multiple sharks in this area surrounding someone and fatally wounding him," said Teague Taylor, 36, a childhood friend. "He was the nicest person ever."
Normally, sharks appear in the area to eat migrating bait fish.
Taylor said he was surprised to see the sharks because they normally come around springtime. Taylor said he was surfing Tuesday near where his friend was attacked and saw several sharks.
"You always think in the back of your mind that [sharks] are out there," he said.
Jordan Schwartz, who has known Schafer for five years, said he was a very experienced kiteboard surfer.
"He was a super-nice guy, always mellow," Schwartz said. "I don't think he had any enemies."
It was unknown whether Stuart Beach would be open Thursday.
There have been about 14 deaths in Florida attributed to sharks.
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