This guy's brother?
Posted on 02/25/2008 11:02:52 AM PST by jazusamo
Edited on 02/25/2008 11:45:58 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
A man bitten by a shark while diving over the weekend has died, the U.S. Coast Guard in Miami announced on Monday.
The 50-year-old man "passed away from his injuries sustained by a shark bite," said Coast Guard spokeswoman Petty Officer Jennifer Johnson.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
Correct, it's only common sense.
Swimming with sharks can be non habit forming.
This guy's brother?
It sounds like it doesn’t it? :)
LOL.
I really need to slow down and read more carefully. I thought the title read: “man bit off shark Fla; dies”.
I couldn’t wait to read it and find out was a shark “fla” is and which one died as a result, the man or the shark?
Do they offer a skydiving into a volcano package?
Well, my grand daddy gave me this good advive:
“When a shark bites you, get out of the water”.
Chum times there are unintended consequences.
But at least the chum worked.
And the chances for winning a Darwin Award increases exponentially with each lap.
You know how to tell whether or not there’s sharks in the water, before you go in?
Taste it, if it’s salty, there’s sharks in there. ‘Course, OTOH, if it’s fresh, there might still be sharks, they can swim in fresh water too.
If you ever get the chance, there's a biographical movie about that nut. Quite funny to watch, in a sick sorta way.
Seems the shark was confused as to which was the chum.
I live in Florida. I don’t go into the water.............(yes, Jaws II was filmed here).............
I thought the best line in that movie was when they were interviewing the helicopter pilot that said "I guess one of those bears just thought he would be a tasty treat". Perfect.
lol
RIP.
Funny, they refer to this incident as “off Fort Lauderdale.” At 50 miles off Fort Lauderdale, you are in the territorial waters of another country, the Bahamas. ‘Course, I guess the Bahamas are “off Fort Lauderdale, but for that matter Africa is also off Fort Lauderdale.
Sad story, though. I’ve sometimes wondered why it hadn’t happened before.
“Correct, it’s only common sense.”
About 10 years ago I got the chance to scuba-dive on the Great Barrier Reef. I’m glad nothing happened as I was a bit naive. (Rent the gear off the boat, no training, etc.)
I must say though it was one of the few things that I have done that was truly amazing and lived up to the hype - it was just like you see in the travel films. Giant clams (the 6’ big variety) and even a large (8-foot?) shark that I tried to swim closer to but it ignored me as it swam away. (Thank goodness)
I’ve been on this type of dive & it’s reasonably safe if you follow instructions (ie. keep your arms folded & hands ‘in’). Mostly you’re diving with nurse sharks & caribbean reef sharks. The ‘shark wranglers’, clad in chain mail suits, handle the bait & feed the sharks out front of the phalanx of paying customers. Imagine kneeling on the bottom, shoulder-to-shoulder, with your backs to a reef wall. A wrangler protects each flank while the 3rd wrangler feeds at a distance.
I don’t know what they would do if a tiger shark or a bull shark would show up. Can’t call ‘time-out’ in open water.
“The company offers shark trips to the Bahamas for enthusiasts and photographers hoping to interact with hammerhead and tiger sharks,”
Morons.
Was an SUV involved?
I did some diving in my young days off So CA. Some of the areas were very beautiful and I’ve seen sharks but none that were real large, of course even 4 or 5 footers can do much damage.
I guess the main difference here is the chumming of the sharks, they are in a feeding mood.
Several years ago when the kid (Jesse Arbogast?) was bitten, Florida banned these kinds of O/W shark dives on the supposition that shark dives 20+ miles off the coast encourage sharks to bite bathers at the beach. Dumb theory; dumber legislation.
Shark dives of the type are still allowed in the Bahamas. The sharks involved are usually reef & nurse sharks that are conditioned to the feeding. These sharks tend to be territorial, so when you dive a certain spot you see the same ones time & again. It’s not totally without risk, but that’s the lure.
As for the website reference to Tiger & Bull Sharks. This diver’s opinion is that only an idiot would mess with those types of sharks. I would bet that the website refers to occaisional ‘sightings’ of the more dangerous sharks & that the reporter is confusing that with the reef sharks that are deliberately being fed. If a man-eater shows up, shark feeding ceases & the bait can gets sealed.
This is a garbled report. No question in my mind. The dive operator’s competitors are doing a little bit of piling-on, and they know it.
Shark Bites Man
Sad but predictable.
Man Bites Shark
Now THERE’S a headline. When will we see that one?
I think you’re probably right about the most common type being nurse and reef sharks, if they were tigers and bulls the attacks would be a weekly occurence.
liberals
Tasty liberals. ;0)
It turns out the victim was 49 and paid to go on the trip. It also turns out it was somewhat of a "canibalistic" attack. The victim was a lawyer from Austria.
A little salsa and couple brews to round out the meal
Exception #1: most shark attacks occur in poor visibility. Caribbean waters are usually clear with visibility ranging from 60 to 100 ft. Not much chance of being bitten.
Exception #2: Scuba divers that 'do' get bitten are usually involved in spear fishing activities. Spear fishermen are warned to suspend their catch at the end of a long leader & NOT clip them to their dive gear where sharks may be encouraged to grab.
This is a Caribbean Reef Shark similar to the type that you see on a shark dive like that described.
I dunno...I have nothing against shark dives either, but going to Abernethy’s website, it appears that the reports are accurate. This guy is taking people out to see hammerheads, bulls and tigers in a chummed environment just like the standard shark dives, except actively seeking the far more dangerous sharks.
This is from his website:
http://www.scuba-adventures.com/bahamas_itineraries.shtml
“Great Hammerhead and Tiger Shark Expeditions in the Bahamas
These unique shark trips are being run exclusively for shark enthusiasts and photographers. The emphasis will be on getting quality in-water time and photo opportunities; space is therefore limited to a maximum of ten people. This is a fantastic opportunity you will find nowhere else, and with over 25 years experience in diving with sharks, Jim Abernethy can assure you the very best up close encounters. We are in our 5th season and the shark action has never been better! We have numerous new locations, and we’re seeing a lot of the same sharks at each site, along with many new sharks every day. We are starting our very own identification catalog and and look forward to sharing our encounters with you!
Our primary goal is to interact with great hammerhead sharks. These spectacular animals are among the most impressive yet rarely observed of oceanic predators. For many years, the great hammerhead has eluded underwater photographers. In 2000, following a hunch, we set off on our first dedicated shark expedition to find and photograph the King Kong of hammerheads, which can grow to a colossal 18 feet in length. The great hammerhead should not to be confused with the smaller and more common scalloped hammerhead, which can be seen schooling in many locations around the world. Encountering the great hammerhead with its spectacular angularity, its Orca-like dorsal fin, and its bristle-toothed mouth is at the very pinnacle of wildlife adventure.
In addition to great hammerheads, we are also in search of the tiger shark.Although the tiger shark tends to be more cautious than the great hammerhead, we regularly encounter tiger sharks from 6-18 feet in length. The giant of the tropical shark world, this awesome predator will sometimes cruise past in bulky silhouette, approaching the baits with fearless purpose, an exhilarating experience!
Our secret locations are often frequented by Caribbean reef sharks, bull sharks, lemon and nurse sharks while occasionally being visited by something more exotic such as a dusky shark or its little cousin, the silky. At the end of a good day, we have had as many as twenty sharks of as many as six different species.
To insure the best results we will be “chumming” the water with fish and fish parts. Consequently, there will be food in the water at the same time as the divers. Please be aware that these are not “cage” dives, they are open water experiences. We will have crew members in the water at all times to insure diver safety. A thorough briefing will be given for each dive site that we visit and each type of shark that you will encounter. We do not move the boat after each dive, unless we are not having much luck at one site, then we may decide to move, but we generally stay in one location overnight and all day.”
IMO, there is a HUGE difference between chumming for reef sharks, and stopping when a hammerhead or tiger shows up, and chumming for the purpose of diving with tigers, hammerheads, bulls, etc.
Seems to me that this really was an “it’s a matter of when” deal based not just on him competitors’ comments, but based on his own website!
Last time I went diving with the wife and kid we came across 7 8 foot nurse sharks beneath a ledge. Kid and I were in scuba wife in snorkle at Pecks Lake just south of the Saint Lucie inlet in South East Florida in 15 feet of water.
Kid swam over and grabbed an 8 footer by the tail and shook it and it turned and was not a happy camper. Wife nearly ran on top of the water back to the boat.
Laughed my rear end off. But then again they weren’t tiger or bulls wither.
I’ve seen it and this guy just wasn’t all there.
While diving off Fort Pierce Florida I had a Tiger swinm nearby and it scared the pooh out of me. I clung to the underside of a ledge and it went away and I got out of the water.
Lobster diving at the time.
Have seen a few bulls and they are more frightening.
Played with nurse and a large hammerhead estuary is in the Indian river just south of here.
Have even seen a whale shark but didn’t go in the water with it as I was trolling at the time for Phelagics.
LOL! I think I’d have been right along side your wife.
That line is truly spoken aloud?
I am laughing so hard my boss is gonna want to know why.
Dammit. Now I gotta watch that movie after all.
He was a riot!! I loved how he would film himself and then talk to himself about it and do it again.
Yes!! I loved that line. I thought it was great, especially in the deadpan manner it was delivered.
Kind of funny,
I’ve known green Berets and Harley Davidson bad asses and taken them diving with me.
Near Pecks Lake there are a few very large sharks, 15 or 18 foot nurse sharks that are quite docile but when ya take these tough guys and introduce them to these very large docile sharks their pucker factor becomes enormous.
Now get me around tigers or bulls and I seem to get very nervous.
I don’t care for very large Morays either.
Exactly right. This dive operator is off his nut. I ran into a Bull down in Playa Del Carmen a couple of years back. 2 divers pursued the darned thing with their camera. They made it back, but I wouldn't have been surprised if they hadn't.
A neighbor & dive partner was on a wreck dive of Morehead City (NC) when a Great White happened by. He was back on the boat, but there were still 2 divers on the wreck and they weren't due back for 30 minutes. Skipper slid a spear gun & a slate saying "Great White at the boat... NO SH--!". Fortunately, the beast moved over to investigate another boat & that was precisely when the wide-eyed divers popped up. Frankly, I thought that the spear gun would just p*ss him off. My neighbor promptly invested in a 44 Mag "Bang Stick" after that incident.
Oh, and I used to free ascend & catch the anchor line further up if the current permitted. Not anymore. I would have missed the speargun & slate entirely.
Timmy Treadwell’s demon jumped from bears to sharks.
AHHH!! I posted before I saw this.
Great minds think alike. hehe
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