Young great white sharks may have killed Stuart surfer, expert says [FL]

osentinel ^ | 04 Feb 2010 | Keona Gardner and James Kirley

[stainlessbanner]

STUART - 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.

[sticker]

Where was the shark when this occurred:

[rollo tomasi]

Maybe the “kids” of some Great Whites that make it down to N.Florida are “geographically challenged”.

http://www.wesh.com/news/22300507/detail.html

A lot of Bull sharks in Florida and they can be aggressive but usually stay away from prey that is bigger.

[Joe Boucher]

I fish and dive for lobsters in this area all the time
When ya see a bunch that are not nurse sharks ya stay out.
Either he was too bold or ignored the warning signs.
Kite boarders get loads of air and have great views:

[Leisler]

I’ve been to Martin Memorial. I don’t know as if I would want to go there bleeding a lot.

[angcat]

I ask that question all the time.

[cranked]

Does it really matter that these sharks were "young"? To any shark, food is, well, food.

[Hot Tabasco]

Sharks don’t go walking thru my back yard for the same reason I don’t go swimmin in theirs......and it ain’t because they don’t have feet.

[Cheetahcat]

Time to start killing them.

[TribalPrincess2U]

He told a lifeguard who swam to him that he had been attacked by sharks, officials say. Schafer had multiple bite wounds, including an 8- to 10-inch bite on his right thigh and teeth marks on his right and left buttocks.

Brave lifeguard.

[Tallguy]

Does it really matter that these sharks were "young"?

I'm wondering that as well. I don't think that it's very common to see smallish GW Sharks. I would seem that they grow very rapidly from pups to 10 - 12 ft range, and then very slowly after that. It is also assumed that they feed mostly on fish until they get large enough to prey on sea mammals.

[stainlessbanner]

Hell yeah - he got out there and rescued the victim.
Too bad the guy didn’t make it, hope the lifeguard is ok emotionally