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California triathlete dragged out to sea in shark attack
ny post ^ | 08/01/2026 | Katie Jerkovich

Posted on 08/01/2026 3:18:10 PM PDT by BenLurkin

A California triathlete whose body washed ashore a week after she vanished during a group ocean swim off the Monterey coast was killed in a gruesome shark attack, according to a newly released report.

Erica Fox, 55, disappeared in December 2025 while swimming with 14 others in the frigid waters off Monterey.

A week later, her body was discovered about 25 miles away near Davenport Beach in Santa Cruz County, still partially dressed in her black wetsuit, the report said.

Chris Lowe, a professor of marine biology with the Shark Lab at California State University Long Beach, said he suspects the shark thought Fox was a seal or sea lion.

“The only explanation we can come up with in cases like this is that the shark made a mistake,” Lowe said. “It mistook a person for a seal or a sea lion.”

...

The autopsy appears to confirm witness reports at the time of seeing a shark with a human body in its jaws before it submerged.

Fox was participating in a weekly swim with a club she co-founded with her husband Jean-Francis Vanreusel — called the Kelp Krawlers in Pacific Grove — when the group feared a “large splash” was an attacking shark, KSBW reported.

While the other swimmers all made it back to shore, Fox remained missing.

...

A post Fox once shared on social media showed a picture of a diver swimming alongside a great white shark.

“This is the most DANGEROUS ANIMAL in the world, and by his side, a SHARK swims peacefully,” the post was captioned.

...

Fox’s death is now the third shark attack at Lover’s Point since June 2022, when fellow Kelp Krawler member, Steve Bruemmer, then 62, was bitten on the leg and only survived after he was rescued by nearby paddleboarders...

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Outdoors
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1 posted on 08/01/2026 3:18:10 PM PDT by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin

Don’t worry. He has healthcare.


2 posted on 08/01/2026 3:22:50 PM PDT by Jonty30 (When I go to the kitchen to find food, I get disappointed because all I find are ingredients.)
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To: BenLurkin

If you go into the ocean for any reason, you may encounter a shark. And just as tigers go tiger, sharks are gonna shark.


3 posted on 08/01/2026 3:24:39 PM PDT by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: BenLurkin

With her dark wetsuit on, the shark probably thought she was a seal.


4 posted on 08/01/2026 3:24:58 PM PDT by PGR88
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To: BenLurkin

Is just me or do the sharks seem a bit angrier this year?


5 posted on 08/01/2026 3:33:47 PM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn)
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To: BenLurkin

The only explanation we can come up with in cases like this is that the shark made a mistake,


That was no mistake. Sharks doing what sharks do.


6 posted on 08/01/2026 3:36:57 PM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: central_va

She obviously wasn’t a lawyer.

Sharks won’t attack lawyers, professional courtesy.


7 posted on 08/01/2026 3:38:46 PM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: BradyLS; BenLurkin

Sharks will shark.

Can I wade in the water on the back of an elephant with a howdah gun and a couple Mahouts?

Really tragic. And I’m totally absorbed with Shark Week on Discovery and Nat Geo.


8 posted on 08/01/2026 3:39:52 PM PDT by KitJ (Shall not be infringed...)
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To: central_va

Maybe not angry, just hungry,


9 posted on 08/01/2026 3:40:50 PM PDT by milagro (There is no peace in appeasement! There's maybe a little bit )
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To: BenLurkin

“This is the most DANGEROUS ANIMAL in the world, and by his side, a SHARK swims peacefully,” the post was captioned.

Ironically ironic.........


10 posted on 08/01/2026 3:42:02 PM PDT by Red Badger (Iryna Zarutska, May 22, 2002 Kyiv, Ukraine – August 22, 2025 Charlotte, North Carolina Say her name)
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To: central_va

It’s Climate Change, gotta be.............


11 posted on 08/01/2026 3:42:24 PM PDT by Red Badger (Iryna Zarutska, May 22, 2002 Kyiv, Ukraine – August 22, 2025 Charlotte, North Carolina Say her name)
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To: BenLurkin

I’ll ner forget what my ol grandpappy, Ahab “Old Salt” Abram, told me many a year ago.

“If a shark bites you, get out of the water.”


12 posted on 08/01/2026 3:45:17 PM PDT by Az Joe (I am the Lawgiver of Free Republic. - BEWARE! - I am judge, jury & executioner of appropriate posts!)
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To: BenLurkin

I just worry about the land sharks.


13 posted on 08/01/2026 3:59:03 PM PDT by FreeperCell
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To: FreeperCell

Loan sharks are nothing to sneeze at, either.


14 posted on 08/01/2026 4:00:00 PM PDT by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: FreeperCell

Isn’t this Sharknado week?


15 posted on 08/01/2026 4:03:09 PM PDT by shelterguy
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To: PGR88

That is why it is important to write in large white lettering “Human - not a seal!” on the wetsuit.


16 posted on 08/01/2026 4:04:08 PM PDT by posterchild
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To: BenLurkin
“The only explanation we can come up with in cases like this is that the shark made a mistake,” Lowe said. “It mistook a person for a seal or a sea lion.”

Nonsense, sharks don't mistake people for seals, they don't think, "Oh no, that was a human, not a seal I made an error," no they are merely looking for food just as a lion on the Serengeti in Africa would.

17 posted on 08/01/2026 4:04:58 PM PDT by Inyo-Mono
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To: BenLurkin

Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear
And he shows them pearly white 🎶


18 posted on 08/01/2026 4:06:12 PM PDT by OldHarbor
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To: BradyLS

and tiger sharks gonna tiger shark


19 posted on 08/01/2026 4:19:40 PM PDT by Bob434 (Time flies like an arrow, Fruit flies like a banana)
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To: BenLurkin

White sharks, which are the most dangerous, are a protected species in California.


20 posted on 08/01/2026 4:20:50 PM PDT by Fiji Hill (agles)
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