Posted on 07/01/2005 1:03:37 PM PDT by NautiNurse
BOCA GRANDE - A shark bit an Austrian tourist on the ankle Friday as the man stood in chest-deep water in the Gulf of Mexico, days after one tourist was killed and another was seriously injured by sharks elsewhere in the state, authorities said.
Armin Projer, 19, was upright in the water when he was bitten, said Lee County sheriff's spokeswoman Ileana LiMarzi. He was airlifted by helicopter to Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers, where he was in good condition, hospital spokeswoman Pat Dolce said.
"It is a confirmed shark attack,'' LiMarzi said. "Someone else in the water saw a shark.''
Paramedics also indicated the wound was consistent with a shark bite, she said. The man was bitten near the lighthouse at Gasparilla Island Beach.
"We are out there right now letting people know, notifying people on the beach about what happened,'' LiMarzi said. The beach was not closed to swimmers.
Two other young people have been bitten since Saturday in gulf water off Florida. The latest incident was about 280 miles from an attack Monday on a 16-year-old Tennessee boy who lost his leg and about 350 miles from the spot where a 14-year-old Louisiana girl was killed Saturday.
Experts believed bull sharks attacked both teens in the Florida Panhandle. The type of shark involved in the Boca Grande attack was not immediately determined.
Experts point out that shark attacks are rare, pointing out that there were only 30 in 2003 among the millions of people who hit the state's beaches.
Most of those attacks were minor bites on the feet or ankles. Last year, when four hurricanes kept many visitors away, there were 12 attacks.
Bitten on the ankle.
Must have been a Yorkie shark.
Ahh...one of those tiny dogfish...
"Chest deep water."
That'll teach you for gettin' chummy with the fishes.
I demand an investigation and congressional hearings, the creation of a coastal waters sharkbite administration and the appointment of a shark czar.
Once again, when your lower on the food chain...ya stay away!!! lol
Is that like sasparilla?
Maybe they should try a traditional liberal solution and just make it illegal to feed the sharks.
The shortage of baitfish due to overpopulation forces them to seek other food.
I agree! We must be protected from voluntarily wading into waters where sharks are hanging out...:-)
What did Bush know, and when did he know it???
The tourists must have different flavor from the natives, since it is the tourists who get bitten. I see a brilliant product idea: to sell "the native essence" to the tourists, similar to the scents for hunters...
I'm waiting for PETA to come out against people going into the water because our presence is upsetting the wildlife.
".. Just in time for the holiday weekend."
Reminds me of a 'Jaws' quote:
"Brody: We're not only gonna have to close the beach, we're gonna have to hire somebody to kill the shark..."
Dont know, but Im not willing to test your theory!!
I dont swim with anything that considers me a snack
LOL
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