Posted on 06/25/2005 2:19:19 PM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
A 14-year-old girl died Saturday after a shark attacked her while she and a companion were swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, authorities said.
The teenagers were swimming on boogie boards about 100 yards offshore when they noticed a dark shadow in the water, authorities said.
"One of the swimmers was bitten. It was the lower portions of her body," said Walton County Sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Shank. The other swimmer was not injured.
Both girls swam to shore, and the victim was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, Shank said. The girl was on vacation from Louisiana, but her name was not immediately released.
The attack happened near the Camping on the Gulf Holiday Travel Park, about 45 miles east of Pensacola on the Florida Panhandle.
Patrick O'Neill, the campground's general manager, refused to comment.
Authorities closed about 20 miles of beaches to swimming shortly after the attack. It's the height of the summer tourism season along the coast and the beaches were packed with people.
"This doesn't happen very often at all — very, very seldom," said Mike McKee, front desk supervisor at the nearby Hilton Sandestin Beach Resort and Spa.
Florida had the largest number of documented shark attacks worldwide in 2003 with 30, according to statistics compiled by the American Elasmobranch Society and the Florida Museum of Natural History. There were 12 attacks off the coast of Florida last year.
Never been to Australia, have been stung by Portugese Man Of War in Galveston, Texas. I was young and stepped on one of the tentacles of one which had been washed up on the beach. Adolph's Meat tenderizer was the treatment used to take the sting out.
Rattlesnakes scare me, that rattling they do before they bite you. But the cotton mouths scare me the most, boy do they make you sick and we have them all over. My earliest childhood memories are of going fishing down close to Grande Isle Louisiana and being in a boat going down little like bayous with water mocassins up in the trees hanging out over the boat. Every once in a while, one would drop and we were instructed if it happened not to move or jump out of the boat while my dad dispatched him. I also remember Dad pushing the boat out into the water and pulling it back on the bank and lifting us up into it, just in case there were snakes under the boat. Damn, I hated those infernal fishing trips. I just hated them.
Panama City, Florida, ABC affiliate just said the 14 year old girl was bitten by a 12 foot bull shark that was feeding in a large school of fish. This was the first I had heard that the type of shark was known. What a sad thing to happen Prayers for the family.
Love it here. I'm in South Walton on 30A.
Meant to ping you to my response #121 about man of war and the Texas coast.
You need to figure the odds. If they are very low of harm, just not doing it is a depreciation of life experiences that doesn't pencil in my view. Sensational stories should not deflect the rational and intelligent Baysian from having a good time. You only get one ride on this mortal coil. Make the most of it.
Careful what you wish for.9-11 happened that summer.
We see Portugese Man-O-War on beaches in Florida panhandle all the time. Have read they are the most toxic creature in the sea - dead or alive.
Dont you love it, I go in May every year and this year wanted to go in September but the hurricanes threaten.
"I am a scuba instructor by trade and have made over 5000 dives in this area. Sharks, OH YA!! Loads of 'em. Within the last 5 years I can't remember going diving and not seeing any."
You truly ought to be interviewed on the news. The national news, that is.
Maybe, just maybe, people would be willing to listen to you. It's obvious they should. Thanks for the truth.
I told hubby I wanted to retire there, but he's not interested. I told him "then I'll retire there and you can come visit me once in a while!" ;o)
LOL. I grew up like that. A safer better time. I swear, we went out early and had to be in at dark.
When I swim in the gulf, and when my husband and kids do, if we see the schools of small fish, you can see them when they come, we all get out of the water.
Got "whipped" by Man-o-war across the chest (especially the nipple) and abdomen and member. Very painful nematocyst poison. If it happens take a liberal amount of meat tenderizer (papain) and apply to the stings. The papain will denature the protein that is causing such discomfort. Try to do this as early as possible.
THe summer jaws came out, we were in Bethany Beach Delaware and there were constant shark alerts. The lifeguards spent half their time whistling us in and the other half telling us it was safe.
"Of course, a Jellyfish sting isn't fun either."
Now, as I understand it from my wife (who used to live in Hawaii), those will definitely kill you.
My Sister got stung by a Man-O-War and had to go to hospital. She said the pain was just dreadful. Sorry you had to have such a painful experience.
Your #106............LOLOLROTFLMAO
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