Shark News
Posted on February 5th, 2010 in Uncategorized |
Windsurfer Steven Schafer was bitten by a shark off Stuart Beach in Florida a couple days ago and died. This almost never happens—and, in fact, probably never happened in this part of Florida, Martin County, before. Unfortunately, the news media continue their shark-related hysteria with headlines like this one from ABCNews.com—”Stephen Schafer was Surrounded, Attacked by Sharks in Florida.”
Here’s the ABC lede:
Wind surfer Stephen Schafer, who was killed Wednesday by a swarm of sharks off the coast of Florida, had bruises on his arms that indicate he tried to fight off the feeding predators during his final moments.
Killed by a “swarm” of sharks? Is that really true? Here’s ABC’s proof.
…the 38-year-old surfer had 8 to 10 inch bite wounds on his right thigh and “numerous teeth marks” on his right and left buttocks.
Sounds to me like Shafer was attacked by a shark that bit him on the leg and ass, probably because it thought the wetsuit-clad surfer was a seal. There were other sharks in the water, true—but sharks aren’t pack hunters, and if there were really multiple sharks attacking him, you can be sure that the unfortunate man would have shown far more signs of that…
Now, of course, there’s shark hysteria in the media, like this Palm Beach local news website: Sharks Spotted One Day after Fatal Attack.
One day after a fatal shark attack in Martin County, schools of sharks were seen off Palm Beach.
Local news is speculating that “juvenile white sharks” were involved, mostly because, well, people want it to be the brand name. But again, white sharks don’t swim in packs, and they are almost never found in the warm waters off the Florida coast. My guess—a bull shark, maybe a tiger.
The Orlando Sentinel at least gets it right…
Kiteboarder Stephen Howard Schafer had multiple wounds, including an 8- to 10-inch bite on his right thigh and teeth marks on his right and left buttocks…
Note the difference between that and the ABC lede (which is linked to all over the web): “an 8- to 10-inch bite.” No talk of bites or swarms or being “surrounded.”
A bull shark or tiger shark was likely responsible for this week’s deadly attack on a Stuart kiteboarder, a shark expert said Thursday.
Note the singular. This is vastly more likely than “juvenile white sharks.” The Sentinel also reports that there were “perhaps two or three sharks” in the water, but points out that, while probably attracted by the blood, they didn’t bite Schafer. In fact, the life guard who rescued Schafer went unmolested.
Still, ABC reports on a swarm. Sigh. What happens next? This.
That’s a hammerhead shark, by the way. And hammerheads don’t attack humans. Nice work, yahoos.
Let’s reiterate: Humans kill tens of millions of sharks per year—so many that we’re wiping them off the face of the planet. Sharks kill a couple people a year. And we think we’re higher on the evolutionary ladder than they are?
5 Responses
2/5/2010 11:39 am
Someone in my extended social circle (the sister of a Harvard student) was mauled by a shark, and her sister dived off the dock and saved her. I don’t think this attracted much media attention (what college-age woman wants people to know a chunk of her leg was bitten off by a shark?), although shark bites still obviously are a rare occurrence. But seriously - how much sympathy do we really need to have for a dangerous species other than our own? They certainly don’t return the favor. If the media wants to demonize sharks, let them, it’s far better than a whole lot of other things they do that are harmful to our own species.
2/5/2010 12:13 pm
As someone who’s shared waves with sharks, and surfed over them, I can tell you that there are most definitely swarms of sharks directly off the coast of Florida right now. Most are spinners, gorging themselves on baitpods, and are more likely to do damage from landing on someone, not attacking them. I know that you were focusing on the intentional misuse of “swarm,” but the videos of the numerous sharks are neither senational nor isolated incidents, and people should realize that a case of mistaken identity by a hungry shark (at this time) isn’t as farfetched as we’d like it to be.
Autopsy report backing your tiger/bull theory:
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/feb/05/autopsy-shows-kiteboarder-died-from-loss-of-in/
And here’s a video of the lifeguard recounting what happened.
http://www.tcpalm.com/videos/detail/lifeguard-recounts-shark-attack/
Florida water temps have been well below average, so baitfish and their followers are not adhering to their usual schedules or locations. Palm Beach’s steep dropoff and proximity to the gulfstream means we get all kinds interesting fish down here. But I don’t buy the seal theory, as there aren’t too many seals swimming off the coast of Florida. And, as the water temp has warmed back up (it was in the mid-70s when this happened), he probably wasn’t in a wetsuit.
I’d say he landed in the midst of a feeding frenzy–maybe something went wrong with his kite? He shouldn’t have been by himself, but many people see surfing as a solitary pursuit. The whole thing is awful (and unusual), but he knew the risks. Hopefully people will be more respectful the next time they’re in the ocean. And yes, waves permitting, I plan on surfing after work.
2/5/2010 12:48 pm
I would say we’re in need of logic, not sympathy. As awful as being bitten would be, I’m fairly certain that sharks don’t attack humans on land. Eliminating an apex predator is stupid. More coastline developed: more people in the sharks’ NATURAL environment. Less of their usual food supply due to humans overfishing the sea: more shark bites.
2/5/2010 1:41 pm
Great posts, Floridiot. I’ve wondered myself about the relationship between overfishing and shark attacks but haven’t seen any data on it….and thanks for your first post. Learned a lot from it.
2/6/2010 2:19 pm
To Anon 11:39am - you need to go see Avatar (preferably IMAX 3d) right away.