Fatal shark attack in Walton County, FL

[Brent]

Reportedly a small child. It's between Destin and Panama City in the Panhandle.

[Skywatch_NC]

[Brent]

14-year-old girl

[cajungal]

Oh, no! And I am going to Destin the first week of August. And I have a phobia bad of sharks. Even though I know attacks are very rare. Everytime I go to the beach and if I get in the water, I am looking constantly to see if I see one. Now, I am going to be scared to get in the water besides the pool in Destin.

[fwbbreeze]

I have been on the beaches in San Destin since this morning. We were told of the attack and the beach I was on was being closed as we left. Not unusual to see sharks swimming beyond the sand bar....very unusual to see one attack. Reports have the girl nearly a 100 feet off shore. Thats a pretty good distance out....but rather shallow in regards to the topography of the shoreline. It is sad indeed. I wonder if there was anyone surf fishing near the attack site. I have seen on multiple occasions people fishing and sharks drawn in close by the bait.

fwbbreeze

[HurryKane]

100 feet out, huh...a few years ago I went to Destin on vacation and was going to be swimming alone, so I chose a family with a healthy, strong-looking dad to hang out near while in the water in case something happened. It was a nice day, the little fishies kept nibbling my legs, and life was good. Some time later the 16-year-old daughter of my chosen family started to scream bloody murder and I turned back to shore to see what was going on--and realized I was quite a distance (probably that 100 feet or so) out from the shore. I calmly (how odd) thought: oh my hell, if that's a shark, it's in between me and dry land. And I froze still.

Thankfully the dad yelled that it was just a crab. But I got my panicked hiney back within 30 feet of the water line and hoped that the daughter got a lecture on screaming at non-lethal critters while in the water at a crowded beach.

My thoughts are with the victim's family.

edit: this says that they were 100 yards out. http://tinyurl.com/b7obv

[bosag]

I dont even go in the water anymore. I have control over a swimming pool but not over the ocean. Call me neurotic Barb

[azskyman]

A sad story with a tragic ending. Thanks for the personal account of being on the beach this morning.

I still recall the attack on Bethany Hamilton shortly after our visit to Hawaii a couple of years ago. She was more fortunate and has turned the accident into an opportunity...but so hard to predict the exact time and place when something like this seems poised to happen.

http://www.bethanyhamilton.com

[Skywatch_NC]

A sad story with a tragic ending. Thanks for the personal account of being on the beach this morning.

I still recall the attack on Bethany Hamilton shortly after our visit to Hawaii a couple of years ago. She was more fortunate and has turned the accident into an opportunity...but so hard to predict the exact time and place when something like this seems poised to happen.

http://www.bethanyhamilton.com

Yes, a truly amazing young lady! She and her family were featured in a Guideposts magazine story a while back, too.

[sunny]

14-year-old girl

From Louisiana.

[Opal storm]

I was at P'cola beach today,just heard about this when I got home.Very sad

I'm sure boaters will be out tonight and tomorrow hunting for the shark.

[iceangel]

http://pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pb ... 1/50625003

[Terry]

My heart goes out to this family and to the girl that was with the victim. How unbelieveabably horrible.

I don't mean to lay blame on anyone. This is a horrible tragidy. Butl, as a parent who has raised kids on both coasts of FLA, I have to ask why any parent would allow their child to go out so far? 100 yards is way out there!

That is a no-no in my family. It is not just the remote possibliity of a shark attack, but the real and constant danger of crazy boaters. There are no good boogie boarding waves at 100 yards out. You have to wonder if the wind caught them and carried them out that far.

Dang, it just makes me too sad.

[HurryKane]

More details about the attack from The Times Picayune (they think it was an 8-ft bull shark):

http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana ... =louisiana

Tim Dicus, 54, had been surfing when he heard a scream and saw one of the two girls swimming rapidly to shore.

"The other one had disappeared and there was this big dark area in the water where she had been," Dicus told The Associated Press. "So I immediately paddled over and found her floating face down in the center of the blood pool. And right next to her was the shark, about to come up and attack her again."

Dicus said he put the girl on his surf board and the shark — which appeared to be a bull shark about 8 feet long — went after her hand.

"He just followed us right to the beach," Dicus said. "He was determined to finish lunch. I hate to put it that way, but that was what he was trying to do."

Most of the victim's thigh was missing, Dicus said.

"There wasn't anything from the knee to the hip, just the bone," he said.

Two other swimmers came with a raft, which they put the girl in and towed to shore. But the shark stayed nearby and turned on Dicus, he said.

Dicus said he punched the shark "on the nose, just as he was coming up to open his mouth and take a little sharky nibble."

Jeff White, 49, of Atlanta, said his son helped bring the girl to shore in the raft.

"He said at one point, the shark was underneath them," White said. "So they stopped paddling. Somebody distracted the shark and they brought the girl the rest of the way in."

One of the men slapped the water to distract the shark, he said.

I'd have died of fright, no bite necessary.

[swimaster20]

I just got back from Fort Walton Beach (Okaloosa Island) today. I get home, see this, and I'm like . My prayers are with this family. I am glad, though, that my vacation is done with because I know I would never get in the GOM now.

[Lindaloo]

I have been on the beaches in San Destin since this morning. We were told of the attack and the beach I was on was being closed as we left. Not unusual to see sharks swimming beyond the sand bar....very unusual to see one attack. Reports have the girl nearly a 100 feet off shore. Thats a pretty good distance out....but rather shallow in regards to the topography of the shoreline. It is sad indeed. I wonder if there was anyone surf fishing near the attack site. I have seen on multiple occasions people fishing and sharks drawn in close by the bait.

fwbbreeze

It is not unusual to see a Bull shark in 3 feet of water and swimming the beach line. It is also not unusual for one to attack. Bull sharks are very aggressive and have been known to attack.

[MSRobi911]

I believe a Bull shark is what attacked little Jessie Arbogast several years ago.............He is still recovering slowly...don't know that he will ever completely get back to an independent person that requires no care. I know his family hasn't given up and they go to therapy every day and he goes to a special "school" in the mornings.

Mary

[LaPlaceFF]

The girl was from Gonzales, LA

[feederband]

I've been surfing since I was 10... I can't tell you how many sharks I've seen... When you enter the ocean you are in their world. Just have to constantly keep a eye out on you surroundings.

[Skywatch_NC]

Once while swimming at Atlantic Beach, NC several years ago I was chest deep into the water...there was a pier with peeps fishing off of it and bringing in flounder...never thought about a shark possibly coming near any of us swimmers and thankfully none ever did...but a story like this makes one really think about the risks and with fishing going on.

Eric