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WaterKook
Joined: 10 Apr 2000 Posts: 1713 Location: The Dude abides!!!!!
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 4:16 am Post subject: Well it finally happened!!!! |
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Swimmer hurt in Truro shark scare
By Mary Ann Bragg
mbragg@capecodonline.com
July 31, 2012 2:00 AM
TRURO — A man swimming at Ballston Beach on Monday was hospitalized with what he and witnesses say was a shark bite.
Sunbathers watched in fright when a "very large black dorsal fin," broke the surface near the man, and he then struggled to shore with bites on his legs, according to eyewitnesses at the beach.
The man, whose name was not released, was taken in stable condition to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis and was later transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
He had severe cuts on both legs but won't lose a limb, Truro Fire Chief Brian Davis said.
The injured man declined to speak to the media or to be identified, according to Cape Cod Hospital spokeswoman Robin Lord.
The man, however, told hospital staff he had been bitten by a shark, Lord said.
Official sources would not confirm Monday night that it was a shark attack.
A witness at the beach, Cassie O'Connor of Boston, a nurse who helped treat the man, said the bites were both below the knees.
"He was lucky," Davis said.
The last fatal shark attack in local waters was in 1936, when a man was killed swimming in Buzzards Bay near Mattapoisett, but the possibility of a shark biting a human in Cape Cod waters has increased in the past few years because seals in Chatham, Wellfleet and Truro have attracted great white sharks to the area.
In Davis' nearly 50 years with the Truro Fire Department, he said, he's never seen an ocean swimmer injured in that manner. He said rescuers in Truro don't typically contend with fish or marine mammal bites.
"I guess he tried to kick the animal off," Davis said. "I've never seen bites like that."
Shark expert Greg Skomal of the state's Division of Marine Fisheries said Monday evening he was gathering information but couldn't confirm what had caused the bites. Skomal said he would need to speak with the victim and eyewitnesses and see photos of the wound to determine what happened.
"The wound characteristics would be interesting to see," Skomal said. "We know what a white shark bite looks like. In a year where there's a high seal abundance and we're seeing great white sharks, it's on the list of potential candidates."
Skomal said he expected to dig quickly into the details of the case today.
On Monday, the word "shark" spread from one clump of sunbathers to the next at Ballston Beach. The beach is within the boundaries of the Cape Cod National Seashore but is managed by the town of Truro. It shares the characteristics of much of the Atlantic coastline, with heavy surf, steep bluffs and a wild and isolated feel about it, with no large concession stands or bathhouses, or even a lifeguard.
Some beachgoers came off the beach Monday afternoon seemingly quiet and perhaps dazed. Some were voluble; some shook their heads in disbelief.
"I thought it was a whale," said Jennifer Clarke, who lives in Truro. She carried her beach gear and was headed home. "It's enough for today," she said.
At the time of the incident, the man was swimming a ways offshore, possibly body surfing with a companion who was in his late teens, witnesses said. The pair didn't have surfboards or other surfing equipment with them. They swam parallel to the beach heading north and appeared to be strong and competent swimmers, eyewitnesses said. At least one seal bobbed in the area at the time, and perhaps another person or two was in the water. It was the first sunny beach day in several days.
"I saw two people about 80 yards offshore," Paul Murphy of Northboro said as he stood at the dune path that leads to the beach. "They kept swimming out. All of a sudden between the two men — call it a shark if you will — something jumped up in between them."
At that moment, Murphy turned to his wife and asked her if she'd seen "that."
"The flip of a gray fin, if you want to call if a fin," Nancy Murphy said. "I just turned my head for a moment. We were just sitting there enjoying watching the ocean."
"We were watching," said Walter Palmer of Philadelphia. "A very large black dorsal fin came up between the two of them. A lot of people saw it. They started swimming back. The son was calling for help. I'm not an expert on shark fish. It was not a seal."
Others said it was a "huge fin" that "torqued" as it came out of the water, and that the fin's size was "much bigger than a head." One witness just formed a large triangle shape with forefingers and thumbs when asked to estimate the size of the fin.
Shortly after the appearance of the fin, the pair began to swim to the shore, and the teen called for help. Seth Blaustein of Austin, Texas, assisted the man as he came to shore.
The man lay down on the beach, and several people ran to help including O'Connor, the nurse,. Rescuers arrived and carried the man to an ambulance.
He gave a "thumbs up" as he was carried away, one witness said.
"I can tell you it looked just like the movies," Palmer said. "We were in shock in what we saw. We couldn't believe what we were watching."
At the sun lowered on the horizon at Ballston Beach, Seashore officials posted signs at the beach warning bathers: Caution: Recent shark sightings.
Staff writers Eric Williams, Jason Kolnos and Jon Offredo contributed to this report.
If you want to see pictures of the sharks they have been tagging on Cape Cod all summer (note how close they are to shore).....
http://www.capecodsharkhunters.com/Shark-Sighting-Report.html
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[Jerry's World] www.waterkook.com
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WaterKook
Joined: 10 Apr 2000 Posts: 1713 Location: The Dude abides!!!!!
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 4:28 am Post subject: |
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Video grab and my art of what I think happened.
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_________________ www.Clew-View.com
[Jerry's World] www.waterkook.com
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justall
Joined: 30 Jul 2007 Posts: 442
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 7:04 am Post subject: |
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Hmm ... Raises the threshold for trying out today's easterly flow.
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mat-ty
Joined: 07 Jul 2007 Posts: 7850
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 9:34 am Post subject: |
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If he was sent to Boston this was a serious bite. Everything points towards a great white, or other large shark. My guess is he was very lucky the shark bite him in the lower leg which is very boney and not loaded with much fat or tasty organs. I have always heard whites will take a test bite, and then come back around, the shark probably hit big bone and little else, then moved on. I am not usually to spooked by sharks but these are different, they are great whites , arguably the most dangerous predator in the ocean.
Evens if your drawing is correct, it was absolutly a great white!!!!!!
Last edited by mat-ty on Tue Jul 31, 2012 12:19 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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iceratz@comcast.net
Joined: 16 Feb 2009 Posts: 346
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 11:21 am Post subject: |
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Good observations Jerry! I think you are spot on!
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outcast
Joined: 04 May 2004 Posts: 2724
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mat-ty
Joined: 07 Jul 2007 Posts: 7850
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ron.c
Joined: 30 Oct 2004 Posts: 1460
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 4:41 pm Post subject: |
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Hmmmmmm is right
Hey JE, I did get a pretty decent session in Saturday afternoon, the persistent E’ish wind was very light; not glass but good just the same.
Oh ya JE - They say you can tell a person’s character by who they hang out with. Congratulations!
RC
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DanWeiss
Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Posts: 2296 Location: Connecticut, USA
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Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2012 10:34 pm Post subject: |
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Was out SUP surfing at Quansoo on Sunday with a few other traditional surfers plus my kids and their friends frolicking in the waves. A few seals were out about 50 yards. I was looking at one when I saw something else poking out of the water's surface and slowly turning. It was black and did not look to me as a great white fin because it appeared curved at the tip. I saw it again later and it did look like a shark just below the surface making a slow turn.
I refuse to be afraid, or else I will be terrified. We windsurfers must ignore reality for our sport. Still, the thought of my daughter boogie boarding and paddling around in the vex unity of any large shark gives me the chills.
Bomb skiffs island back into the deep. problem solved. At least on MV.
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danothemano
Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 77
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You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You can attach files in this forum You can download files in this forum
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