7 Shark Attacks in 3 Weeks: Are North Carolina Beaches Safe?

by Elizabeth Palermo, Staff Writer | July 02, 2015 03:41pm ET

Fourth of July weekend is a popular time to hit the beach, but this year, vacationers may not be the only ones swarming the waters off North Carolina. In the past three weeks, there have been seven shark attacks along the state's coast, which may leave some beachgoers wondering if it's time to get out of the water.

Well, wonder no more. There's only one surefire way to avoid a shark bite this holiday weekend, and that's to stay on land, according to shark experts.

"A shark attack is an equation of shark plus human equals attack, and we can't really deal with the shark part that well, so we have to deal with the human part," said George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida's Florida Museum of Natural History.

Continued ...

Surfer Fends Off Shark With Punches To Head

A surfer in Hawaii has survived being attacked by a shark after grabbing its fin and repeatedly punching the fish in the head.

Jeff Horton, 25, was surfing near Kilauea when a fin was spotted in the water.

Twenty minutes later, he was sitting on his surfboard with his legs dangling in the water when he spotted a dark shape approaching.

Initially he thought it was a stingray, but was forced to quickly pull his legs out of the water as the tiger shark bit into his surfboard.

The impact knocked Mr Horton off his board and on top of the shark.

Holding on to the shark with one hand, he repeatedly punched it as hard as he could.

He said: "I finally got one nice punch into the eye. I put some really good hits on it, for sure."

It was only after his knuckle jammed into the shark's eye that it spat out his surfboard and swam away.

Mr Horton was able to scramble back on to his board and, along with another surfer, paddled to the shore as the shark briefly followed behind them.

His 7ft board, which has a teeth imprint, will now be put up on his wall.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/surfer-fends-off-shark-punches-face-195228466.html#thXVugr

NJ teen fights off bull-shark attack during Florida vacation

A New Jersey teenager is lucky to be alive after a bull shark attacked him while he was in Florida.

“I have a large puncture wound that left a hole this big and underneath that. I have three little tiny teeth marks,” said Christian Mercurio.

17-year-old Christian Mercurio had the scare of his life while fishing on the shore.

“I felt like I was being bitten by something so I just kicked whatever it was and it bit my left foot,” said Mercurio.

A worst nightmare come true. Mercurio was being attacked by a shark.

The Randolph, New Jersey teen was on vacation with his family in Sanibel Island, Florida when he felt the shark bite him and pull him. The bleeding wouldn’t stop. It’s a feeling he can’t shake.

“It’s like a large amount of pressure, it feels like cinder blocks are falling on your legs,” said Mercurio.

“I just ripped my leg out of the sharks mouth and started running to shore.”

“I just wanted to make sure he was safe and not bleeding and then it started to sink in.”

Read more: http://pix11.com/2013/08/13/nj-teen-fights-off-bull-shark-during-florida-vacation/#ixzz2cnDOmR1y

Shark Attack Kills New Zealand Man

Marc Lallanilla, Assistant Editor

Date: 27 February 

A shark attack today (Feb. 27) killed a New Zealand man swimming at Muriwai Beach, a popular swimming and surfing area near Auckland.

Several sharks were involved in the attack on Adam Strange, 46, according to witnesses, though a 12- to 14-foot long (3.5- to 4.3-meter) great white shark is believed to have initiated the strike, CNN.comreported.

Police responded immediately to the attack: Officers fired several shots from an inflatable boat and a police helicopter at the great white shark and reportedly hit the animal, according to the New Zealand Herald. The shark swam off, however, leaving police to wonder if it is still alive.

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/27500-shark-attack-new-zealand.html

Diamond Head Shark Attack: Australia Surfer Fights Back, Loses Fingers (VIDEO)

A man surfing at Diamond Head, near Port Macquarie, Australia, lost two fingers and a suffered a bite to his thigh when he was attacked by what is believed to be a bull shark Friday.

The 29-year-old surfer was in the water amid a pod of dolphins when the shark attacked, Adam Clarke, who witnessed the attack, told NBC News.

A spokeswoman for Surf Life Saving told the Sydney Morning Herald that the surfer, whose name has not been released, was riding a stand-up paddle board when he was bit on the thigh.

"The thigh wound didn't lose any flesh - it was a serious slash rather than a chunk of flesh being bitten out of him and the paramedics said it would be able to be stitched up," Senior Constable Chris Rowley from Laurieton police told the Herald Sun.

Witnesses said the man used his board to fight off the attacking shark, but had his fingers chewed off in the process.

According to local media, fellow surfers used their board ropes as a tourniquet to stop the man from bleeding out on the beach. That quick thinking may have saved his life.

"All his friends did a marvellous job. His fellow surfers and his friends here on the beach, they really did save his life until we got here. They did well," paramedic Ian Spencer told the Telegraph U.K.

The man was airlifted by helicopter to an area hospital about 175 miles away. He is in stable condition.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/28/diamond-head-shark-attack-man-loses-fingers-video_n_2377201.html

Western Australia to kill sharks threatening beachgoers

Western Australia has set out measures aimed at reducing the risk of shark attacks at the state's beaches, after a string of deadly incidents.

The A$6.85m ($7.12m, £4.41m) package includes funding for catching and if necessary killing sharks "posing an imminent threat" to beachgoers.

Other funding is allocated to tagging and research programmes.

There have been six shark attacks on swimmers and surfers in the state this year, five of them fatal.

The most recent was last month, when a man suffered abdomen and arm injuries in an attack about 1,000km (600 miles) north of state capital Perth.

The series of attacks has prompted calls for a shark cull, but the authorities have ruled out that option following protests from environmental groups.

Several of the recent attacks are believed to have involved great white sharks, which are protected.

Continued: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19739596

Shark attacks man in Cocoa Beach

Cocoa Beach, Fla. —

A surfer's day at the beach ended abruptly when he was bitten by a shark Sunday afternoon.

The incident occurred around 4 p.m., near The Ocean Landings Resort and Racuqet Center, 900 North Atlantic Ave., in Cocoa Beach, according to Brevard County authorities.

Officials said the surfer was a 52-year-old male who suffered lacerations to both feet. He was able to make it to shore, where paramedics treated him and took him to Cape Canaveral Hospital.

Fire Rescue Spokesman Lt. Jeff Taylor said the surfer was stable.

Ocean Rescue Deputy Chief Eisen Witcher said the man's injuries were not life-threatening. Witcher said the shark bite occurred in an area that does not have county lifeguards.

People near the incident got out of the water after learning of the shark bite.


The surfer's name and hometown were not available Sunday evening.
http://www.wesh.com/news/central-florida/Shark-attacks-man-in-Cocoa-Beach/-/11788162/16625686/-/mcug1/-/index.html#ixzz26iktUS9s

Shark Mauls Surfer On Remote Australian Beach

A 34-year-old surfer is in a stable condition after being attacked by a shark in a remote area of Western Australia.

The man was bitten in the abdomen and on the right arm while surfing at Red Bluff on Australia's north west coast on Tuesday afternoon.

The victim, Jon Hines, was helped to safety by a fellow surfer and driven by beachgoers for an hour-and-a-half over dirt tracks to meet an ambulance, which then transferred him to a hospital 140km (85 miles) away in Carnarvon.

He was later flown to the state capital Perth for further treatment.

The attack comes six weeks after surfer Ben Linden, 24, was killed by a five metre (16ft) great white 100 miles (160km) north of Perth in the fifth fatal mauling in Western Australian waters in 10 months.

The spate of attacks has reopened the debate about how best to manage the shark population off the Australian coast.

A report was recently commissioned by the Western Australia state government.

The state's premier, Colin Barnett, said he was considering easing restrictions on both the number of sharks professional fisherman could catch, and on culling large great whites that lurk close to swimming areas.

Continued:   http://uk.news.yahoo.com/shark-mauls-surfer-remote-australian-beach-060057841.html

Cape Cod Shark Attack Victim 911 Calls Released

The man who barely survived what is believed to be great white shark attack in the waters off Cape Cod said he worried about blood loss during the ordeal and that he's in no hurry to return to the water that he loves.

"It will take some gentle effort to get back in the water, but I hope one day," Chris Myers said today on "Good Morning America" from the Boston hospital where he is recovering.

Myers was swimming with his teenage son J.J. off the coast of Ballston Beach in Truro, Mass., around 3:30 p.m. Monday when he was apparently pulled under the water by a shark. Police say Myers was bit in both legs below the knees in possibly one single, crushing blow.

The harrowing moments after the father of two emerged still alive from the water can now be heard on the 911 calls received after the attack.

"A shark attack, he's bleeding, he's wounded. His whole ankle's been bit, we need 911!" according to screams recorded during the calls.

Beachgoers had just watched helplessly as Myers was pulled under the water while he and his teenage son were bodysurfing. Myers soon surfaced and screamed for help.

"Suddenly, something came up between them. It had a large dorsal fin," Truro summer resident Anne-Marie Corner told local ABC affiliate WCVB.

Appearing on "GMA" today, both Myers and son J.J. spoke of the moment they realized that the attack was happening and what went through their minds as they raced to the shore.

"We were trying to get 400 to 500 yards through some deeper water, trying to get out to a sand bar," Myers said.

J.J. said the attack seemed unreal.

"I heard him scream and turned around, and saw the back and the fin of the shark up out of water," he said. "At that point it hit me when it was happening. But at the same time, I thought that none if it was real. It really seemed like a movie. None of it seemed real until I was on the beach."

After the shark attacked, the father and son attempted to get back to land as quickly as possible.

"We really didn't have a lot of options," Chris Myers said. "We were motivated, so we swam, hard. I was thinking as I was swimming, my lungs were fine, my kick was fine, I was starting to feel kind of dizzy and wondering if I was losing blood. My concern was that I wouldn't make it back to shore, but we were able to do it."

J.J. stayed by his side as emergency medical personnel raced his dad to the hospital.

Continued:  http://gma.yahoo.com/cape-cod-shark-attack-victim-911-calls-released-112647848--abc-news-topstories.html

Boy, six, attacked by a SHARK in Florida: Predator tears into child's thigh as he swam off beach Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2166215/Shark-ravages-thigh-boy-6-bloody-attack--surgeons-say-hell-walk-again.html#ixzz202RbeZ9z

A six-year-old boy lost three-quarters of his thigh in a bloody shark attack at a Florida beach on Tuesday.

Nickolaus Bieber, from Palm Beach Gardens, was swimming near the Juno Beach Pier in Jupiter at about 7pm when he saw the shark 'thrashing in the water'.

The creature then surged at him, gnawing a chunk out of his leg.

'He was bleeding so much that we couldn't tell which part of the body was bit,' an onlooker told WPTV.

Nickolaus' mother, Christina Bieber, said she initially thought her son had been stung by a Portuguese man-of-war when he turned to her and said 'something bit me'.

'I didn't know what it was, but I knew it was bad,' she told The Palm Beach Post.

She said she wrapped a towel around her son's leg where a 'good chunk' was torn off and passers by called 911.

In audio of the emergency call released on Wednesday, the caller describes the bite as a 'pretty big gash' and adds that the boy was 'bleeding pretty bad'.

Continued:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2166215/Shark-ravages-thigh-boy-6-bloody-attack--surgeons-say-hell-walk-again.html?ito=feeds-newsxml