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Sharks

‘I don’t want to die’: Surfer survives shark attack off Oregon coast​


An Oregon surfer is recovering after a shark attack that nearly took his life.

Cole Herrington, 20, was sitting on his surfboard on the northern Oregon coast on Dec. 6, KATU reported. His legs were dangling over both sides as he waited in the water for a wave.

Then, one of Herrington’s friends spotted a shadow under the surface, but it was too late to warn him, according to The Oregonian.

The shark rose out of the water and clamped its jaws onto Herrington’s board and body and dragging them under the water, the newspaper reported.

“I was trying to fight for my life and make sure I got back to the shore,” Herrington told KATU . “I was just kind of looking to the sky and asking God to save my life and saying, ‘I don’t want to die.’”

Officials believe Herrington was attacked by a great white shark.

Taylor Chapple, a professor at Oregon State University who has been studying white sharks for 15 years, agreed with that assessment.

“They usually come in in the late fall and early wintertime, and so this is relatively peak time for sharks to be along the coast, but it’s very rare for us to have interactions with them, even when they’re here in their peak numbers,” Chapple told KATU.

After the attack, Herrington managed to claw his way back to the rocks by the shore, where friends attempted to stop his bleeding, the television station reported.

Amy Powell, Herrington’s mother, told The Oregonian that one wound extended from her son’s pinky toe to his heel, and the other is on his lower calf.

“What it looks like was the shark was letting go and scraped across” his leg with its teeth, Powell told the newspaper. “It looks like hamburger meat.”

The most recent attack occurred in 2019, The Oregonian reported. The victim managed to escape after the shark bit his board but missed his leg by 6 inches.

Herrington had at least two surgeries while spending several days in an area hospital, KATU reported. He said he will need physical therapy and will not be in the water any time soon, but he wants to surf again.

“My goal right now is hopefully try to get out of here tomorrow,” Herrington told KATU on Wednesday.

“I just want to remind people not to be afraid of going in the water, but realizing that when we step into the water we are in their environment, and we have to do everything we can to be safe in that environment,” Chapple told KATU.
 
Althom said:
Go swimming in the ocean, wearing a black wetsuit and looking like a seal and it's an unprovoked attack?
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This seems to be the state of current accepted wisdom.

3cEO8qT.jpg


Sharks are colourblind but otherwise have very good vision.
 
Tigers of Old said:
Here you go Lee, you'll like this site.

www.dorsalwatch.com

Dorsal - Community Based Shark Alert App

Dorsal is a free community based shark alert solution that allows beachgoers and authorities to immediately alert others to shark sightings or attacks in their area.
www.dorsalwatch.com www.dorsalwatch.com
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Various systems like this are employed locally and are only as good as the data fed to them. Better than nothing, though.

Surfer lore says the shark you don't see is the one to worry about, but that's not always the case.
 
The Big Richo said:
I heard there was a big shark sighting off the Lorne pier the other day?

Can't find an article but if so there might be a few PBs when the pier to pub gets going again!
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There was a dead whale floating around on the weekend that the ended up on Fairhaven beach. it was suggetsed there would be a few sharks following the smell.
 
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Brodders17 said:
There was a dead whale floating around on the weekend that the ended up on Fairhaven beach. it was suggetsed there would be a few sharks following the smell.
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There were heaps of sharks in the immediate vicinity of the whale. Two almost beached themselves trying to get to the whale, it was pretty full on.
The surfing community are happy the surf forecast is terrible for the next week, I know I won't be getting back in the water until after Christmas!!
 
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Brodders17 said:
There was a dead whale floating around on the weekend that the ended up on Fairhaven beach. it was suggetsed there would be a few sharks following the smell.
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Shark fears after dead sperm whale washes up on Great Ocean Road beach at Fairhaven​

Fairhaven Beach on Victoria's Great Ocean Road has been closed amid fears of increased shark activity due to an 18-metre sperm whale carcass washing up on the shore.

The whale carcass was spotted floating a few hundred metres offshore late yesterday and washed up on the beach overnight.

Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning incident controller Barry James said the size of the animal created some difficulties as crews worked out how to deal with the carcass.

"It's a male sperm whale, it's about 18 metre in length, so quite a large animal and that in itself has presented some challenges for us from an operational perspective," he said.

"We've got an excavator down on the beach that'll be dismembering the animal … and we'll be transporting the animal to the Anglesea refuse facility, the Anglesea tip."

For now, the beach has been closed between Fairhaven and Moggs Creek.

A large pink white and black whale carcass washed up on the sand at a surf beach. Three people walk past.

The beach was closed amid fears of increased shark activity in the area.(ABC News: Steven Schubert)

A small crowd gathered to look at the whale, with some driving about an hour from Geelong.

Jessie Ward said she was "obsessed" with whales and had travelled to Warrnambool four times this year to watch them in the wild.

"It was just interesting to see [it] up close," she said.

"Even though it's unfortunate that it's gone, we wanted to see the size in person because obviously when you're watching them they look quite small.

"It's quite sad that something like this has happened, but it's also very interesting and intriguing as to what has happened."

The VicEmergency website is warning people not to swim at the closed beach, after a reported shark sighting early this morning.

"Due to a large whale carcass there has been an increase in shark activity reported at Fairhaven today," the warning says.

"A whale carcass can attract sharks to the area and mean they are closer to the shore than normal.

"While it is not uncommon for sharks to be present off the Victorian coast, you should exercise additional caution in the area.

"Stay informed and do not enter the water at closed beaches."

Two men in shorts walk beside a large whale carcass on a surf beach. Another man crouches on the sand beside some smoking leaves

A smoking ceremony was conducted at the site where an 18-metre sperm whale carcass washed up. (ABC News: Steven Schubert)

Mr James said a significant part of the operation was conducting an Indigenous ceremony at the site.

"It's very important that we acknowledge the cultural heritage significance that these animals have with the traditional owner groups," Mr James said.

In 2018, another whale carcass washed up at Ocean Grove in an "advanced state of decomposition".

At the time DELWP decided to bury the humpback whale carcass two metres deep in the sand.

But it was later dug up and trucked more than 4 kilometres down the beach and taken to landfill, after locals raised fears that the oil and smell would leach into the water and attract sharks.
 
The Big Richo said:
I'm no shark expert but wouldn't logic say that if sharks have been attracted to the area by the carcass, the best action would be to tow it out to sea so the same sharks follow it back out there? I'd imagine there will be a hint of whale in the area for a while yet.

The key questions for me would be how long does a shark remain in the area in this sort of scenario? And can a shark track scents etc on land, or at least from the beach? @josey's account would suggest they at least have some interest if there is something on the sand.
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the fear is the whale might float back to shore. that option has been done before, or at least considered. so has burying them on the beach- i think one was buried then dug up after complaints.
 
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LeeToRainesToRoach said:

Shark fears after dead sperm whale washes up on Great Ocean Road beach at Fairhaven​

Fairhaven Beach on Victoria's Great Ocean Road has been closed amid fears of increased shark activity due to an 18-metre sperm whale carcass washing up on the shore.

The whale carcass was spotted floating a few hundred metres offshore late yesterday and washed up on the beach overnight.

Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning incident controller Barry James said the size of the animal created some difficulties as crews worked out how to deal with the carcass.

"It's a male sperm whale, it's about 18 metre in length, so quite a large animal and that in itself has presented some challenges for us from an operational perspective," he said.

"We've got an excavator down on the beach that'll be dismembering the animal … and we'll be transporting the animal to the Anglesea refuse facility, the Anglesea tip."

For now, the beach has been closed between Fairhaven and Moggs Creek.

A large pink white and black whale carcass washed up on the sand at a surf beach. Three people walk past.

The beach was closed amid fears of increased shark activity in the area.(ABC News: Steven Schubert)

A small crowd gathered to look at the whale, with some driving about an hour from Geelong.

Jessie Ward said she was "obsessed" with whales and had travelled to Warrnambool four times this year to watch them in the wild.

"It was just interesting to see [it] up close," she said.

"Even though it's unfortunate that it's gone, we wanted to see the size in person because obviously when you're watching them they look quite small.

"It's quite sad that something like this has happened, but it's also very interesting and intriguing as to what has happened."

The VicEmergency website is warning people not to swim at the closed beach, after a reported shark sighting early this morning.

"Due to a large whale carcass there has been an increase in shark activity reported at Fairhaven today," the warning says.

"A whale carcass can attract sharks to the area and mean they are closer to the shore than normal.

"While it is not uncommon for sharks to be present off the Victorian coast, you should exercise additional caution in the area.

"Stay informed and do not enter the water at closed beaches."

Two men in shorts walk beside a large whale carcass on a surf beach. Another man crouches on the sand beside some smoking leaves

A smoking ceremony was conducted at the site where an 18-metre sperm whale carcass washed up. (ABC News: Steven Schubert)

Mr James said a significant part of the operation was conducting an Indigenous ceremony at the site.

"It's very important that we acknowledge the cultural heritage significance that these animals have with the traditional owner groups," Mr James said.

In 2018, another whale carcass washed up at Ocean Grove in an "advanced state of decomposition".

At the time DELWP decided to bury the humpback whale carcass two metres deep in the sand.

But it was later dug up and trucked more than 4 kilometres down the beach and taken to landfill, after locals raised fears that the oil and smell would leach into the water and attract sharks.
Click to expand...
would it be wrong to hope Dangerfield missed the signs and goes for a surf this week??
 
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Woman killed in first fatal shark attack in New Zealand in eight years​

A woman has died in New Zealand’s first fatal shark attack in eight years, police said on Friday.

Emergency services responded late on Thursday afternoon to reports of a woman “injured in the water” at Waihi Beach, a popular tourist spot 153 kilometres south-east of Auckland, a police statement said.

“Indications are that she had been injured by a shark,” Police Inspector Dean Anderson said.

Kaelah Marlow, 19, was dragged from the water with leg wounds and attempts to resuscitate her on the beach failed.

Ms Marlow, from Hamilton on New Zealand's North Island, was understood to have gotten into trouble at the beach while swimming.

Witness Amanda Gould told stuff.co.nz that she was swimming in waist-deep water when she saw Ms Marlow get separated from her friends, pulled out to deeper waters by a strong rip.

“We were in the water at the same time as the girl and her friends ... they were about five metres in front of us, but they kept getting further and further out,” Gould said.

“She got separated from all her friends and was pulled really far out, beyond where the surfers would sit.”

Ms Gould said when she left the water, she saw Ms Marlow struggling.

“You could tell she was struggling because there is no way she would go that far out," she said.

“No one saw her waving out, but I did hear a scream.”

Lifeguards came to Ms Marlow's aid, using a rescue boat to pull her from the water.

“It was so rough and every time they tried to push the boat out it kept coming back in,” Ms Gould said.

It wasn’t until the victim was pulled from the water and taken to shore that Ms Gould realised what had happened.

“I thought there was another person out there, but the lifeguard said ‘no, that’s a shark, we need to get people out of the water’."

A doctor who was on holidays joined paramedics, lifeguards and emergency services personnel in attempting to save the woman, Inspector Anderson said.

“It was shocking, surreal, and we were all a bit freaked out ... it keeps playing on my mind," Ms Gould said.

“I’m really sad for the girl and I feel for the family. It’s so shocking that someone’s life can be taken away just by that one event, one minute she’s swimming and the next she’s pulled out and then that happened. It’s quite dreadful.”

It's understood that the victim had bite wounds to at least one of her legs and that the shark involved was a great white.

A post-mortem, being carried on Friday, would provide police with a clearer understanding of what happened.

Kina Scollay, a founding member of New Zealand's Great White Shark Project, said news of the attack was “absolutely terrible”.

“It’s a very rare thing. There’s plenty of sharks in the ocean not hunting people, it doesn’t happen very often.”

Scollay said at this time of year at Waihī Beach, there generally were a lot of sharks around the shallows, but they were almost exclusively sharks that were not likely to hurt people.

White sharks were also around coastlines at this time of year, he said.

“It is unusual. At this time of year thousands of people are swimming off that area. In general, you shouldn’t have to worry about sharks.

“It’s just so tragic. My thoughts are with the woman’s family.”

Waihī Beach is a coastal town with a population of about 2700 people. The main beach is 10 kilometres long, making it a popular spot for holidaymakers.

The last fatal shark attack in New Zealand was in February 2013 when a 46-year-old swimmer was mauled at Muriwai Beach, 41 kilometres west of Auckland.
 

Swimmer attacked by shark in Perth’s Swan River (paywalled)​


A bull shark has mauled a swimmer in Perth’s Swan River.

A spokeswoman for St John Ambulance confirmed one of its ambulances has rushed the man to Royal Perth Hospital with “serious injuries”. The Australian has been told a bull shark tore into the man’s right buttock, causing a 30cm tear.

The man, believed to be aged in his 50s, was bitten while swimming at Blackwall Reach in the southern Perth suburb of Bicton. It is a popular spot for thrill seekers who jump from the cliffs into the river. Blackwall Reach is about 8km from the Indian Ocean and tidal.

A man on the scene used his own clothing to stem the shark victim’s bleeding and the ambulance arrived at the river’s edge, about 11km south of Royal Perth Hospital, at 8.05am Perth time (11.05am AEDT).

The ambulance reached the hospital at 8.49am Perth time (11.49am AEDT) as a Priority One patient, the most urgent catergory. The man was taken into surgery.

Fisheries officers and water police are now at Blackwall Reach looking for the shark.
 
So 8 deaths due to shark attack in Australia in 2020. In contrast we have an average of 21 deaths by drowning in the ocean each year.

issuu.com

Coastal Safety Brief - Rip Currents 2020

Rip currents are strong, narrow, and often channelised currents of water that initiate close to the shoreline of ocean beaches and flow offshore through the surf zone and varying distances beyond. They are common features on Australian beaches with an estimated 17,000 rips occurring on any given...
issuu.com issuu.com
 
Too many people who go in at surf beaches who can't recognise a rip. You need to learn a few things before swimming in surf. Of course, if you swim between the flags you are pretty safe, they don't put flags where there is a rip.

DS
 
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