Search ends days after deadly shark attack
Australian authorties say its unlikely remains of man will be found
Updated: 1:21 a.m. ET March 21, 2005SYDNEY - Australian police called off a search on Monday for the remains of a man and for the shark that bit him in half in a horrifying attack witnessed by tourists on a luxury boat off Australia's remote west coast.
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Boat captain Geoffrey Brazier, 26, died when a shark described as up to 20 feet long attacked him while he was snorkelling on Saturday near the Abrolhos Islands, 250 miles north of the Western Australia state capital Perth.
Brazier was attacked by either a great white shark or a tiger shark, both of which are common in the area, authorities said.
'Bit him in half'
Twelve other passengers and crew from the catamaran Matrix watched the attack in horror, with some saying the shark went straight for Brazier. Several other divers who were in the water with him were unhurt.
"It came in, bit him in half, went away for five or 10 minutes then came back for the other half," said Steve Thorne, a manager for the company that operated the boat charter.
In December, an 18-year-old surfer was killed off a beach in South Australia by what witnesses described as a great white shark measuring up to 16 feet.
"The reason why it has been called off is that the currents up there are such that anything would have been taken out to sea," police spokesman Graham Clifford told reporters.
"Also, the Abrolhos is a lot of islands and (has) a big volume of fish and many, many sharks ... we don't think there's anything left," he said.
Australia has a reputation for shark attacks, with Brazier's death the fourth fatal shark attack in the past nine months. International Shark File figures show most attacks occur in North American waters.
The first documented shark attack in Australia was in 1791 and there have been more than 625 attacks in the past 200 years, about 190 of them fatal.
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 1:03 am Posts: 24177 Location: Australia
It's a terribly unfortunate thing to happen obviously. But if you stop swimming in the ocean... may as well stop driving your car... don't even think about getting in a plane... don't walk the streets at night, pretty much never leave the house... coz you might die some day.
_________________ Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear, Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer. The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:26 pm Posts: 3859 Location: Jersey
From the description of the attack, I would say that it was not a great white shark. It was probably a tiger shark. Tiger sharks have unique teeth that can puncture and cut like a steak knife simultaneously. Pic below:
Tiger sharks use those teeth to bite through the shells of sea turtles (one of their favorite meals). Also, tiger sharks will eat almost anything.
Great whites, on the other hand, can kill you with one bite because of their enormous mouths and razor sharp pointed teeth. But, generally they won't cut you in half with one bite. And they usually take one bite and realize that humans are not that tasty and they swim away, leaving you to bleed to death. The shark in this attack actually came back and devoured the other half, which also leads me to conclude it was a tiger shark.
I've been fascinated with sharks since I was very young.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 3:58 am Posts: 2105 Location: Austin
vacatetheword wrote:
It's a terribly unfortunate thing to happen obviously. But if you stop swimming in the ocean... may as well stop driving your car... don't even think about getting in a plane... don't walk the streets at night, pretty much never leave the house... coz you might die some day.
I have a fear of sharks, but not really anything else. Not sure where it comes from. The idea of something coming from below and taking a leg off just fucks with my head whenever I'm swimming in the ocean. Shit, sometimes I get the creeps in a swimming pool. I still swim in the ocean, but I am always nervous about it. I'm not that scared of planes or automobiles crashing, but getting eaten is where I draw the line. Jaws is still among my top 5 films of all time.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
Hinny wrote:
If I'm going to die, I might as well do it spectacularly, and make the news. If that means getting eaten by a shark, so be it.
I'd probably get a lame, severed leg. No way am I cool enough to be ripped in half and have the shark come back later to polish me off.
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2004 12:20 am Posts: 5198 Location: Connecticut Gender: Male
"Jaws" was released when I was 6 years old. I don't know what my parents were thinking when let me watch it. I was scarred for life. Sharks are the scariest things this world has to offer.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 3:58 am Posts: 2105 Location: Austin
Sandler wrote:
"Jaws" was released when I was 6 years old. I don't know what my parents were thinking when let me watch it. I was scarred for life. Sharks are the scariest things this world has to offer.
Yeah, I have been eaten by great white sharks in my nightmares more times then I can count. Those damn talking cobras from the Rikki Tikki Tavi cartoon have murdered my ass quite a few times as well.
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
gogol wrote:
i hear republicans in the house are now meeting to intervene and introduce legislation that will kill all sharks.
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:05 am Posts: 8045 Location: Arlington Heights, IL Gender: Male
Hinny wrote:
If I'm going to die, I might as well do it spectacularly, and make the news. If that means getting eaten by a shark, so be it.
hahaha
But i would have to say that the ocean is probably the scariest place on Earth. There is so much of it that has been unexplored, and it is so vast. Who knows what kind of things can be down there that we have no idea about. Crazy if you think about it
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