http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/26/shark.attack/index.html

DESTIN, Florida (CNN) -- The beaches of northwest Florida will be open for swimmers Sunday, despite a deadly shark attack that killed a 14-year-old girl.

The girl was attacked Saturday while swimming about 200 yards off shore, authorities said, in front of a campground on the Florida Panhandle east of Destin, Florida.

The girl and a friend, also 14, were swimming and using boogie boards, said Lt. Frank Owens of the Walton County Sheriff's Office. The friend saw the attack occur and saw her friend being dragged under, he said.

"For a regular swimmer, she was pretty far out," Capt. Danny Glidewell of the sheriff's office said. Usually, only surfers go that far out in the water, he said. Once swimmers pass the first sandbar, or drop-off, "you will experience more sightings of sharks," he said, although the area has never before had a shark attack.

The girls' names were not released.
'Center of the blood pool'

The Associated Press reported that Tim Dicus, 54, was surfing when he heard a scream from the water. He found the girl in bloody water and said much of her thigh was missing, showing a bone.

"I immediately paddled over and found her floating face down in the center of the blood pool," Dicus told The Associated Press. "And right next to her was the shark, about to come up and attack her again."

He said he placed the girl on his surf board and the shark -- which he said appeared to be a bull shark about 8 feet long -- went after her hand, AP reported.

"He just followed us right to the beach," Dicus told AP, adding that he punched the shark on the nose when it tried to attack him. "He was determined to finish lunch. I hate to put it that way, but that was what he was trying to do."

Although shark sightings are not uncommon along the coast, Owens said, no one had seen a shark in the area Saturday before the attack occurred. The area was under green flags, meaning calm surf, Glidewell said.

John Fitch of the fire district said the shark was about 11 feet long, which Glidewell said was fairly large for those waters. Authorities do not know what kind of shark it was. Owens said many different species frequent the warm waters off the Florida coast.

Dr. Erich Ritter, chief scientist at the International Shark Attack File in Gainesville, Florida, said he will attend the girl's autopsy Monday morning in Pensacola.

Ritter, who describes himself as a shark behaviorist, said Saturday night, "Once I look at the wound, I will be able to tell what size, what species and likely motivation."

He said wound analysis is his specialty.

The shark apparently was chasing bait fish in the water, Fitch said.

According to Ritter, it is possible the girl was attacked because she got in the shark's way as he headed toward a meal, or the shark could have mistaken splashing by the girls as activity by fish. In any case, the wounds will look different, he said.

Deaths from unprovoked shark attacks are rare, according to statistics compiled by the International Shark Attack File.

Seven people were killed in shark attacks worldwide in 2004, including two in the United States. California and Hawaii each recorded one shark attack death last year.

There were 12 shark attacks on Florida beaches in 2004, down sharply from 30 in 2003. Experts credit the busy hurricane season in 2004 for the lower numbers.


Well what do you expect, those 14 year old girls are just too damn tasty.

Hmmm, sharks can kill you.

You gotta eat kids young while they're still tender. 20-year-olds are sooooo stringy.

Kind of like veal vs beef. Veal is just so tender...as are 14 year olds.

You wouldn't think sharks are that sophisticated, but they're very smart animals.

i want to die by being eaten by a shark


go out with a flare, you know?

i can't believe how bad that story is. what the hell is cnn doing? get a decent writer, please.

pretty sad...i saw this story on google news....i feel like i keep reading about children dying lately...bums me out a lot

God dammit, Dane.

I actually always wanted to go out like that. Me the stupid monkey swimming in their territory. Better to eaten be eaten by a shark than by worms in my opinion.

All the same, I don't want to take away from the tragedy of this young girls death. It sucks that somebody could die at random amongst so many people having fun.

Well the shark didnt eat all of her...So she's still going to be eaten by worms in the future too. So is it better to be eaten twice?

Horribly insensitive, I know. I'm ashamed of myself.

que lastima

eaten by a shark > heart disease > cancer > burning

Sharks only eat tourists.

Oh please, are you saying a heart attack or cancer are better than this?

RATM!

We should just make belts and shoes out of them. Don't their fins cure impotence too?

Do you think that monk regretted it as soon as he lit the fire? I guess not. I mean, he could have rolled around and tried to put the fire out.

That picture is one of the most moving images i have ever seen. Every time i see it i always take a few moments and try to feel what he was feeling. What was going through his mind as he set himself on fire? What kind of resolve would it take to not roll around and try and save yourself. Like what a fucking statement to make. I admit that i don't know much about budhism (sp?) but i do understand that in some levels it involves self sacrifice of varying degrees, so i always figured lighting yourself on fire was an extreme of that.