SHARK ATTACK!

7/30/2008 by Capt. Darrick Lorenzen | 4 Comments | 930 Views

Craig Hutto, 16, of Lebanon Tennessee survived a shark attack, Monday, July 27^th, but his leg had to be amputated. The incident occurred near Panama City, Florida. Hutto was listed in critical condition Tuesday and doctors were hoping that he didn’t suffer any brain damage from blood loss.
 
Dr. Reed Finney, cardiovascular surgeon at Bay Medical Center said that Craig’s leg had suffered irreparable damage as a result of the attack. Everyone is hoping that the boy will be OK.
 
Hutto was fishing while standing in shallow water with his brother and a friend on Monday when the shark grabbed him on the right thigh. Three days before the attack on Hutto, an aggressive bull shark near Destin Florida bit 14-year-old Jamie Daigle of Horn Lake Mississippi. She died from her injuries.
 
Several people near the scene said they heard a commotion and saw blood in the water. One man reportedly jumped in, grabbed the shark, put it in a headlock and began punching the shark’s head. There was a doctor on the beach and as soon as Hutto was removed from the water first aid treatment began. Beaches were closed in Panama City until noon on Tuesday. Beaches in Destin were reopened on Sunday.
 
The number of shark attacks usually rises in the summer because sharks come in closer to the beach searching for food. Florida averages more than 25 shark attacks per year, but had only 12 attacks last year. The drop in attacks may be as a result of the four hurricanes that hit Florida last year, which kept people away from the beaches.
 
U.S. Attacks  Fatal  Florida Total
1994 29             0         23
1995 42             0         29
1996 20             0         13
1997 31             0         25
1998 26             1         21
1999 38             0         26
2000 52             1         37
2001 50             3         34
2002 47             0         29
2003 40             1         30
2004 30             2         12
 
Source: International Shark attack File

On 11/13/2008 twow/atwist said:

Chumming the sharks creates unnatural interaction with humans. Probably will never go on a "shark dive" like this.

On 8/2/2008 captdarrick said:

I too have participated in shark dives in the Bahamas. As stacy said the sharks were really rilled up. One photographer was in really close to the "chum ball" and a shark bit the strobe on his camera. The photographer did not even know this took place and when we inspected the strobe later it had teeth marks on it. Recently on a shark dive in the Bahamas, Jim Abernathy Diving out of West palm Beach Florida suffered a fatality of a diver involved in a shark dive. I will try to find out more details about this incident. Does anyone know anything about this?

On 8/1/2008 stacy said:

Been on three shark dives in the Bahamas they are scary. probably won't do it again. Sharks were really rilled up. couldn't keep track of where they were going. Maybe they were coming after me!

On 7/31/2008 twow/atwist said:

Interesting to note that the referenced attacks involved people in shallow water engaged in activities not related to diving.