Fit 19-year-old surfer killed by a great white shark in New Caledonia

Meatpie

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On Friday 26 March 2009, a 19-year old male and a friend took a small boat at 7:30 a.m. for a surfing session on the outer slope of the reef barrier, locally known as «Secret», off the city of Bourail on the west coast of New Caledonia. After a short surfing session, the wave height decreased and the two surfers then moved some hundreds of meters away for a 40-min spearfishing session. When the wave height increased, they moved back to their surfing spot at 10:30 a.m. At 11:45 a.m, they finished surfing and one of the surfers went back to the small boat that was anchored near the spot to wait for his companion who was «catching a last wave». As the surfer was lying on the surfboard, paddling onto a wave, a shark grabbed him and tore off his right arm. The victim shouted to his companion who jumped from the boat onto his surfboard to join him. The shark however moved in his direction so as the boy moved back to the boat; he then tried to lift the anchor which was stuck. While he was trying to start the boat, the shark attacked the victim again, successively pulling him down and «jumping out of thewater around him», both several times, as if «it was playing with him»; «the shark was enormous, probably between 3.5 and 4m of length» (Witness’ statement). After few minutes, the witness cut the anchor rope and retrieved his companion’s body onto the boat. The body was motionless and blood flow had ceased. The witness unsuccessfully applied CPR and then proceeded ashore, emergency personnel were contacted and a medical practitioner declared the victim’s death at around 12:50 p.m.

About the shark:
Both the testimony of the witness about the shark behaviour and the analysis of wounds have allowed us to determine with a high confidence a 2.7 m TL (est. length) white shark as responsible for this attack, confirmed by two different measures. This size is less than that estimated by the witness. Compared to other species of shark of the same size, the body of the white shark has proportionately larger girth, which contributes to its imposing aspect. An overestimate of the shark length by a young non-scientist under extreme circumstances is not surprising. In addition to the features of the wounds, breaching is a putative agonistic behaviour in white sharks which is much less reported for other shark species; this also supports a reliable species identification.


 
Those images are terrifying. Sharks are all over the place these days. I just don't feel safe going into the water anywhere. There was recently some event in NYC where a crowd of people swam around the Statue of Liberty. That could have been a feast for nearby sharks, but luckily it wasn't.
 
Hmmm. Shark had CHOICE cuts of this guy and it ONLY ate his right leg? I'd have gone for his albeit juicy cock/balls before tossing him back to the ocean =).
 
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