Shark attack in Tampa Bay
jdtm...@my-dejanews.com
In article <199806012030...@ladder03.news.aol.com>,
pr...@aol.com (Priap) wrote:
>
> In article <6j6vuk$1...@post.gsfc.nasa.gov>, jga...@news.gsfc.nasa.gov
(James
> G. Acker) writes:
>
> >St. Louis does sound fishy, but bull sharks are also found
> >into the upper regions of Tampa Bay, where the water is pretty
> >low salinity. Anecdotally, I contemplated swimming across Tampa
> >Bay at one time in the 80's. I had fellow students who were shark
> >researchers who advised not to do it during the spring bull shark
> >mating season. I took their advice and applied it year-round.
>
> Good point Jim,
> I saw a pic in the Tampa Tribune of a HUGE bull shark pulled in just off the
> marina at MacDill Air Force Base back in the late 80s.
A few years ago, I had seen a television newsclip about an apparent shark
attack in Tampa Bay. A family had gone sailing on Tampa Bay. They stopped the
sailboat for a swim when one of the family members was badly bitten by what
was thought to have been a bull shark.
Best wishes,
Jim Morris
http://starbulletin.com/97/12/22/features/index.html
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Mason M A
>> >St. Louis does sound fishy
I'm late to the thread, but I can confirm that a large bull shark was taken
from the Mississippi at the Alton pool (just north of St. Louis) about 60 years
ago. They run the pictures from time to time in the nostalgia section of the
local paper.
Bill Adams
People swim in Tampa Bay every day and there are several distance swims
every year that attract large numbers of swimmers. Let's face it, there are
sharks in any large body of warm water but your chance of getting bit by a
shark is probably a lot less than being struck by lightning or even being
involved in an auto accident. Even the anectdotes noted in this tread are
from the eighties and "a few years ago". I can't remember the last time I
saw a report of a shark attack in Tampa Bay.
>A few years ago, I had seen a television newsclip about an apparent shark
>attack in Tampa Bay. A family had gone sailing on Tampa Bay. They stopped
the
>sailboat for a swim when one of the family members was badly bitten by what
>was thought to have been a bull shark.
>
BECOMKTG
Ditto the reports. Believe them! There are plenty of sharks in TB. Just ask the
coasties who fly SAR or train daily. The local news helicopters have documented
video showing thousands of large sharks in the bay and surrounding waters. The
Clearwater Chamber of Commerce asked they not show this footage on a casual
basis as it was (is) detrimental to the tourist industry.
Graham Jones
There are no sharks there because the alligators ate them.
Bill Adams wrote in message <6l6e4a$a8o$1...@gte2.gte.net>...
Bill Adams
Sorry Graham, Alligators don't live in salt water.
Graham Jones wrote in message <359a2...@news.is-1.net.au>...
Wayne / 23' Eclipse
Alligators don't live in true salt water but they will live in brackish
tidal water. I man was mauled by an alligator recently in Mobile
Alabama. A friend loaned me dock space on a canal that fed into Perdido
Bay Pensacola, FL. My friend says there is at least one 4' gator living
in the area. So becarefull!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don't care what the chart says, I can't be aground, there's water under
the boat
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Bill Adams <bjad...@gte.net> wrote in article
<6niugt$arr$1...@news-1.news.gte.net>...
ha...@it.dayannight
I seem to recall the same shark attack a few years ago in Tampa Bay and
was talking about it just recently with some friends. I went paddling at
Fred Howard park near Tarpon Springs this past 4th of July. I decided to
cross under the bridge from the leeward side of the park to the windward
side. As soon as I passed under the bridge I immediately saw some fins on
the surface. I thought to myself, "dolphins". I paddled toward the fins
and to my surprise I quickly realized they were sharks; 2 of them. Big-ass
sharks. Certain parts of my body puckered and I paddled swiftly away
hugging the shoreline. Did I mention the sailboarders that were zipping
back and forth across the same area that I spotted the sharks in? I
checked with some of the locals and indeed some big-uns frequent the
entire bay. All different kinds: bull, hammerhead, black tip etc. As for
'gators in saltwater there is one, I'm told, that lives on Amelia Island
north of Fernandina. All a 'gator needs is a freshwater supply and
apparently there is a spring in or near the saltwater marshes that
sustains this particular one. Odd but true.
Ste...@Ft.Myers
Linda Chancler
Contrary to a previous poster there is an abundant supply of sharks in
the Tampa area as well as the rest of the Gulf. Many species of sharks
will briefly travel up freshwater streams, it is thought to shake off
parasites. They tend to get a bit nasty during these times. Gators
also occasionally venture into seawater. Those that do are often
disoreinted or disabled in some way, making them even more dangerous.
The best defense as far as the gators go is to look around. They like
to to be somewhere where there are a lot of places to lurk and hide
along the shoreline...
Sharks, well estauries and brackish water is where many breed. If you
paddle in the 1,000 islands off of Florida's west side, at the southern
end; anyone will tell you that you are a fool to go for a swim. It is
full of lemons, bulls, and others which can be highly aggressive. But
this their territory, watch them and wonder, just don't try to feed them
anything.
--
Linda Anne Chancler
Ever Onward Inc.
http://www.everonward.com
Yacht Charters, Barge Vacations, & Villa Rentals
phone (954) 524-8982
fax (954) 524-7974
Alan Levine
Could you have seen a their cousin, the croc, in salt or brackish?
Marc Guido
I concur that gators can be seen in salt water. We had one walking on
the beach in Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island when I was living there
in 1996. A photo made the cover of the "Islander Bystander", the
island's weekly newspaper. The accompanying article stated that they
can be found traveling in salt water, as long as they have a place to
go ashore to drink fresh water. The gator on the island was a young
male which was speculated to have wandered from its home in the
Manatee River (brackish for quite a way inland) in search of a mate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marc Guido Jay Peak Ski Patrol
Sarasota, Florida (retired)
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wayne / 23' Eclipse
in Mobile Alabama was by a 4-5 ft gator according to the news.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don't care what the chart says, I can't be aground, there's water under
the boat
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alan Levine <Alan_...@peoplemag.com> wrote in article
<35A318...@peoplemag.com>...
Alan Levine
(Actually, the concept of gators avoiding salt and brackish water isn't
mine, so I was just misinformed. Anyway, just one more thing we all
need to be wary of whilst out and about.)
Ciao for now, Alan