Sharks kills surfer in Florida

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Sharks kills surfer in Florida

Officials in Florida say the attack is the first fatal one in five years

A man has been killed by sharks while kite-surfing off Florida's southern Atlantic coast, local officials say.

A lifeguard found Stephen Schafer, 38, surrounded by sharks about 500m out from shore, Martin County Sheriff's Office was quoted as saying by AP.

The lifeguard "saw blood in the water and heard the male screaming that a shark had bit him", the sheriff's office told Reuters.

The lifeguard put Mr Schafer on his rescue board and paddled back to shore.
Mr Schafer was taken to hospital, where he later died.

While swimmers and surfers often receive minor bites in Florida, officials say fatal shark attacks are extremely rare.

The fatality, at Stuart Beach, about 90 miles (145km) north of Miami, is Florida's first shark bite death in five years.

Kite-surfers use a large kite to pull themselves across the water.

BBC News - Sharks kills surfer in Florida


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More, the latest:
Stuart, Florida: Expert suspects tiger or bull sharks killed kiteboarder off Stuart - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
STUART - The shark that killed a kiteboarder off Stuart this week was an 8- or 9-foot shark in the requiem family, a group which includes bull sharks and tiger sharks, a shark attack expert who examined the body said Thursday evening.

Two bite wounds on the thigh caused the death of Stephen Howard Schafer, victim of the first fatal shark attack in Florida since 2005, said George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Burgess drove to the medical examiner's office in Fort Pierce on Thursday to examine the body.

Blacktip and spinner sharks, also members of the requiem family, are responsible for many attacks, but those are generally just single bites by a shark that thinks a hand or foot is a fish. Bull sharks and tigers are known killers, and along with great whites, are "the primary attackers of man," according to the International Shark Attack File. There had been speculation that a great white had been the attacker, but Burgess said his examination definitively ruled out that species.
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I feel like I should put in a good word for spinner sharks, if they bite it isn't an attack, it's a mistake. Your spinner shark is the greyhound of the sea, a fast and agile predator of fish, whereas the bull shark is an ugly opportunist. I realize biologists frown on the application of aesthetics, but the fact is when I am swimming or diving I like seeing spinners, but definitely don't want to see bull sharks unless I have bang stick.

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