Sonoma County Shark Attack 10/19/2005

For those of you debating on which Sonoma County Beach to launch from this weekend, here's something to consider.

The following is from the SF Chronicle.

Surfer stable after shark bites leg
- Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 19, 2005


(10-19) 12:15 p.m. BODEGA BAY -- A surfer at Salmon Creek State Beach near Bodega Bay was bitten in the leg by a shark this morning and taken by helicopter to a Santa Rosa hospital.

Lt. Roger Rude, spokesman for the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department, said other surfers reported the attack at about 11 a.m. The department sent its helicopter to the scene.

The injured surfer was reportedly a man about 20 years old. Rude said he could not yet release his name.

The surfer was in stable condition at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with injuries to the leg, but no further details were available.

The incident took place in an area where previous shark attacks have taken place, Rude said.

"It's unusual, but not unexpected,'' he said.

Rangers, lifeguards and sheriff's deputies were advising people to vacate the beaches from Jenner to Bodega Bay, Rude said.

URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/10/19/MNGLFFATD54.DTL

I was going to go perch grubbing there today, too, but a huge outgoing and big swells don't go too well with grubbing.

Wonder if they noticed which direction it swam off in?

The food chain the salmon run up the creek the seals go after the salmon then comes the GK after the seal (surfer  looks like a seal or is the female surfer surfing at the wrong time of the month???).NOT THE BEST TIME TO SURF

The food chain the salmon run up the creek the seals go after the salmon then comes the Great White after the seal (surfer looks like a seal or is the female surfer surfing at the wrong time of the month???).NOT THE BEST TIME TO SURF
DAM spell check

Sharks aren't attracted to human blood.

At least not according to Mythbusters. They had some sharks in a big tub. When they put one single drop of fish blood in the tub with the sharks they all had obvious reactions to it. When they put in a bunch of drops of their own, fresh blood the sharks paid it absolutely no attention.

Sharks aren't attracted to human blood.

At least not according to Mythbusters. They had some sharks in a big tub. When they put one single drop of fish blood in the tub with the sharks they all had obvious reactions to it. When they put in a bunch of drops of their own, fresh blood the sharks paid it absolutely no attention.

that's interesting.

that is interesting.Then the great white is mistaking the surfer for a seal

GW eat salmon too.  The water at rivermouths is especially murky, and the GW is likely to bite into anything he bumps into because of the concentration of prey there.

Smell doesn't travel very fast since it moves by diffusion.  However, vibrations travel far at the speed of sound.  A fish that's thrashing or especially quivering will bring in a curious critter from farther than some blood would.

You also have to figure out what the sharks they tested normally eat. If they had sharks in a tub I doubt they were very large fish. Most small sharks eat fish or crustaceans. Even Great Whites have to reach a considerable size before they start eating mammals. Unless Monterey Bay got a few more GW they didn't tell us about than the Myth Busters used some small fish eating shark. As far as I know the only mammals that frequent the ocean are seals, whales and humans. Maybe they found some sort of shark that feeds on aquatic rabbits I'm not familiar with    Myth Busters is a pretty entertaining TV show but it's as far from Scientific as anything out of Hollywood could be. Bottom line if you try to excite something that eats fish by letting it smell a bloody mammal I wouldn't expect them to get too excited. I do remember reading somewhere that women die more frequently by receiving fatal bites from GW than men. I've heard they think it's because of women's higher body fat content but I wonder if Aunt Flo isn't the real culprit?

Fri-Sun I was in a sea kayaking symposium put on by the British Canoe Union up off Bodega Spit (Doran Beach Road). We did rough water assisted and solo rescues, rolling practice, and lots of paddling out of Bodega Bay. There is an island a mile or so out of the harbor with lots of seals and sea lions on it (we could hear them and smell them down wind) when we went out there to surf in the big following seas. To think I was flopping around in the water in my dry suit for hours out there. Give's me a shiver especially since my dry suit and PFD are Yum-Yum Yellow.

I also heard GW Shark often attack humans in rivaly assuming the human is there to compete--GW Sharks are territorial like Grizzlies, Polar Bears, Lions, and other large predators.

Thats one experiment I think I'll not be performing any time soon on the open water

Looks like the female surfer survived the attack. Good for her. They estimated the GW shark to be a 14 footer.

Those darn shark teenagers, always gettin' in trouble...  

Did she lose the leg?

I don't think so