Shark attack at Bean Hollow - 7/21/07

Holy Crap!!!  Not the kind of post I was expecting, nor want, to see coming in to the office on a monday.  Glad everyone is ok.  

When I fish HMB I'm usually in that general vicinity, I haven't gotten out much this season but I will give you guys
a heads up when I'm on the water.  Not that it will calm any nerves or cure uneasyiness but you'll have a power assist on hand if it gets dangerous, weird or creepy out there...especially since the shark season is upon us.

It’s probably Frank’s way of showing tough love that every newbie kayakers should have some survival rescue training prior to being in the open water, especially at BH?  Totally agreed that most should seek the training.

SAL

Again sorry for using you like that but I would rather hurt on dry land rather than in a foreign enviroment. As Kevin said I have some experience being in the drink with the glass being half full  because of my training. Some of the others have duely noted that when they heard about this incident my name immediately came to mind. Yes I have another moniker: Frankswimming, but I would rather a newbie learn from our experience vicariouly than first hand with no forewarning.
We are not certified to teach rescue and can only suggest. Love this sport, Frankfishing

It seems strange....but the shark repelant that works is made from other sharks.  It seems that sharks do not like the smell of another shark that has just die.

Ken kickfish

Bill, I like to think of you more as a 'pRawn in nature's world',  .

banished to the political forum? that is like a fate worse then death,  .

J

banished to the political forum? that is like a fate worse then death,  .
J

You started this political stuff buddy

Z

Sal - Until you are faced with a situation, you can only guess how you think will react, myself included.

It's easy to say you'd come to someone's rescue if they are being attacked by a bear, or by a shark, doing it is a whole other story.

Also, you have to keep in mind, that while you may know what you think you would  (and you can) do, you never know for certain what someone else would or is capable of doing.  

Do you know if the people with whom you are paddling with are capable of hoisting a 200 pound man (injured, or uninjured) onto their kayak from the water, without flipping their kayak in the process?  Can you?  How many people have ever done this?

I have witnessed many situations paddling with novice paddlers, (and advanced paddlers too), that when the weather elements turned bad, they weren't able to come to anyone's aid, not because they didn't want to, but because they were doing all they can to keep themselves upright.

I have seen where people have grown too tired to paddle, and someone else has had to tow them, which exhausted both people, which put both of their lives at risk.

I have seen advanced paddlers fend for themselves, and leave me with five other novice paddlers who all were on the verge of flipping due to extremely gusty winds, and leave someone else lost in an area of the lake where there was submerged trees so thick you could hardly paddle, and never gave it a second thought until I asked where the other man was.

It's been a real eye opening experience for me to see all of the terribly risky things people have done, when I began paddling with people for the first time last year, after being a solo paddler for over 27 years. To put it bluntly, it really made pay attention to who I should, and should not paddle with, because of the safety elements it presents to me, which goes back to it is your responsiblity to determine whether the situation you are placing yourself in is safe.

So to be on the safe side, always use good judgement in determining where you paddle and with whom you paddle.  Someone else's inexperience can place you in harms way, so paddling with other people may actually place you at a higher risk than if you were paddling by yourself.

If you find yourself thinking you wouldn't do the paddle alone, don't do it with someone else, just because you think you'd be safer.

FOOT NOTE: When I am referring to you, I do not mean you specifically, rather you, people in general.

Out of genuine concern for Dan, I think we all need to be sensitive to his needs and not pander to our insatiable desire for information (myself included).

I have been contacted by two news sources for permission to use the photos I posted and each said they have been unsuccessful in contacting Dan (as of 11 am this morning).  This is not due to lack of effort on their part.  I have to assume that, despite recurrent calls for his "first hand account", Dan is choosing to remain silent on the matter.

I don't know the cause, but can only reflect on the symptoms that victims of Post Traumatic Stress experience:

Harrowing and distressing reexperiencing of the event
      Nightmares
      Intrussive recollections
      Flashbacks (real-time replays of the experience).

Persistenct avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and emotional numbing which include:
      Efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings or conversations assoiciated with the trauma
      Efforts to avoid activities,  places or people that arouse recollections of the trauma
      Inability to recall important aspects of the trauma
      Marked or diminished interest or participation in significant activities
      Feelings of detachment or estrangement from others
      Restricted range of emotional responses (eg. intimacy}
      A sense of forshortened future

Persistent symptoms of increased arousal:
      Sleep difficulty
      Irritability or anger
      Decreased concentration
      Hypervigilance
      Exaggerated startle response

Be aware, apparent calmness immediately after the event may not indicate the degree of distress being experienced since the psychological impact can be delayed.

My experience with this disorder is greatest from my treatment of Viet Nam Vets, but I'm sure Frank has a lot more experience with this.

Anyway, I think we need to be exquisitely sensitive to the possibility of this being in play and not continue to ask for information from Dan.  I don't know Dan personally, but he may not even be reading this forum out of self-protection.

If, and when anyone makes contact with Dan, I would advise refraining from badgering him with questions.  If he wants to talk...he will.  If he doesn't leave him alone.

We don't need him to be a mascot for our need to feel machismo.  Expecting someone to be "strong", when he may feel like crap, only puts him in an emotional straight jacket.  He's not allowed to even feel real

hey the Political Forum is where the important stuff happens! come on over to my side john!

Marmite, thank you for your post. In the excitement this kind of thing generates, its easy to lose sight of that and become our own type of "paparazzi".
-Sean

Thanks for chiming in on the residual effects of P.T.S.D. Your a real pro Doug.
Most of us with this type of experience who finally admit the trauma will in time talk about it in due course and on our terms.
No Dan does not need to be hounded so guys give it a rest. I think most of you have heard of the term P.T.S.D. and I think it healthy that it be mentioned more for the uninformed then those who have gone through it or going through it. But as I have heard and firmly believe,"the pathway to hell is lined with good intentions".
Dan, anonymity is a phrase that I hold dearly. Again if you need to talk fill free to call me with the understanding that, what is said between us remains between us. I have talked to Doug on the water a couple of times and their is a chance he would too be willing to listen and a great source of educated practical knowledge.
Frank

Funny how other people's pain can deeply effect you.  Even nearly 20 years later, just thinking about those vets makes me want to cry.

It can be important to seek attention for incipient signs of PTSD.  I'm not as up on the treatment now that I don't deal with a steady stream of trauma survivors.  But I know there is a lot of research on ways to limit the severity of symptoms that our returning combat vets are enduring.  Seems the extreme heightend adrenalin outflow from the central nervous system may overload the limbic circuits (involved with emotional/fear/memory responses) and imprint or brand the event in our brain.  In effect making a software problem a hardware problem.  Some meds, like beta blockers (which reduce sympathetic (fright or flight) tone or serotonergic antidepressants (like Zoloft etc.) can blunt these extreme physiologic responses and perhaps reduce the risk of long term symptoms.

Got a call from Dan earlier today. He's doing fine but just a little bit too overwhelmed with all the attention he's been getting. I simply told him to talk when he is good and ready. I gave him Paul Lebowitz (PAL) phone number since he's our most trusted and favorite fellow kayak fisherman / writer from So Cal.

For those of you who don't know Paul, he wrote a great article on the kayak fishing in Big Sur with our beloved brother - Steve Blackwell aka "Chef" (RIP). Paul also helped organize our "Unfinished Business Trip" for Chef on the mothership Islander where 20 of NCKA'ers got together and to say their goodbyes to a fallen comrad.

The funny thing I remember well about Dan (the day of the attack) was that he was more upset of the fact that he no longer has a kayak to use on the weekends I offered him my extra kayak but he politely declined   What a cool cat!!

he was more upset of the fact that he no longer has a kayak to use on the weekends

eh, those scratches'll buff right out

Da media sharks smell blood in the water...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/23/BAGE8R5B1M15.DTL&tsp=1