Shark attack at Bean Hollow - 7/21/07

http://www.examiner.com/a-843249~Shark_attacks_man_off_Peninsula_coast.html



Shark attacks man off Peninsula coast
9 hrs ago   » Shark attacks man off Peninsula coast « 

Printer Friendly | PDF | Email
Jul 24, 2007 6:00 AM (9 hrs ago)
by Tamara Barak, The Examiner
 Font Size: a a A A
Current rank: # 14 of 6,989   Add to My News
Post your comments
 
(Courtesy photo)
A great white shark left bite marks on Dan Prather’s kayak while the San Leandro resident was fishing off the coast near Pescadero on Monday. SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - When Dan Prather’s fishing buddies heard him call for help on his handheld radio during a weekend trip to the San Mateo County coast, they figured he needed someone to lend a hand with a big catch.

Indeed, it was a whopper of a fish — a great white shark that attacked Prather’s kayak, throwing him into the sea and sinking its teeth into the nose of the small boat.

Prather, who had been adjusting his lure before the 10:15 a.m. attack, thought he had been struck by another boat, said John Dale of Foster City, who was part of the group of kayak anglers who accompanied Prather to Bean Hollow State Beach near Pescadero.

“He didn’t think it was a shark until he saw it attached to the front of his boat, gnawing on it,” Dale said.


Prather scrambled back into his kayak, but the force of the attack had knocked his seat loose and he fell out two more times. The shark swam away, leaving Prather’s kayak with multiple scratches and punctures in its bottom.

While Prather’s friends said he’s not ready to talk publicly about the attack, they said the San Leandro resident never lost his cool — or his sense of humor — during the ordeal.

“He told me, ‘I caught a couple fish ... and a shark,’” Dale recalled.

Angler Joel Lotilla of Millbrae said Prather was a study in restraint when he reached the shore, calmly opening a beer and lamenting that he wouldn’t be able to use his kayak the following weekend.

Carrie Wilson, a marine biologist for the state Department of Fish and Game, said the area is part of the Red Triangle, named for its dense population of sharks. The region extends roughly from Bodega Bay to beyond the Farallon Islands and south to Big Sur.

There are more sharks in the area because of the many seals, sea lions and elephant seals.

According to statistics from the Department of Fish and Game, only 10 people have died in great white shark attacks in California since the 1920s.

Karl Tallman, public safety superintendent for state parks in the area, said officials don’t plan to close the beach because the attack happened a mile off shore.

[email protected]

They didn't even interview any sources of the incident on camera. Irresponsible journalism

I don't think it was necessarily for lack of trying.  I know I had four or five reporters contact me only because they wanted permission to use my pictures.  Each said they wanted to interview me but I told them that I was only peripherally involved and that they should try and contact Dan or others like SAL who could give first-hand accounts of what happened.  But they seemed to all be having trouble finding people to talk to and they all seemed to be working under pretty tight deadlines to get their stories out while it was still news worthy.

I see where you're coming from Marmite but I think my point is a little different. My whole point is if they want to give details about the account calling it "frightening" and overall giving it a harrowing tone they better be getting that quote from a reliable source, not just what they found on a website because they want to use it now while it's "news worthy". I could make up anything on a website but should that be told to the masses as fact? Obviously it was frightening and harrowing but sensationalizing the event w/o backing up the story with personal accounts is irresponsible journalism. At this point, they should state what they found, note that it was an ongoing investigation and they'd have more details when they're available. That way the public is informed and not swayed emotionally just because they were impatient. The media has a lot of power and it should be used with much more care than what is currently being done.

Z

http://www.examiner.com/a-843249~Shark_attacks_man_off_Peninsula_coast.html



Shark attacks man off Peninsula coast
9 hrs ago   » Shark attacks man off Peninsula coast « 

Printer Friendly | PDF | Email
Jul 24, 2007 6:00 AM (9 hrs ago)
by Tamara Barak, The Examiner
 Font Size: a a A A
Current rank: # 14 of 6,989   Add to My News
Post your comments
 
(Courtesy photo)
A great white shark left bite marks on Dan Prather’s kayak while the San Leandro resident was fishing off the coast near Pescadero on Monday. SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - When Dan Prather’s fishing buddies heard him call for help on his handheld radio during a weekend trip to the San Mateo County coast, they figured he needed someone to lend a hand with a big catch.

Indeed, it was a whopper of a fish — a great white shark that attacked Prather’s kayak, throwing him into the sea and sinking its teeth into the nose of the small boat.

Prather, who had been adjusting his lure before the 10:15 a.m. attack, thought he had been struck by another boat, said John Dale of Foster City, who was part of the group of kayak anglers who accompanied Prather to Bean Hollow State Beach near Pescadero.

“He didn’t think it was a shark until he saw it attached to the front of his boat, gnawing on it,” Dale said.


Prather scrambled back into his kayak, but the force of the attack had knocked his seat loose and he fell out two more times. The shark swam away, leaving Prather’s kayak with multiple scratches and punctures in its bottom.

While Prather’s friends said he’s not ready to talk publicly about the attack, they said the San Leandro resident never lost his cool — or his sense of humor — during the ordeal.

“He told me, ‘I caught a couple fish ... and a shark,’” Dale recalled.

Angler Joel Lotilla of Millbrae said Prather was a study in restraint when he reached the shore, calmly opening a beer and lamenting that he wouldn’t be able to use his kayak the following weekend.

Carrie Wilson, a marine biologist for the state Department of Fish and Game, said the area is part of the Red Triangle, named for its dense population of sharks. The region extends roughly from Bodega Bay to beyond the Farallon Islands and south to Big Sur.

There are more sharks in the area because of the many seals, sea lions and elephant seals.

According to statistics from the Department of Fish and Game, only 10 people have died in great white shark attacks in California since the 1920s.

Karl Tallman, public safety superintendent for state parks in the area, said officials don’t plan to close the beach because the attack happened a mile off shore.

[email protected]

See the difference here? Now that's good journalism! I wish the TV could talk like that!
Z

Hello All. The Riddler here from Boston MA. Dan, I don't know you but glad you are alright. Staying cool in a very tense situation! Your experience will help all. Good job to everyone to get to Dan right away for support. I am watching this thread closely here to learn and apply if and when the time happens. If an article could be produced later on down the road to help others that would be a bonus.

We, the kayak anglers of New England, also fall under the possibility of an encounter with a GWS. The Great Grey seal population has exploded in the last 10 years. No more bounties on seal noses since the 70's. Every once in a while a large seal will get taken down around Monomoy and Nauset areas of the Cape. These are known areas for large sharks of all types and confirmed GWS. My home water's are in the Boston Harbor area but I do enjoy following the Striped Bass migration in the fall especially down to the outer Cape at Nauset.

Great website, keep up the good work!

Respectfully

Jeffrey Lopez
The Riddler
Boston, MA

 

Read this an then try and tell me "Bitehead" wasn't chasing the Whaler off his Sea Lion kill:
http://www.devilsteeth.net/aboutthebook.htm

Read this if you think GWS are not sophisticated predators capable of territory defending behavior:
http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/1006/1006_feature.html

KGO is now reporting it as "alleged" seems pretty good since no media has spoken to the person involved directly as far as I know.

KGO is now reporting it as "alleged" seems pretty good since no media has spoken to the person involved directly as far as I know.

Ha ha, thats awesome.  Lot of alleged dodo heads viewing and posting on this topic.  JTF..

If you want to see a verified dodo head watch my NBC11 footage here - http://video.nbc11.com/player/?id=132726

I just read the story in the Merc and had to run to the site.

Dan, glad your ok man.

Everyone, that is what happens in the land of the man in the Grey Suit.  Live with it.

Bill, boy did NBC cut your interview up into little shreds or what?  I hate how you interview with a TV type for like an hour and they pare it down to 10 seconds.......

Sometimes I thank God for seasickness......

MolBasser

Read this an then try and tell me "Bitehead" wasn't chasing the Whaler off his Sea Lion kill:
http://www.devilsteeth.net/aboutthebook.htm

do you mean the part where "bitehead" decapitates the elephant seal? that seems like a prey event...  .

maybe the shark was going to decapitate the hobie? It did bite the nose of it...

besides, kill defending is not quite the same as territory defending is it?

point is we don't know what the shark was doing exactly. to assume it was territorial is just premature: cargo cult science.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult_science

that book is a bunch of starry-eyed granola-eating tree-hugging mush, imo.

so she went to a deserted island to hang with two dudes? hmm... 

sure she had a great time, but I'll wait for the video...

Read this if you think GWS are not sophisticated predators capable of territory defending behavior:
http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/1006/1006_feature.html

let's hope the one that hit dan's boat is explaining his lessons to the other sharks using his sophisticated intelligence!

Fool me once . . . . Another shark falls for the decoy. After one or two strikes, however, most get wise to the ruse.

Photo by Neil Hammerschlag

Wow, what a tale. Glad things turned out OK.

Yup, I think FW fishing just got more popular, although I'm sure you diehard salties won't let a few scratches on a yak scare you away.

Nice interview Bill.

I'd suggest we start a pool to buy Dan a new yak, but he sounds like the kinda guy who would turn down the offer.

Dan, you are THE MAN!

Oh yeah, I came across another yak site where someone posted a pic and link to the story. The first response was some knucklehaed who questioned the validity of the story.

Nice job Bill!

Forgive me for asking, but has "Dan" posted here yet? I haven't seen it of he has. It's like talking to a kid who's playing a video game........very one sided.

CHEERS!

this a picture of the port side.When i looked at Sat. you could definitely see the Arch of the teeth   bill

If we can get a measurement on that arch, we can estimate the length..

I haven't tracked down the original reference for this yet, but here is the website I found this on.
http://homepage.mac.com/mollet/Cc/CcMorphometrics/Morphometrics.html

Brian