Fatal shark attack

[kent]

I also offer my sincere condolences to his family. I didn't really know Steve, but I have seen him on the water and on the beach before. The photos of him that I saw made this event so much more real. He was obviously an accomplished rider and waterman from what I understand. This is really something that could happen to anyone. I only wish that he could have been reached earlier despite the obvious extraordinary effort that the guard put into saving him.

While this is tragic, I personally wouldn't read much more into this attack than what it was. This was sadly just a bad luck event with a terrible outcome. After events like these, the media gets all excited, launches the choppers, and brings the experts. The sharks are there all of the time, although maybe not in these numbers. Spinners aren't going to do more than nip and it generally takes some time for them to get up the courage to do anything. I wish that I knew the circumstances surrounding this attack. I have my own ideas, but I guess that we will never know. As I'm sure Rick will attest to, it is generally pretty hard to get a shark interested enough in you to attack, especially unprovoked. I spearfish all of the time and have encounters with sharks every time I go. Even in the water with injured fish, an attack is still pretty unlikely provided that you keep your eyes open. I guess that it is probably a bit more dangerous on top of the water, but once again this must have simply been Steve's time. I don't think that there was anything that he could have done to change this outcome after the events started to unfold. I see a few posts about people’s fear of sharks. I came from South Dakota originally and therefore when I came to Florida this is all that I thought about. After spending a good amount of time in the water with them, I am far more comfortable. I still take precautions and avoid swimming the inlets, etc., but wouldn't expect that this is the start of any trend.

My thoughts are with Steve and his family.