Teenager killed in Florida shark attack

[JRPAGV]

This is awful!!! Poor girl! :(

(CNN) -- A 14-year-old girl died Saturday in a shark attack while swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, authorities said.

The teenager was dragged underwater by the shark at about 11:15 a.m. in front of a campground near the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, near Destin, Florida, according to the South Walton Fire District.

She lost a leg in the attack and died afterward, district official John Fitch said.

At the time of the attack, the girl and a 14-year-old friend were swimming and using "boogie boards" about 200 to 250 yards offshore, said Lt. Frank Owens of the Walton County Sheriff's office.

The friend saw the attack and her friend being dragged under, he said.

"For a regular swimmer, she was pretty far out," Capt. Danny Glidewell of the sheriff's office told CNN.

Usually, only surfers go that far out in the water, he said.

Once swimmers pass the first sandbar, or dropoff, "you will experience more sightings of sharks," he said, although this is the area's first shark attack.

Although shark sightings are not uncommon along the coast, Owens said, no one had seen a shark in the area Saturday before the attack. Green flags indicated calm surf, Glidewell said.

Beaches in southern Walton County were closed after the attack and will remain closed for at least the rest of the day, Owens told CNN.

Authorities anticipate opening the beaches Sunday, Glidewell said, but a final decision has not been made.

Observers have not seen the shark since the incident, and it's believed to have left the area, Owens said.

Authorities do not know what kind of shark it was.

Fitch said the shark was about 11 feet long. Owens said he could not confirm that size, but noted that many species swim in the warm waters off the Florida coast.

The shark apparently was chasing bait fish in the water, Fitch said.

Scary. I can't count how many times I've been to Panama City Beach and Destin over the years.

[oceaneast]

I was there last month. I hate those stories. Tomorrow when I swim out into the ocean to go surfing it will be on my mind. I don't think they've had a shark death in the gulf in years. My statistics professor reminds me that I'm more likely to be killed by a vending machine falling over than a shark attack - it makes me feel better.

[JRPAGV]

I don't think they've had a shark death in the gulf in years.
I don't recall there being one either.

My statistics professor reminds me that I'm more likely to be killed by a vending machine falling over than a shark attack - it makes me feel better.
That's interesting- and reassuring.

[claribella]

*shivers* shark attacks frighten me. Actually the water/ocean is one of my biggest fears. Not of drowning but the large things that swim in the water. *double shivers*

[MurphysLaw]

I didn't think I'd heard of Gulf coast attacks either. One of my closest friends is moving to Destin soon! :( ACK!

[oceaneast]

I was reading today that it was the first recorded attack in the Fort Walton county. I hate bullsharks, we have them here they like to stay near the mouth of the Cape Fear. Jeff just left to go surfing and now all I hear is the theme song from Jaws.

[KristyK]

Friends of ours just moved to Destin, and have a 14 year old daughter!

I'll have to have my DH call and make sure they are allright! They are supposed to be coming here this weekend for a vacation!

[lawyerlee]

Northwest Florida beaches open after deadly shark attack (http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/26/shark.attack/index.html)
14-year-old girl killed east of Destin, Florida

DESTIN, Florida (CNN) -- The beaches of northwest Florida opened for swimmers Sunday, despite a shark attack that killed a 14-year-old girl.

The shark attacked the girl Saturday while she was swimming about 200 yards off shore, authorities said, in front of a campground on the Florida Panhandle east of Destin, Florida.

The girl and a friend, also 14, were swimming and using boogie boards, said Lt. Frank Owens of the Walton County Sheriff's Office. The friend saw the attack occur and saw her friend being dragged under, he said.

[MurphysLaw]

I was reading today that it was the first recorded attack in the Fort Walton county. I hate bullsharks, we have them here they like to stay near the mouth of the Cape Fear. Jeff just left to go surfing and now all I hear is the theme song from Jaws.
Yikes!! I can see why!! :( Scary stuff!!!

[Scooter]

...were swimming and using "boogie boards" about 200 to 250 yards offshore... That is so far out there to be swimming and/or boogie boarding! When you get out that far, currents can be different, and who knows what creatures are out there. It's too bad, what a tragic end to a really bad decision.

[shopaholic]

Shark Attacks 2nd Teen Off Fla. Panhandle
http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/ap/20050627/capt.flmw10906270041.shark_attack_flmw109.jpg?x=18 0&y=121&sig=k5_ynt2m6VMu0Qy_zQSGKQ--

PENSACOLA, Fla. - A teenage boy was critically injured Monday in the second shark attack in three days along the Florida Panhandle.

The boy, whose age and name were not released, was taken to Bay Medical Center in Panama City. The nature of his injuries was not immediately released.

He was attacked off Cape San Blas, a popular vacation destination about 80 miles southeast of the Destin area where 14-year-old Jamie Marie Daigle of Gonzales, La., was killed by a shark on Saturday.

Daigle had been had been swimming on a boogie board with a friend about 100 yards from shore when a shark tore away the flesh on one leg from her hip to her knee.

After Saturday's attack, a 20-mile stretch of shore was closed to swimmers, but beaches reopened Sunday with a double staff of sheriff's beach patrol officers.

Florida averaged more than 30 shark attacks a year from 2000 to 2003, but there were only 12 attacks off the state's coast last year, according to figures compiled by the American Elasmobranch Society and the Florida Museum of Natural History.

[Sophia]

OMG, I hadn't heard about the 2nd attack. How awful. :(

[UTChick]

My aunt lives in Destin and I lived there for awhile a few years ago. They literally live down the street from where the girl was attacked. I am not sure if she read this in the paper or if it is just what the locals are saying, but the surfer who pulled her to shore said that he has been surfing for 25 years and had never seen a shark so aggressive. Apparently he and two other people were trying to get the girl on his surf board or in the other people's raft and the shark kept trying to attack them. Usually once they realize they have bitten into people they go away, but this one didn't. The surfer said that the girls were way too far out and in a "black area" meaning where there are big schools of fish, two situations that place a person in danger. The only thing that did not make sense to him was that it happened in the middle of the day. Usually these attacks happen at sunset or after dark.

It is just so sad. Since I moved from the area I go back once or twice a year and I never go in the water. It just makes me nervous. But my teenage cousins are out there surfing almost every day.

I will see if I can find the article where my aunt got her info. She said the other attack happened at Port St. Joe?/Cape San Blas area which is farther east.

So sad...

[Tempest_too]

I have a huge fascination and fear of sharks. It takes me awhile to feel comfortable swimming in the ocean and I always keep my eyes open for dark shapes or fins. I understand that I have a greater chance of a vending machine falling on me - but I could see a vending machine coming and they don't have razor-sharp teeth!

That 16 y.o. boy had to have his leg amputated:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/28/shark.attack/index.html

Boy's leg amputated after Florida shark attack

Doctor: 'His prognosis is excellent in the long term'

PANAMA CITY, Florida (CNN) -- A 16-year-old Tennessee boy was in critical but stable condition Tuesday a day after he was attacked by a shark in the Gulf of Mexico, forcing doctors to amputate his right leg.

Craig Adam Hutto, of Lebanon, Tennessee, was fishing with his brother on a sandbar about 60 yards off Cape San Blas when he was bitten about 11:30 a.m. Monday, said Gulf County government spokeswoman Paula Pickett.

"We went to the operating room with the idea that we would do anything we could to salvage the limb," said Dr. Glenn Summers of Bay Medical Center in Panama City. "However, it became apparent pretty early on there were not enough structures there to reconstruct in order to have viable limb, and the decision was made at that point to amputate."

Summers said Hutton has "done well since the surgery."

"Barring anything unforeseen, which is the great mystery in this business, his prognosis is excellent in the long term," he said.

A second surgery later Tuesday morning would be a "second look" at the effects of the attack, Summers said.

Summers said Hutto is weeks away from being released from the hospital and months away from rehabilitation. Hutto could be transferred to a facility closer to his Tennessee home, the doctor said.

"He's still at extreme risk for infection, but his prognosis is excellent because he is young and healthy," he said.

The attack on Hutto was the second along the Florida Panhandle in three days. On Saturday, a 6-foot bull shark attacked and killed 14-year-old Jaime Daigle of Gonzales, Louisiana, about 95 miles northwest of Cape San Blas at Miramar Beach. (Map)

Autopsy results indicated the size and species of that shark, officials said Monday. (Full story)

Summers credited Hutto's brother and two vacationing medical personnel with saving the boy's life.

Hutto and his brother were fishing in waist-deep surf off the Gulf of Mexico side of Cape San Blas, a narrow spit of land about 40 miles southeast of Panama City. Gulf County Sheriff Dalton Upchurch said the boy was reeling in a fish when he was attacked.

Witnesses saw the boys struggling in the water, but initially thought they were playing.

"We realized after seeing a spray of red in the water we were not dealing with any kind of prank," Kandy Peterson said.

His brother pulled Hutto from the water, and the two vacationers -- one a doctor -- administered first aid, Upchurch said. Hutto was taken to a nearby hospital and then flown to Panama City by helicopter, he said.

Summers said Hutto was in shock and had lost a tremendous amount of blood when he arrived at Bay Medical, requiring "a lot of resuscitation at that time."

"The work that was done in the field was where the true heroism came into play," Summers said. "The main thing that stood out in my mind was the hero in the field that really saved his life."

Deaths from unprovoked shark attacks are rare, according to statistics compiled by the International Shark Attack File.

Seven people were killed in shark attacks worldwide in 2004, including two in the United States. California and Hawaii each recorded one shark attack death last year.

There were 12 shark attacks on Florida beaches in 2004, down sharply from 30 in 2003. Experts credit the busy hurricane season in 2004 for the lower numbers.

CNN's Mike Phelan contributed to this report.