Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

Fatal Shark Attack In Florida

Lots of valuable articles from Rick Iossi, FKA Inc.
User avatar
RickI
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 9117
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2002 1:00 am
Local Beach: SE Florida
Gear: Cabrinha
Brand Affiliation: Cabrinha
Location: Florida
Has thanked: 88 times
Been thanked: 101 times

Fatal Shark Attack In Florida

Postby RickI » Thu Feb 04, 2010 2:38 am

There has been an awful accident involving a well liked kiteboarder in Martin County. My sincere regrets go out to his family and friends for his loss. It is a tight community up there and this has to hit very hard.

A well experienced kiteboarder was attacked off Hutchenson Island at about 4:15 pm today. He was reportedly in the water off his board about 1/4 mile offshore and seen to be swimming into shore in an unguarded area. A commotion was seen in the water around the kiter and what may have been bull sharks attacked the kiter. A lifeguard responded and paddled out to the man who had suffered several bites. Sharks were reportedly still circling the man. He was brought back to the beach and first aid administered. He was taken to a nearby hospital about a mile away. Despite rapid medical care he passed away in hospital. Spinner sharks have been migrating through the area in large quantities in recent weeks however less common and more aggressive bull sharks may have been responsible for this grievous attack.

This is the first fatal shark attack that I have heard of on a kiteboarder worldwide. There have been six other attacks that I have heard of that usually were "minor" in nature over the last ten years worldwide.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/feb/03/ ... arks-dies/
http://www.wptv.com/content/news/martin ... K0mRw.cspx
http://www.cbs12.com/news/attacked-4723 ... harks.html



I normally don't like to include names but it is in the news already and friends from other areas may want to know. Steve Schafer was the kiter who passed away. Rest in peace Steve.

User avatar
RickI
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 9117
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2002 1:00 am
Local Beach: SE Florida
Gear: Cabrinha
Brand Affiliation: Cabrinha
Location: Florida
Has thanked: 88 times
Been thanked: 101 times

Re: Fatal Shark Attack In Florida

Postby RickI » Thu Feb 04, 2010 4:03 am

This was posted in the main forum.
mariner wrote:Steve Schafer RIP
Exact details unknown - sharks have been abundant - no one else out [on water] at the time - kite went down - Guards stated he was swimming towards kite - then not swimming - water discolored - Guard scrambled paddle board - he was conscious to beach apparently; blood loss, CPR [failed] - passed either in-route or at hospital...
Local community is REALLY stunned & down - he was the last person anyone would have wanted to see go...
miss you already, so sad...
Attachments
Steve Schafer.jpg
Steve Schafer.jpg (50.75 KiB) Viewed 24306 times

User avatar
RickI
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 9117
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2002 1:00 am
Local Beach: SE Florida
Gear: Cabrinha
Brand Affiliation: Cabrinha
Location: Florida
Has thanked: 88 times
Been thanked: 101 times

Re: Fatal Shark Attack In Florida

Postby RickI » Thu Feb 04, 2010 2:24 pm

Image
Steve during a 2007 kiting session, Photos by Chris Shultz

More about Steve, a very experienced and well rounded waterman, some have said near world class surfer, from a close friend of 25 years in a video interview:
http://www.tcpalm.com/videos/detail/kit ... rk-attack/


"STUART — A 38-year-old kiteboard surfer attacked by sharks Wednesday afternoon has died from his injuries, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

It was Martin County’s first fatal shark attack, according to records going back to 1882.

About 4 p.m., a lifeguard was looking through his binoculars and saw Stephen Howard Schafer, 38, of Stuart, in distress about a quarter of a mile off shore from an unguarded beach just south of Stuart Beach, officials said."
Continued at: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/feb/03/ ... er=popular

Image

User avatar
RickI
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 9117
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2002 1:00 am
Local Beach: SE Florida
Gear: Cabrinha
Brand Affiliation: Cabrinha
Location: Florida
Has thanked: 88 times
Been thanked: 101 times

Re: Fatal Shark Attack In Florida

Postby RickI » Thu Feb 04, 2010 11:34 pm

A TV interview with the lifeguard, Dan Lund that swam out to Steve Schafer and brought him to shore. Lund, a nine year lifegard with Martin County, had a serious shark bite himself 20 years ago. The newscast says Lund saw a kiter about 500 yards offshore lying on his kite. Lund paddled out to investigate. He say that Steve was lying on his kite, who yelled to Lund that he had been bitten by a shark. Lund saw Steve was injured and bleeding with sharks circling beneath the surface. He went into the water and over to the kite, carried Steve over to his rescue board, put him on it and paddled him back to shore in 4 to 6 ft. seas.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/ ... 8685.story


Image
Lifeguard Dan Lund in 1983 before his own shark attack

The article describing the attack from 1986
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/feb/04/ ... guard-dan/

User avatar
RickI
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 9117
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2002 1:00 am
Local Beach: SE Florida
Gear: Cabrinha
Brand Affiliation: Cabrinha
Location: Florida
Has thanked: 88 times
Been thanked: 101 times

Re: Fatal Shark Attack In Florida

Postby RickI » Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:06 am

A memorial for Steve Schafer will be held on Saturday, Feb. 5 at Stuart Beach. More at: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/feb/04/ ... ain-surfe/


For folks that would like to send flowers or condolences in writing, Brian of Kiteworld posted the following address:

Schafer Family
1830 Southeast Federal Highway
Stuart, FL 34994-3914
Attn: Teague Taylor

User avatar
RickI
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 9117
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2002 1:00 am
Local Beach: SE Florida
Gear: Cabrinha
Brand Affiliation: Cabrinha
Location: Florida
Has thanked: 88 times
Been thanked: 101 times

Re: Fatal Shark Attack In Florida

Postby RickI » Fri Feb 05, 2010 3:31 pm

Dr. Burgess of director of the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History was asked to examine the wounds of the shark attack. He is an expert in this field maintaining the global database of shark attacks. I spoke to him yesterday prior to his attending the post mortem by phone. He speculated it was less likely spinner sharks were responsible for the initial attack but more probably a larger shark such as a bull shark. Spinners may hit humans by accident but usually move on after limited interaction. Spinners are preyed up on these same larger sharks during the seasonal migration.

In the article below, it is stated "The shark that killed a kiteboarder off Stuart this week was an 8- or 9-foot shark in the requiem family, a group which includes bull sharks and tiger sharks, a shark attack expert (Burgess), who examined the body said Thursday evening."

It goes on to say; "Blacktip and spinner sharks, also members of the requiem family, are responsible for many attacks, but those are generally just single bites by a shark that thinks a hand or foot is a fish. Bull sharks and tigers are known killers, and along with great whites, are "the primary attackers of man," according to the International Shark Attack File. There had been speculation that a great white had been the attacker, but Burgess said his examination definitively ruled out that species."


This opinion discounts what some thought was a weakly supported claim that white sharks may have responsible for the attack.


The article also states; "Schafer's death was a rare event in a state where shark attacks often are minor lacerations caused by small sharks. Worldwide about 8 percent of shark attacks result in death, but in Florida about 1 percent are fatal, according to the International Shark Attack File's statistics."


"Expert suspects tiger or bull sharks killed kiteboarder

By David Fleshler, Sun Sentinel
8:54 p.m. EST, February 4, 2010

STUART - The shark that killed a kiteboarder off Stuart this week was an 8- or 9-foot shark in the requiem family, a group which includes bull sharks and tiger sharks, a shark attack expert who examined the body said Thursday evening.

Two bite wounds on the thigh caused the death of Stephen Howard Schafer, victim of the first fatal shark attack in Florida since 2005, said George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Burgess drove to the medical examiner's office in Fort Pierce on Thursday to examine the body.

Blacktip and spinner sharks, also members of the requiem family, are responsible for many attacks, but those are generally just single bites by a shark that thinks a hand or foot is a fish. Bull sharks and tigers are known killers, and along with great whites, are "the primary attackers of man," according to the International Shark Attack File. There had been speculation that a great white had been the attacker, but Burgess said his examination definitively ruled out that species.

About 4 p.m. Wednesday lifeguard Daniel Lund peered through binoculars and saw Schafer lying on his board about a quarter-mile offshore, officials said. When Lund paddled out, he saw blood in the water and Schafer screamed "I've been bitten by a shark," according to an interview Lund gave to WPTV-Ch. 5.

Lund held Schafer on his rescue board with one arm and paddled to shore with the other, as sharks circled.

"It's not like the dorsal fins come out of the water like you see … in the movies," he told the television station. "They generally kinda cruise through the waves, and you can see the shadows going underneath and so on, so you know they're there."

A report by the Martin County Sheriff's Office said Schafer had suffered an 8- to 10-inch bite on the thigh, bites on the buttocks and apparent defensive wounds on the right hand.

More than 100 sharks were seen in the ocean off Reef Road in Palm Beach on Thursday morning, prompting lifeguards to monitor the beaches to see if any should be closed, WPTV-Ch. 5 reports.

Last week, beaches were closed for three days on Singer Island because of shark sightings. Hammerheads, spinners, reef and bull sharks are common off South Florida this time of year, when they follow schools of migrating fish."


Continued at:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/ ... 8685.story

User avatar
RickI
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 9117
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2002 1:00 am
Local Beach: SE Florida
Gear: Cabrinha
Brand Affiliation: Cabrinha
Location: Florida
Has thanked: 88 times
Been thanked: 101 times

Re: Fatal Shark Attack In Florida

Postby RickI » Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:58 pm

More from the autopsy:

Dr. Linda O’Neil, associate medical examiner for the District 19 Medical Examiner’s Office at Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, said the autopsy she conducted Thursday afternoon revealed the cause of death was “exsanguination, or loss of blood, due to shark bites.”

O’Neil said Schafer suffered “two shark bites, one more serious than the other. The more serious was on the back of his right thigh. It was from 9 to 10 inches long and very deep. In fact, one of the teeth hit the bone.”

O’Neil said the second bite was “across the buttocks. The wound itself was really teeth marks, puncture bites. It didn’t tear any flesh away.”
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/feb/05 ... oss-of-in/

Once his femoral artery in his thigh was severed he had very little time to receive care.

User avatar
RickI
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 9117
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2002 1:00 am
Local Beach: SE Florida
Gear: Cabrinha
Brand Affiliation: Cabrinha
Location: Florida
Has thanked: 88 times
Been thanked: 101 times

Re: Fatal Shark Attack In Florida

Postby RickI » Fri Feb 05, 2010 8:22 pm

Just came across this TV interview shot at kitebeach in Jupiter seeking the reaction of local kiteboarders.

http://www.tcpalm.com/videos/detail/...-shark-attack/

User avatar
RickI
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 9117
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2002 1:00 am
Local Beach: SE Florida
Gear: Cabrinha
Brand Affiliation: Cabrinha
Location: Florida
Has thanked: 88 times
Been thanked: 101 times

Re: Fatal Shark Attack In Florida

Postby RickI » Sun Feb 07, 2016 4:28 am

A memorial article published in The Kiteboarder Magazine

[QUOTE=RickI;44323]The Kiteboarder published a memorial to this unique man recently lost following a shark attack during kiteboarding session off Hutchinson Island, FL. You can subscribe to the magazine or see an online copy of this and past issues at: http://www.thekiteboarder.com/wordpress/


Image



Image



Image


.[/QUOTE]

User avatar
RickI
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 9117
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2002 1:00 am
Local Beach: SE Florida
Gear: Cabrinha
Brand Affiliation: Cabrinha
Location: Florida
Has thanked: 88 times
Been thanked: 101 times

Re: Fatal Shark Attack In Florida

Postby RickI » Sun Feb 07, 2016 4:29 am

Steve Schafer died as a result of a shark attack while kitesurfing on February 3, 2010 just south of Stuart Beach. He may have been the first kiter to be lost in this fashion worldwide. This photo was taken a mile south of where Steve was riding when the attack occurred. I didn't go up with the intent of remembering Steve but that is inevitable every time I ride off the House of Refuge. He lives on in the waters of this place for myself, perhaps others as well. By coincidence this session was five years plus two days from the date of his passing. The blacktip sharks are running north again along with even larger predatory sharks although I didn't see any sharks, feeding birds, jumping bait or the like on this day. I pay particular attention for such signs when I kite even more so after Steve's passing. We're thinking of you Steve.

Image


Return to “FKA, RickI”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 40 guests