And more......


----- Original Message -----
From: "Gerald" <[log in to unmask]>
Newsgroups: rec.scuba.locations
Sent: Saturday, June 10, 2000 4:01 PM
Subject: Re: Shark attack at Gulf Shores, AL (not scuba, but relative)


> Here's something from the clari.local.alabama newsgroup:
>
>
>
> GULF SHORES, Ala. (AP) -- Two swimmers were attacked Friday
> morning in the Gulf of Mexico, apparently by a shark, and one man
> lost his right arm as a result.
> Police closed a 30-mile stretch of public beaches to swimmers
> until further notice after Chuck Anderson, a vice principal and
> coach at Robertsdale High School, and Richard Whatley, a barber,
> were bitten around 6:45 a.m.
> George Burgess of the International Shark Attack File at the
> University of Florida said that the attack was the first in the
> Gulf this year and the first unprovoked attack in Alabama waters in
> nearly 25 years.
> The injured men, who apparently had gone swimming to train for
> a
> triathlon, were pulled to shore by nearby construction workers.
> ``Oh, my God, you should have seen it ... blood everywhere,''
> said Bill Walters, one of the workers.
> Anderson was in serious condition and Whatley was in stable
> condition at South Baldwin Regional Medical Center in Foley. Both
> men underwent surgery, spokeswoman Donna McFarland said.
> Anderson lost his right arm above the elbow and Whatley was
> bitten on his hip and right arm, she said.
> It's the height of the region's tourist season. Sunbathers
> flocked to the beaches, but none ventured into the choppy Gulf.
> ``This is as close to the water as I'm going to get,'' said
> Cindy Salter, 21, of Robertsdale, standing on the sidewalk.
> It wasn't immediately known what kind of shark attacked the
> men.
> Bob Shipp, chairman of the marine science department at the
> University of South Alabama in Mobile, said it could have been a
> bull shark. The shark is known to frequent warm Gulf waters during
> summer months, he said.
>
>