Shark attacks boy in Western Cape (Strand)

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ld13

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A 14-year-old boy is recovering in hospital after he was attacked by a shark in Strand, Cape Town, the National Sea Rescue Institute said today.

NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon said Andrew Smith - who lived in the area - was surfing around 5.30pm on Wednesday when he felt something pulling him by the legs.

"He recognised it to be a shark estimated to be between 1.5 and 2 metres," said Lambinon.

He managed to free himself and swim to shore where he was treated by a local doctor and taken to hospital.

"He had puncture bite marks to both his feet," he said.

Lambinon said shark spotters had been dispatched to the area and the Shark Working Group was appealing to surfers and swimmers to exercise caution in the water.

He said a member of the Shark Working Group had also been sent to the hospital to investigate Smith’s bite marks and try and determine what species of shark attacked him.
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http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=608518
A 14-year-old boy has been attacked by what is believed to be a Great White shark in the Strand, Cape Town,
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http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=608707
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=14&art_id=vn20071108111333440C712145

Interesting how the story differs from source to source. lol @ Great white shark!
 
DarthCat said:
If you stay out of the water then sharks will not bite you
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If you do decide to go into the water, the chances of one getting you are rather low.

But we supposedly have shark nets here in the Strand to keep those little sharp teethed things out. But then again, I don’t know how deep this boy went.
 
PostmanPot said:
Hectic. Didn't know we had nets here?
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Afaik/hearsay:
Here in Gordon’s Bay we have a shark net kind of thing and there in Strand you have some kind of deep reef thing that keep the sharks out (most of them at least :p).
 
Good to hear that he wasn't seriously hurt.

I so want to learn how to surf.

Only one problem - I live in Gauteng ............
 
ld13 said:
But we supposedly have shark nets here in the Strand to keep those little sharp teethed things out. But then again, I don’t know how deep this boy went.
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The great white is a protected species and therefore there are no shark nets in cape town.

If you went cycling through the Kruger Park and got eaten by a lion most people would say u deserved it or were stupid, funny how there is always an outcry when the same thing happens to a surfer...
 
justinct said:
If you went cycling through the Kruger Park and got eaten by a lion most people would say u deserved it or were stupid, funny how there is always an outcry when the same thing happens to a surfer...
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LOl good point :D....i never looked at it that way before
 
if you read THE SON or THE VOICE here in cape town you proberly find the boy bit the shark. i sometimes wonder if any of their stories are true,thats why i dont read them.
 
There was an attack last weekend in East London by a great white, bit a guy on the leg and came back for a second bite on his board.

Its the change of season and the water favouring shark attacks at the moment. Every year at round this time I make a point of staying out unless the waves are really goos.
 
Yeh, East London's had its fair share of gabbaz nibbling on surfers and whatnot.

It was around this time of the year as well that we saw a rathe big ol' Zambezi coming through 1m deep surf towards okes on malibu's. Needless to say, haste was the word of the day.

My dad's a funny oke, he'd rather have us get pwned by sharks than get killed by taxis. At least that way we'll make front page :D
 
Everybody asks about the boy...
But what about the poor shark? was it ok? I mean.. It DID bite a capie... :D
 
This is the final straw... I'm moving to Canada. I mean whats wrong with this country. You cant even go the beach and have a swim without being attacked. Go for a walk in the forest adn you might get mugged, take a drive down the road, and you might get highjacked, take a dip in teh ocean and you could be attacked. My guess is that the cops won't do ANYTHING and the culprit will simply get away and do this to someone else in the near future...
 
Natas said:
This is the final straw... I'm moving to Canada. I mean whats wrong with this country. You cant even go the beach and have a swim without being attacked. Go for a walk in the forest adn you might get mugged, take a drive down the road, and you might get highjacked, take a dip in teh ocean and you could be attacked. My guess is that the cops won't do ANYTHING and the culprit will simply get away and do this to someone else in the near future...
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*lol*

I sure hope nobody's going to quote you on this and think you're being serious.

Don't be silly dude. its not that the cops arent going to do anything. They are currently short on patrol cars, and even if they did catch the shark (no pun intended), they would have to catch & release him seeing that the jails are overcrowded.
 
There are no shark nets or devices in the Western Cape! The red Buoys you see at bikini beach are not shark nets... I know cause I've swam there and checked for myself to prove to people its not shark nets! They are only there to let the boats know not to pass there. and fisherman cant really though there hooks and sinkers there. Don't assume what you don't know for sure. Besides like the other dude said. The great white is protected and shark nets kill sharks. Without great whites around the seal population would over power our already low fishing stock pile...
 
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