Great White Shark Kills Bodyboarder

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Two great white sharks have been tagged with satellite tracking devices off of Cape Cod. Pic:http://www.thedorsalfin.com/shark-news-stories/chatham-closes-beaches-after-3-white-sharks-are-sighted-within-75-yards-of-coastline/

There are places in the world where people shouldn’t go, and off the coasts of South Africa, Australia, and Northern California spring to mind.  The deep, cold water is home to the great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, also known as the great white, white pointer, white shark, or white death, a large lamniform shark found in coastal surface waters in all major oceans.

It is known for its size, with the largest individuals known to have approached or exceeded 6 metres (20 ft) in length, and 2,268 kilograms (5,000 lb) in weight. This shark reaches maturity at around 15 years of age and can have a life span of over 30 years.

The great white shark is arguably the world’s largest known extant macropredatory fish and is one of the primary predators of marine mammals. It is also known to prey upon a variety of other marine animals including fish and seabirds. It is the only known surviving species of its genus, Carcharodon, and is ranked first in a list of number of recorded attacks on humans and is also listed as a species that is vulnerable to extinction.

The best selling novel Jaws by Peter Benchley and the subsequent blockbuster film by Steven Spielberg depicted the great white shark as a “ferocious man eater”. In reality, humans are not the preferred prey of the great white shark.

Last week a champion South African bodyboarder was killed by a 13-foot-long great white shark off the coast of South Africa.

According to the Cape Times, the attack occurred Thursday afternoon off of Gordons Bay, a popular surfing destination located about 55 miles east of Cape Town.

David Lilienfeld, 20, was killed after the shark severed his right leg below the hip. Lilienfeld’s younger brother, Gustav, had attempted to fend off the shark with his board.

The shark lunged at David Lilienfeld twice before returning for the fatal attack. Gustav, who was not injured, rushed his brother back to shore on his board, but David had lost too much blood by the time rescuers reached him.

“This was his life, and he died doing what he loved,” his father, Dirk, said at the scene.

One witness insisted the tragedy was not simply a random act, but a consequence of chumming done in the area for the filming of the documentary “Shark Men,” which appears on the National Geographic Channel.

Following Lilienfeld’s death, Cape Town environmental officials pulled the film crew’s research permit, but they refused to say the chumming was a factor in the attack.

“There is no evidence or any logical reasoning to link the two, but the national government department that was responsible for that program felt an immense amount of pressure, and as result of that pressure they felt it was just better not to continue with the tagging of the white sharks,” Gregg Oelofse, head of Cape Town’s environmental policy unit told Bloomberg.

“Shark Men” features anglers and scientists capturing and tagging sharks, but the show has not yet been renewed for another season by the network, which maintained it was not involved in the filming.

Chumming is also done in the area by cage-diving operators who offer shark-watching trips for tourists. According to Bloomberg, cage-diving operators said shark activity in the area was normal at the time of the attack.

Lilienfeld competed on the South African team at the International Surfing Association Bodyboarding Championships last year in the Canary Islands.

Story contributors MSN and Wikipedia.

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Professor Mike

Professor Mike is a left-leaning, dog loving, political junkie. He has written dozens of articles for Substack, Medium, Simily, and Tribel. Professor Mike has been published at Smerconish.com, among others. He is a strong proponent of the environment, and a passionate protector of animals. In addition he is a fierce anti-Trumper. Take a moment and share his work.
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Jess
11 years ago

Why can these idiots just not leave the damn animals alone, rhetorical no answer needed. Have you ever seen a shark or a Bengal tiger come to do research on the human animal tagging them or dissecting them, no you haven’t and never will coz they don’t care enough about us. We need to learn from the animals and leave them the fuck alone in their homes. I sometimes hope the future is like that planet of the apes movie, so humans can be on the receiving end of science.

Erin Nanasi
Reply to  Professor Mike
11 years ago

I wish you were a billionaire too. And running away now…

Erin Nanasi
11 years ago

So, chumming was not a factor in drawing more sharks in. Okay. Even though that’s exactly what chumming DOES. If my eyes roll any more dramatically, they’ll roll right off my head.

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