Tourist Killed by 'Dinosaur-Sized' Shark
http://news.aol.ca/article/tourist-k...-shark/769351/
Tourist Killed by 'Dinosaur-Sized' Shark
Source: AOL
Posted: 01/13/10 12:40PM
Filed Under: World
A tourist was eaten by a "dinosaur-sized" shark in South Africa's most popular tourist destination,
leaving swimmers anxious as shark sightings continue to rise.
Witnesses described how Lloyd Skinner was seized by a shark in waist-high water off of Cape Town's Fish Hoek beach
and dragged out to sea.
A tourist was [eaten by a 'dinosaur-sized' shark]
(
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010...t-shark-attack)
today in South Africa's most popular tourist destination.
Witnesses described how Lloyd Skinner was seized by a Great White Shark
in waist-high water off of Cape Town's Fish Hoek beach and dragged out to sea.
"Holy ****. We just saw a gigantic shark eat what looked like a person in front of our house,"
witness Gregg Coppen posted on Twitter. "That shark was huge. Like dinosaur huge."
Search helicopters and rescue boats have so far failed to recover the 37-year-old Zimbabwean’s body.
Police divers will join the efforts today.
The shark behind the attack is believed to be a Great White.
Witnesses described the horrific events in the Cape Times newspaper.
The shark was "longer than a minibus", recounted Coppen .
"It was this giant shadow heading to something colourful.
Then it sort of came out the water and took this colourful lump and went off with it.
You could see its whole jaw wrap around the thing which turned out to be a person," he added.
Witness Phyllis McCartain told the paper:
"We saw the shark come back twice.
It had the man's body in its mouth, and his arm was in the air.
Then the sea was full of blood."
Kyle Johnston said: "We were swimming only about 15 metres away from the guy.
We were at about chest depth and he was a little deeper.
We looked at the walkway and saw people waving towels at us,
then we looked further out to sea and saw what looked like blood, and a man's leg come up."
His friend Dane Leo added: "I was floating
and I thought the people waving at us were joking,
but then I looked back and saw a fin and blood."
Shark spotters were placed on the hills surrounding Fish Hoek beach
six years ago after another deadly attack.
The spotters use binoculars and radios to alert swimmers of any approaching sharks.
While not full proof, it is considered on of the best methods for avoiding attacks.
A recent increase in shark sightings has lead to calls for an electronic warning system
to be installed to alert swimmers.
Bloomberg reports that there have been 17 shark attacks off the Cape Town’s coastline since 2000,
four of them fatal.