The first of the two recent attacks was on June 28, and involved a 20 year old Galveston surfer named Chad Rogers, who was surfing near 8 Mile Road. This is my favorite surf spot in Galveston… the waves are better at the Flagship, for sure, but this place offers complete privacy and some fun waves, especially if you want to cruise along the top of the water on a longboard. The coast there is lined with beach houses that have their front porches facing the water, along with many windows; it’s easy to feel like you’re the star of a show you’re putting on, as there are likely several people watching you surf from their living room.
A guy (I forgot his name) who was in “Endless Summer 2,” who lives near Galveston (Keema, I think), told me that sharks like to feed between the first and second sand bars, which is about 60 yards out. The second sand bar is the very best place to surf out there. You can stand in knee-high water, while water just 5 feet away is 20+ feet deep and dumps some major head-high waves on you, making for an easy take off and a long, powerful ride.
Chad was just past the second sand bar when he spotted the fin of a 5 foot bull shark, which bit his foot almost right away. Chad kicked the shark and then paddled over it to get back to shore. Having escaped a shark myself, I’m pretty sure that the paddle back to the beach was hectic and very scary. Chad’s foot required 20 stitches.
A side note about this shark attack is that it wasn’t “leaked” to the press until after July 4th. I guess that was smart for businesses, but it was very inconsiderate of the many tourists visiting Galveston for Independence Day. Tons of adults and children were in the water with hungry sharks. As for why they’re suddenly so hungry – we’ll get to that soon.
The second recent attack was just yesterday, July 16th. A fisherman named Charlie Gauzer was fishing in the same area, near 8 Mile Road, when a shark approached his boat and bit him on the leg while he stood in 3 feet of water. He said he “started to feel pain. I looked down and [there was] blood coming out of my leg.” If the shark didn’t like the taste of his leg, this is the point where it would have let go, but this shark continued to bite down even harder on Charlie’s leg as he tried to escape.
Charlie did end up escaping, and lived to talk about the attack. The shark missed his artery, which could have led to him bleeding to death, but did sever his Achilles tendon. The shark was really close to having a distasteful but satisfying lunch.
Why They’re Attacking
The biologists maybe right: maybe sharks don’t like the taste of human flesh. Maybe they’re even confused about what they’re biting down on, with Galveston’s brown water, and maybe the water is even darker now due to the recent oil spill. But if I take a bite of something that doesn’t taste good, and I continue to bite down even after tasting it, it means I’m really hungry and I don’t care about the taste as much as I care about filling my hungry stomach.
The oil rig may be capped now, but the massive death toll it took on the Gulf’s marine wildlife is going to plague us for some time. Sharks are more likely to attack now because they have less food to eat. Thousands of fish and other marine life are dead, leaving sharks wondering where their next meal is going to come from.
The bottom line is that there comes a point when the taste of food doesn’t really matter any more. If you take all my food away, I might bite you, too.
Discussion
If you have strong feelings about the oil spill or about these shark attacks, the comments are a great place to share them. I’ll personally reply to you.
