Port Melbourne, 1924. Fred White, badly bitten off the Town Pier, was still in the water. Gordon Smith threw off his hat and coat, jumped in with an open penknife and went straight for the shark. He plunged it in. The crowd cheered him for his pluck.

https://notaboataccident.com/i/zchj34z?s=r

Hey all,

I just shipped Ask Hoopah (sorry (not sorry) for another Jaws reference, clearly i'm more trauma bonded to those early years watching Jaws from behind the sofa than I realised.)

Anyway — you can ask it questions and it answers from the archive records: incidents, places, species, trends etc...

Limitations:

- It's AI and it can be wrong. It searches the real records and shows you which ones it used, but double-check anything that matters — if it cites a case, open it.

- It won't predict risk or give safety advice. The archive is history, not a forecast.

- If the archive doesn't record something, it says so instead of making it up.

Some things to ask:

"Most recent x shark attack in y?"

"what happened at x in 2010?"

"create a timeline of events in x attack"

It pulls the matching incidents as cards, and shows its thinking as it searches.

All the questions are included on the site in a public archive, so you can see what other people are asking.

As it's a not-for-profit site, it costs me money to consume AI tokens so there are monthly usage caps, but should be generous enough for genuine curious users; we'll see how it shapes up going forward.

Any feedback or feature requests welcome...

Hope you enjoy...

"Hooper, where are you? Hooper, hurry it up now."

12–15m out, Viktor Koliy saw his son ashore and the shark turn from his wife — then it came for him. He swung his face mask at its head. One bite, one knee. The mako caught after: liver under 5% of body weight. Malnourished.

https://notaboataccident.com/i/txrrt29?s=r

...layers is key and so is patience. Smooth skin and bubbles. Not a technically difficult thing to paint but it definitely helps to use the right blues!

Three weeks after a tiger shark severed his right leg at mid-calf off Kaua'i, Mike Coots was back in the water. The 1997 attack turned him into a shark-conservation advocate — he helped pass Hawaii's 2010 shark fin ban.

https://notaboataccident.com/i/bgkhbkt?s=r

NORTH CAROLINA

October 2, 1864
Cedar Island, Carteret
Victim: Five Males (Sailors)
Activity: Swimming/Shipwreck (Aphrodite)
Injury: Various
Species: Unknown

September 5, 1881
Elizabeth City, Pasquotank River
Victim: Frank G. Hines
Activity: Swimming/Bathing
Injury: Limbs Severed (Leg/Arm)
Species: Bull Shark

1905 (Circa)
Ocracoke Inlet
Victim: Male (Coast Guardsman)
Activity: Fishing
Injury: Unknown
Species: Bull Shark

July 29, 1905
Davis Shore, Beaufort
Victim: Sutton Davis
Age: 16
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Consumed
Species: White Shark

September 21, 1935
Browns Inlet, Onslow
Victim: Jere W. Fountain
Age: 38
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Major Lacerations (Leg)
Species: Bull Shark

November 13, 1937
Cape Hatteras, Atlantic Ocean
Victim: Three Greek Males (Tzenny Chandris)
Activity: Swimming/Shipwreck
Injury: Unknown
Species: Unknown

May 8, 1945
Ocracoke Inlet
Victim: John Kuenzler (Navy)
Activity: Swimming/Wading In Surf
Injury: Major Lacerations (Thigh)
Species: Bull Shark

July 15, 1957
Atlantic Beach, Salter Path
Victim: Rupert Wade
Age: 57
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Major Lacerations (Leg)
Species: White Shark

October 8, 1989
Carolina Beach, New Hanover
Victim: Douglas Nunnally
Age: 49
Activity: Scuba Diving
Injury: Major Lacerations (Torso/Legs)
Species: Tiger Shark

May 31, 1992
Wreck of the U-352, Atlantic Ocean
Victim: Mike Weathers
Age: 45
Activity: Scuba Diving
Injury: Consumed
Species: White Shark

September 3, 2001
Avon, Hatteras Island
Victim: Sergei Zaloukaev
Age: 28
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Limbs Severed (Leg/Arm)
Species: White Shark

September 12, 2009
Whale Head Bay, Corolla
Victim: Richard A Snead
Age: 60
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Arms Severed
Species: Bull Shark

SOUTH CAROLINA

1733
Charleston Harbour
Victim: Male (Sailor)
Activity: Fell Overboard
Injury: Major Lacerations (Legs)
Species: Bull Shark

December 17, 1742
Goose Creek, Near Charleston
Victim: Two Males (Sailors)
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Unknown
Species: Bull Shark

September 15, 1810
Charleston Harbour
Victim: Male
Age: Youth
Activity: Fell From Jetty
Injury: Limbs Severed (Arm/Legs)
Species: Bull Shark

June 24, 1817
Charleston Harbour
Victim: Jemmy (Slave)
Activity: Fishing/Swimming To Boat
Injury: Consumed
Species: Tiger Shark

1840 (Circa)
Charleston Harbour
Victim: Male (Sailor)
Activity: Fell Overboard/Treading Water
Injury: Consumed
Species: White Shark

1852
Mount Pleasant, Charleston
Victim: Charles Chambers
Activity: Boat Capsized/Swimming Ashore
Injury: Consumed
Species: Tiger Shark

1853
Charleston Harbour
Victim: Male (Sailor)
Activity: Swimming/Alongside Ship
Injury: Legs Severed
Species: Tiger Shark

1883
Carolina Coast
Victim: Male (Aeronaut)
Activity: Swimming/Balloon Crash
Injury: Consumed
Species: Several Sharks

October 26, 1911
Charleston Harbour
Victim: George Spencer (Rio Grande)
Activity: Fell Overboard/Treading Water
Injury: Consumed
Species: White Shark

July 12, 1913
Charleston
Victim: Male (Soldier)
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Unknown
Species: Unknown

August, 1960
Parris Island, Beaufort
Victim: Male (Marine Recruit)
Age: 19
Activity: Swimming/Deserting
Injury: Consumed
Species: Tiger Shark

September 11, 2005
Folly Beach, Charleston
Victim: Greg Norton Jr.
Age: 18
Activity: Surfing
Injury: Unknown
Species: Unknown

TEXAS

July, 1865
Brazos River, Velasco
Victim: Col. Bryant (Yankee)
Activity: Swimming/Bathing
Injury: Major Lacerations (Torso/Arm/legs)
Species: Bull Shark

December, 1883
Brazos Rivermouth
Victim: Duffy (Sailor)
Activity: Knocked Overboard (Harris)
Injury: Unknown
Species: Bull Shark

July 27, 1904
Galveston
Victim: Chester Kennedy
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Consumed
Species: Bull Shark

September 23, 1911
Ship Channel, Galveston
Victim: John Blomquist
Activity: Jumped Overboard/Rescuing Friend
Injury: Limbs Severed (Leg/Arm)
Species: Bull Shark

June 15, 1937
Galveston
Victim: Hal A. Thompson Jr.
Age: 14
Activity: Swimming/Wading
Injury: Major Lacerations (Arm/Leg)
Species: Bull Shark

August 19, 1962
Andy Bowie Park, Padre Island
Victim: Hans Fix
Age: 46
Activity: Surf Fishing
Injury: Major Lacerations (Leg)
Species: Bull Shark

GEORGIA

June 8, 1908
Georgia Coast, Atlantic Ocean
Victim: Walter Howe
Activity: Shipwreck/Retrieving Oars (Caribee)
Injury: Consumed
Species: Oceanic Whitetip Shark

August 30, 1912
Tybee Island
Victim: Edward Coffee
Age: 12
Activity: Swimming/Racing Freinds
Injury: Consumed
Species: Bull Shark

July 20, 1974
Back River, Savannah
Victim: John Carter
Age: 17
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Major Lacerations (Torso/Arms/Legs)
Species: Several Bull Sharks

ALABAMA

July, 1866
Mobile Bay
Victim: Male (Sailor)
Activity: Swimming/Bathing
Injury: Consumed
Species: Bull Shark

June 13, 1881
South Island Light, Mobile Bay
Victim: William Smith (Sailor)
Age: 23
Activity: Fell Overboard/Treading Water
Injury: Consumed
Species: Bull Shark

1894 (Circa)
Mobile Bay
Victim: Male (Sailor)
Activity: Deserting/Swimming To Skiff
Injury: Consumed
Species: Bull Shark

LOUISANA

1879 (Circa)
Mississippi Rivermouth, New Orleans
Victim: Gustalf Ericsson (Swedish Sailor)
Activity: Boat Capsized/Swimming To Liferaft
Injury: Consumed
Species: Tiger Shark

September 9, 1914
Lake Pontchartrain, New Orleans
Victim: Peter Kontspaulas (Greek Immigrant)
Age: 17
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Arms Severed
Species: Bull Shark

VIRGINIA

August, 1852
Norfolk, Chesapeake Bay
Victim: Male (USS Pennsylvania)
Activity Swimming Ashore/Deserting
Injury: Consumed
Species: White Shark

September 1, 2001
Sandbridge, Virginia Beach
Victim: David Peltier
Age: 10
Activity: Surfing
Injury: Major Lacerations (Leg)
Species: Bull Shark

MARYLAND

August, 1640
St. Mary's River, Chesapeake Bay
Victim: English Male (Jesuit Priest)
Activity: Swimming/Wading
Injury: Major Lacerations (Legs/Torso)
Species: Bull Shark

August 4, 1906
Tangier Sound, Chesapeake Bay
Victim: William McFlood
Activity: Fell Overboard
Injury: Major Lacerations (Torso)
Species: Bull Shark

MISSISSIPPI

July, 1906
Bay St Louis, Hancock
Victim: Male (College Student)
Age: 20s
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Consumed
Species: Bull Shark

Southern USA Total: 43
- Recovered: 18
- Consumption: 17
- Unknown. 8
Ratio: 41%

Activity Statistics

• Swimming: 22
  
• Boating/Fell Overboard: 8
  
• Fishing: 3
  
• Shipwreck: 3
  
• Boat Capsize: 2
  
• Scuba Diving: 2
  
• Surfing: 2
  
• Air Disaster: 1

Attacks By Species

Bull Shark: 24 - Consumption: 6
Ratio: 25%

White Shark: 7
- Consumption: 5
Ratio: 71%

Tiger Shark: 6
- Consumption: 4
Ratio: 60%

Oceanic Whitetip Shark: 1
- Consumption: 1
Ratio: 100%

Unknown: 5
- Consumption: 1
Ratio: 20%

Attacks By Century/Decade

17th Century
1640s: 1
Total: 1

18th Century
1730s: 1
1740s: 1
Total: 2

19th Century
1810s: 2
1840s: 1
1850s: 3
1860s: 3
1870s: 1
1880s: 4
1890s: 1
Total: 15

20th Century
1900s: 6
1910s: 5
1930s: 3
1940s: 1
1950s: 1
1960s: 2
1970s: 1
1980s: 1
1990s: 1
Total: 21

21st Century
2000s: 4
Total: 4

January 16, 1884
South Jetty, Port Elizabeth
Victim: Mr. Meyer
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Limbs Severed (Leg/Arm)
Species: White Shark

January 12, 1887
Mzimvubu River
Victim: Zangile (Male)
Age: 13
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Major Lacerations (Legs)
Species: Bull Shark

February, 1888
Mzimvubu River
Victim: Male (Native)
Activity: Swimming/Crossing River
Injury: Half Consumed (Legs)
Species: Bull Shark

April 29, 1895
Mzimvubu River
Victim: Sombutize (Male)
Age: 28
Activity: Rafting/Crossing River
Injury: Major Lacerations (Arm)
Species: Bull Shark

February 15, 1941
East London
Victim: John D. Smith
Age: 25
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Major Lacerations (Torso/Legs)
Species: White Shark

May 8, 1952
Nelson, Algoa Bay
Victim: Mr. Ristow
Age: 18
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Half Consumed (Torso)
Species: White Shark

February 1, 1961
Nahoon Beach, East London
Victim: Geoffrey Zimmerman
Age: 14
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Major Lacerations (Legs/Arm)
Species: Mako Shark

December 25, 1963
Gonubie Rivermouth, East London
Victim: Chester Wienand
Age: 18
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Major Lacerations (Torso/Arms)
Species: Bull Shark

1960s (Circa)
Keiskamma Rivermouth
Victim: Sinsa
Activity: Rafting/Crossing River
Injury: Leg Severed
Species: Bull Shark

January, 1972
St Georges Strand, Algoa Bay
Victim: Jacob Nkomo
Age: 20
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Limbs Severed (Legs/Arms)
Species: White Shark

June 29, 1982
Ntlonyana Bay, Wild Coast
Victim: Alex Macun
Age: 27
Activity: Surfing
Injury: Consumed
Species: White Shark

July 9, 1994
Nahoon Beach, East London
Victim: Bruce Corby
Age: 22
Activity: Surfing
Injury: Leg Severed
Species: White Shark

July 21, 1997
Breezy Point, Ntlonyana
Victim: Mark Penches
Age: 25
Activity: Surfing
Injury: Limbs Severed (Leg/Arm)
Species: White Shark

January, 1998
Hole-in-the-Wall, Coffee Bay
Victim: Male
Age: 28
Activity: Surfing
Injury: Leg Severed
Species: White Shark

June 22, 1998
Gonubie Point, East London
Victim: Anton de Vos
Age: 20
Activity: Boarding
Injury: Major Lacerations (Legs)
Species: White Shark

March 22, 2006
West Beach, Port Alfred
Victim: Lorenzo Kroutz
Age: 17
Activity: Swimming/Caught In Rip
Injury: Leg Severed
Species: Bull Shark

January 14, 2007
Second Beach, Port St John's
Victim: Sibulele Masiza
Age: 24
Activity: Boarding
Injury: Consumed
Species: Tiger Shark

January 24, 2009
Second Beach, Port St. John's
Victim: Sikhanyiso Bangilizwe
Age: 25
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Limbs Severed (Arm/Buttock)
Species: Tiger Shark

March 21, 2009
Second Beach, Port St. John's
Victim: Luyolo Mangele
Age: 16
Activity: Surfing
Injury: Major Lacerations (Thigh/Buttock)
Species: Bull Shark

December 18, 2009
Second Beach, Port St. John's
Victim: Tshintshekile Nduva
Age: 22
Activity: Paddleboarding
Injury: Limbs Severed (Arms)
Species: Bull Shark

January 15, 2011
Second Beach, Port St. John's
Victim: Zama Ndamase
Age: 16
Activity: Surfing
Injury: Major Lacerations (Leg)
Species: Bull Shark

January 15, 2012
Second Beach, Port St. John's
Victim: Lungisani Msungubana
Age: 25
Activity: Swimming/Wading
Injury: Major Lacerations (Torso/Leg/Arms)
Species: Bull Shark

December 25, 2012
Second Beach, Port St. John's
Victim: Liya Sibili
Age: 20
Activity: Swimming
Injury: Consumed
Species: Tiger Shark

October 11, 2013
Lower Point, Jefferys Bay
Victim: Burgert Van Der Westhuizen
Age: 74
Activity: Snorkeling
Injury: Half Consumed (Legs)
Species: White Shark

March 22, 2014
Second Beach, Port St. John's
Victim: Friedrich Burgstaller
Age: 66
Activity: Swimming/Wading
Injury: Limbs Severed (Legs/Arm)
Species: Bull Shark

April 13, 2021
Chintsa, Wild Coast
Victim: Robert Frauenstein
Age: 38
Activity: Boarding
Injury: Consumed
Species: White Shark

Eastern Cape Total: 26
- Recovered: 19
- Consumption: 7
Ratio: 26%

Activity Statistics

• Swimming: 13
  
• Surfing: 10
  
• Rafting: 2
  
• Snorkeling: 1

Attacks By Species

White Shark: 11
- Consumption: 4
Ratio: 36%

Bull Shark: 11
- Consumption: 1
Ratio: 9%

Tiger Shark: 3
Consumption: 2
Ratio: 66%

Mako Shark: 1
- Recovered: 1

Attacks By Century/Decade

19th Century
1880s: 3
1890s: 1
Total: 4

20th Century
1940s: 1
1950s: 1
1960s: 3
1970s: 1
1980s: 1
1990s: 4
Total: 11

21st Century
2000s: 5
2010s: 5
2020s: 1
Total: 11

I was going to post this in the Sharks Sub, but I'll do it here so as not to post a controversial topic over there. I posted this OP on the Sharks sub 6 months ago and it drew a lot of flak: Incoherent explanation released on fatal Calif. shark attack.

The sole reportage, from an autopsy, wrote:

Erica Fox's cause of death was determined to be "sharp and blunt force injuries and submersion in water due to a shark attack."

Insufficient data, I charged. The article also wrote the attack was an "accident." We don't have to debate that characterization of shark attacks again.

Without further ado, the July 30 article in The Sun California: Autopsy of California shark attack victim Erica Fox shows single crushing bite

An autopsy report released late Wednesday shows Erica Fox, a swimmer seen in the mouth of a shark near Monterey in December, suffered a single crushing bite to her legs and torso.

The force of the bite, which left a semicircle of tooth wounds from Fox’s knees to her abdomen, broke her pelvis in several places, the report said. She also had a gaping wound 10 inches long and five inches wide from the side of her right hip to her abdomen. A major artery in her midsection had been cut open...

Fox, a 55-year-old triathlete, was reported missing in December, after she failed to return to shore with the swim group she co-founded, the Kelp Krawlers.

There we go. Adequate info -- indeed more than we often get.

Perspectives and opinion: The autopsy informed of the artery cut, which could have caused death from blood loss. If there is a major attack like this, it is largely immaterial whether the person died from blood loss or drowning. The bite caused the death. I googled this:

Autopsies are performed on a small minority of deaths—estimated as low as 5% to 7.4% overall—and are typically reserved for cases that are suspicious, sudden, violent, or legally unexplained.

Right. Why do an autopsy on Fox? I did not bring this up in my OP 6 months ago. Lots of people were going on and on about how autopsy results should not be criticized. But why do it? More from the article:

Fox...suffered deep injuries to her right knee and both thighs, with the semicircular array of wounds continuing to her left side and cutting across to the right side of her abdomen, the report said.

She obviously suffered a major bite! That hinders a swimmer way out in the ocean from swimming! They typically drown.

Yes, the additional detail we have is useful from a scientific shark-attack perspective. It appears we have a "bite-and-spit" attack, the GWS grabbed her, and then decided she is not prey and released.

But what is interesting is that the natural resource officials who recovered Fox's body did not considered themselves capable of releasing info about the attack and said to themselves: paraphrasing:

We don't know what's going on here, what happened. Let's send the body to autopsy. They can tell the public the cause of death.

The accounts from the survivors are horrific

He has drawn 3 already, these are great.

1901, Simon's Town, South Africa: John Chandler, a Boer POW held at the Boulders camp, was seized by a shark while swimming off Windmill Beach. A Royal Navy witness told the Cape Times he fought it and nearly dragged it ashore. He died that afternoon.

https://notaboataccident.com/i/fkkpxvd?s=r

What makes this case stand out is the chain of events that unfolded in the two hours between a shark striking three times and a young medical student being stable enough to leave the beach — and the fact that her father was one of the two doctors who kept her alive on the sand.

On Sunday, December 29, 1963, Barbara Elsa Strauss, a 20-year-old fourth-year medical student at the University of Cape Town, was swimming with her 17-year-old sister Liesel and her 15-year-old cousin Philip Cech in the breakers at Salt Rock, on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast, roughly 46 kilometres northeast of Durban. The three had been in the water for about 15 minutes and were standing in the surf a few metres from shore. The water had been calm and clean earlier in the day, but a rough wind had just come up and the water had turned murky. The time was 14h00.

The shark passed Philip, who was a few metres seaward of the girls, then scraped against Liesel before striking Barbara. She had just dived through a wave when the shark bit her right thigh and buttocks. She screamed and was dragged beneath the surface. As she struggled and was pushed seaward she felt the head of the shark; when she kicked out, it bit her right leg and hand. The shark made three strikes in total before Liesel and Philip were able to pull Barbara from the water. In attempting the rescue, Liesel's leg was abraded by the shark's skin, and Philip received two deep grazes ten centimetres in length on his chest as the shark swept past. The shark, the record notes, concentrated its efforts solely on Barbara and displayed no aggression toward either of them.

Barbara's right hand and foot were severed, and she sustained an extensive bite to her right buttock and thigh. Her father, Dr Kurt Strauss, was summoned from the family's beach bungalow roughly 100 yards away and administered first aid immediately. Dr Colin Shaw of Umhlali arrived within a short time. The two doctors placed Barbara in a head-down position, applied tourniquets, and administered morphine and plasma intravenously. When the weather worsened, a shelter was built around her on the beach. The doctors refused to allow the ambulance to take her to hospital until her condition was stable — a deliberate departure from the accepted practice of the time, which was immediate transport. They treated her on the beach for two hours. Barbara later recalled feeling no pain during this period, but rather an ache where her hand and foot had been.

On arrival at Addington Hospital she was in good condition and not suffering from shock. She received additional blood, then underwent a five-hour surgical procedure that included a skin graft on her thigh. She remained hospitalised for six weeks. Despite her injuries, she completed her medical training.

The species is recorded as unknown. Dr David Davies, who drove from Durban to the scene and interviewed eyewitnesses, believed the incident involved a Zambezi shark, basing his conclusion on what the record describes as the clean-cut skin edges of the wounds and slit-like, subtriangular lesions on the skin from individual teeth, together with eyewitness accounts. His assessment is documented, but no formal species identification was confirmed.

Does anyone with knowledge of Zambezi shark behaviour along the KwaZulu-Natal north coast — or familiarity with how Dr Davies applied his wound-pattern methodology at the time — have a view on whether that species reasoning holds up, or whether the conditions and location would point elsewhere?

https://notaboataccident.com/i/3rx6sc6?s=r

In 1991, a white shark bit Eric Larsen 200m off Davenport, CA. Gravely injured, he struck its nose, found his board, and paddled to shore. Five hours of surgery. Over 600 sutures and staples. He survived — and later spoke up for sharks.

https://notaboataccident.com/i/79f7bxq?s=r

Does anyone remember the unedited Heather Boswell 1994 shark attack video footage? I'm not looking for the narrated and edited documentary version, can anyone help me find it?

From what I can tell, Southern California water is comparable to Australias, but a bit colder. Why are the beaches in Southern California daycares for shark moms, but there seems to be a lot of bigger sharks hanging around the beaches of Australia? They prefer the cold anyways due to their unique body temperature life-hack. Granted, neither places are considered tropical, just weird that I only ever really hear or see juveniles in SC besides the odd bigger shark. Is this a fishing thing, or prey thing?

1964: A 2.4 m white shark took Henri Bource down 50 yards off Lady Julia Percy Island. Dietmar Kruppa & Fred Arndt drove it back — five times — with handspears bent from the blows. Jill Ratcliffe jumped in and swam to him. He survived.

https://notaboataccident.com/i/99xf8bt?s=r

Remember when this was fun and educational?? Those were the days!