Thursday, February 4, 2010 12:17pm PST

Kitesurfer in Florida Killed by Group of Sharks

By: Janos Palko




You read that right. A group of sharks. Sharks are hunting in gangs now. Fantastic.

38 year old Stephen Howard Schafer was an expert surfer and waterman, who frequently kitesurfed the waters of South Florida's Atlantic Coast.Yesterday, a lifeguard spotted some commotion about 500 yards offshore and grabbed a paddleboard to investigate. Upon arrival, he saw Schafer bleeding profusely and surrounded by a circle of sharks. The lifeguard was able to pull him from the water and paddle him to shore. Sadly, Schafer's bites had caused massive blood loss and he was pronounced dead at the hospital. This was the first fatal shark attack in 5 years on Florida's beaches. This time of year generally sees an increase in shark sightings, as the sharks start to migrate back north as the water warms up. Florida leads the nation in shark attacks, though almost all of them are from small sharks species in shallow water, and are not life threatening. The group of sharks that attacked Schafer appeared to be juvenile great whites, but this has not yet been confirmed.

 

Channels: Surf

Tags: SharkskiteboardingFlorida

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2 Comments

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adamfields

Posted by adamfields February 4, 2010 04:15pm PSTReply | Report Abuse

That is so terrible!!!

Kat Hoffman

Posted by Kat Hoffman February 5, 2010 03:48pm PSTReply | Report Abuse

Whaaaaaaaaaat? Crazy!!

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