Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Shark Attacks May be Lower Than Yearly Average
Aired September 03, 2001 - 11:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: Lots of people heading for the beach maybe today too, but swimmers are keeping a weary eye on the waters off of Virginia Beach this holiday. A shark attack this weekend left a 10-year-old boy dead.
CNN's Patty Davis joins us beach side now with details on what happened to David Peltier. Patty?
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Colleen, there have been no shark sightings since Saturday when 10-year-old David Peltier was attacked by that shark. Police and emergency medical services have been patrolling both in the water and in the air, and say they have turned up nothing since Saturday.
Now, witnesses say that shark was about 8 feet long, bluish in color. An autopsy of young David will help determine exactly what kind of shark that was.
Now David was surfing with his family on Saturday when the shark attacked and bit him. His father fought off the shark, trying to wrench it, trying got wrench his son out of the shark's jaws with his hands, finally freeing his son. David died though, hours later at a hospital in nearby Norfolk. An artery in his leg had been severed, great loss of blood.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MEYERA OBERNDORF, VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA: He's very, very sad and subdued. I said to him, Mr. Peltier, I want you to know that we all think of you as a hero. You were very valiant in your attempt to save your son. And he said, I'm no hero. David didn't live.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIS: Now, the beach not that crowded, as you can see behind me. Not that many people out there today on the final day of Labor Day weekend. Most people say that they are not staying away though, they're just staying out of the water. Lifeguards now told to look for signs of shark's disturbances in the water, as well as fins in the water.
Now beachgoers themselves told by the authorities here to make sure that they swim in groups, that they stay close to the shore, and that they stay in lifeguarded areas. Colleen?
MCEDWARDS: Patty, any more information now about the actual shark?
DAVIS: They don't know exactly what kind of shark that is. Now, the experts are saying that they believe it may have been a sandbar shark, that kind of shark hangs around sandbars, and that is where 10- year-old David Peltier and his family were surfing, near a sandbar. But, they really won't know. They're hoping that the autopsy and pictures from that autopsy will help them determine, from perhaps the teeth marks, what kind of shark exactly that was. Colleen?
MCEDWARDS: All right. Patty Davis, thanks very much. Leon?
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Another shark attack to tell you about this morning. This one in Florida. William Moseley (ph) was bitten on the leg while swimming off of Jacksonville Beach this weekend. Doctors say the 20-year-old Navy airman didn't lose a lot of blood, in this case, so he should be fine.
MCEDWARDS: Well, odd as it may sound, experts actually say that this year is shaping up to be below average when it comes to shark attacks, but we sure have been hearing a lot about them. Based on figures collected by the University of Florida, 49 swimmers have been bitten by sharks so far during 2001. Now, the average number reported during the 1990s was 54 a year. Thirty eight of those attacks happened in waters off of U.S. shores, the bulk of those, as you might expect, were off Florida's beaches. Leon?
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Well, Beth Firechau is with the Virginia Marine Science Museum in Virginia Beach. And she's live out there on the beach with us this morning.
Thank you very much for taking the time to talk with us.
You know, last hour we spoke with an expert who's down in Florida about the rarity of shark attacks and things like this happen off of Virginia's beaches. Can you recall the last time something like this happened?
BETH FIRECHAU, VA. MARINE SCIENCE MUSEUM: I personally can't. I've been here for six years. Folks who have lived here a long time don't remember it.
According to the shark attack file, the International Shark Attack File, I believe it hasn't been since like 30 years.
HARRIS: Yes.
Well, let me ask you if you know anymore about what kind of shark it was out there. I saw -- I think I heard the mayor this morning saying that she talked to the father, in this case, a Mr. Peltier, who said that it was a shark that had a blue back or whatever, and he says that's what he saw. He didn't see necessarily black tips, but a blue back. Does that mean anything to you? FIRECHAU: Well, the combination of lot of eyewitness accounts are helping us narrow in the focus of which shark we think it -- did the damage yesterday -- or Saturday. Based on the coloration that the father mentioned, the location of the incident, the relative size of animal, we're guessing that it was sandbar shark. But, as said earlier, we're really interested in seeing some pictures, looking at the reports to see exactly what type of shark that was.
HARRIS: Yes. OK, so if it was sandbar shark, what does that tell you? Anything specific?
FIRECHAU: Sandbar sharks are coastal sharks that are found in these waters very regularly and they feed on the fishes that come in close to the shore in the brake, where these folks were having a good time. So it doesn't surprise me that that's possibly an animal, but it does surprise me that that tragedy did happen.
HARRIS: Yes, OK.
Well, here's hoping that we don't have to talk about that again for a long, long time.
FIRECHAU: Absolutely.
HARRIS: Beth Firechau, thank you very much. We appreciate your time.
FIRECHAU: You're welcome.
HARRIS: Good luck to you and happy holiday.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
