Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Shark Claims One Life in North Carolina

Aired September 04, 2001 - 10:08   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: Now, the story that sent new waves of fear crashing along the eastern seaboard. A shark attack along North Carolina's Outer Banks has left one man dead, a woman in critical condition and stunned authorities reeling from the area's worst shark incident in nearly half a century.

CNN's Patty Davis is following the story for us, joins us now from Avon -- Patty.

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Colleen, the attack happened just before six o'clock last night, just here about a quarter of a mile from where I'm standing in Avon, North Carolina.

Now, the National Park Service, which runs these beaches here, says 28-year-old Sergi Zaloukaev of Arlington, Virginia and his 23- year-old companion Natalia Slobonskaya of Vienna, Virginia were swimming on a sand bar about 20 to 40 feet out in the water. They were only in chest high water, perhaps four feet high, when -- that's when they were bitten. Some of the bites, the National Park Service saying, 10 inches in diameter.

Now, Sergi died in a local medical center. His wounds were that his leg was missing below his knee. He had some fingers missing, as well. So massive trauma in the torso area.

Natalia was picked up by rescuers. She was loaded into a four wheel drive vehicle here on the beach and taken on then by helicopter to a hospital in nearby Norfolk, Virginia. Her wounds, her left foot below the ankle had to be amputated, rescuers say. A big chunk of her left thigh gone as well as a buttock gone as well.

Now, the National Park Service, whose beaches these are, says that no one on the scene, no witnesses saw any signs of sharks. There was no unusual pattern going on in the water when these two were attacked. The National Park Service talked about what else it is doing today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY DOLL, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE: This morning we began some flights over the area that are being flown by the U.S. Coast Guard and accompanying the Coast Guard in the helicopter is a biologist from the North Carolina Aquarium who specializes in sharks. And what they are doing is looking at the beaches along the Outer Banks for any type of unusual activity with sharks or with any other type of marine animal that might cause concern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIS: Now, the beaches do remain open today. They were never closed, as a matter of fact, and officials here hoping that an autopsy of the man, which they expect to be completed today, will give them some clue as to exactly what it was that attacked these two. Rescuers, one rescuer that I talked to said it had to be a shark. These bites were just too massive -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: Patty Davis. And a news conference is coming up next hour by officials in Norfolk on the condition of the woman who survived the attack -- thanks, Patty.

We're going to go over to Leon now for more on this.

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, because, Colleen, you know, you may have to go back some 26 summers ago, all the way back to the blockbuster movie "Jaws" to find similar concerns on U.S. beaches. But are sharks truly a growing menace or is this a media feeding frenzy that makes them loom so large? Well, we've been asking that question off and on here at the network and we're going to get a closer look now at the numbers behind the news.

CNN environment correspondent Natalie Pawelski joining us now with an inside look at some of the numbers.

NATALIE PAWELSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leon, it's unusual to have two fatal shark attacks in the U.S. in the space of three days. That really is unusual. However, if you look at the trends over time, this year, for example, both domestically and internationally, we have fewer shark attacks than last year. Now, shark attacks have been on the rise since the late '80s, if you look at this graph, kind of broadly speaking.

HARRIS: And this is worldwide, we should say, these numbers here.

PAWELSKI: This is worldwide, exactly.

Now, what's interesting is if you break it down according to what the victims were doing, notice the big, big rises in that red bar, which represents surfers. Well, that makes sense. You didn't have a lot of surfers in 1900. You have a lot more now.

What researchers are telling us is things like surfing and diving, people are out in the sharks' environment thrashing around, acting sort of like a fish. So the shark may see a person through murky water and think hey, it's dinner.

HARRIS: I've got to tell you, I'm surprised to see this huge number that, this jump here in between '80 and '90, or actually between '70 and '90 in surfing. You mean it's gone up like fourfold?

PAWELSKI: Yes. And another thing that scientists are saying is part of that has to do with geography, as well. It's not exact, but broadly speaking, as more people move to the coasts around the world, we're seeing more shark attacks. A very particular place you can see it clearly, he's Florida population over the last century. The red lines, the population going up. The blue bars are the number of shark attacks. More people in the water thrashing around, you're going to see more shark attacks.

HARRIS: And Florida, that's where we've seen the bulk of them here in the U.S., as well.

PAWELSKI: Exactly.

HARRIS: All right, Natalie Pawelski, thank you very much.

Again, this puts, almost puts a lie to the headlines, basically. We get all excited about the headlines but the experts keep telling us the same thing.

PAWELSKI: That's what they keep saying.

HARRIS: It's because of more of us in the water.

PAWELSKI: Exactly.

HARRIS: All right, thanks, Natalie Pawelski. Appreciate that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com