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3 shark attacks have Mexico resort area in panic

2008-05-29 09:22:27

By ALEXANDRA OLSON, Associated Press WriterWed May 28, 7:01 PM ET

No one could even remember a shark attack along this resort-studded stretch of

Mexican coast popular with surfers and Hollywood's elite. Many of the large

predators had been pulled from the ocean by fishermen. So when sharks attacked

three surfers in less than a month, two fatally, it was unthinkable.

The latest attack came Saturday, when a shark chomped down on the arm of

surfing enthusiast Bruce Grimes, an American expat who runs a surf shop in

Zihuatanejo.

Grimes and a handful of other surfers were out on dark, choppy waters when he

felt something lift his board. He managed about five strokes before teeth sank

into his arm. "Shark!" he screamed, wresting his arm back. Grimes made it to

shore, escaping with a few gashes.

"There wasn't any time to panic," he said. "I thought: 'Don't want to die.

Don't want to lose my arm.'"

Only later did the 49-year-old Florida native learn a local surfer had been

killed by a shark at a neighboring beach the previous day. Less than a month

before that, a visitor from San Francisco was killed while surfing another

nearby beach.

Before that, shark attacks were unheard of here. University of Florida expert

George Burgess was in the area Wednesday interviewing witnesses, going over

autopsy reports and checking out beaches to find out why the sharks had

suddenly become so aggressive.

Burgess' International Shark Attack File records an average of only four fatal

shark attacks around the world each year. This year, there has been only one

other recorded shark fatality outside Mexico a 66-year-old surfer killed at

Solana Beach, Calif.

The attacks around Zihuatanejo have puzzled experts and, alarmingly for local

businesses, the mayhem is keeping tourists away.

After the first fatality, panicked officials strung lines of baited hooks

offshore and slaughtered dozens of sharks, drawing international criticism.

Authorities planned to meet Thursday to seek Burgess' advice.

Marine biologist Chris Lowe, who runs the shark lab at California State

University, Long Beach, said there is little officials can do beyond trying to

keep people out of the water and studying why sharks have suddenly turned so

aggressive. Hunts don't usually help, he said.

Lowe also said officials should keep the attacks in perspective.

"People have a much better chance of dying of food poisoning going to Mexico

than being bitten by a shark," he said. "It's far more dangerous driving to the

beach than it is getting in the water."

The International Shark File has found that attacks have been increasing over

the past century, mostly because of the growing popularity of water sports like

surfing.

That's part of the reason experts say shark hunting is futile: Even as shark

populations are declining, the number people swimming in the ocean is

increasing.

"Finding the killer shark is nearly impossible," said Jose Leonardo Castillo,

the chief shark investigator for Mexico's National Fishing Institute.

Mexican experts are planning a catch-and-release study to determine the species

of sharks that has been attacking. And maritime officials, stung by the

backlash over the shark hunt, have switched to conducting sea and aerial

patrols to watch for sharks near shore.

After repeated appeals by environmentalists, officials have promised to post

large warning signs on beaches where sharks have attacked a dreaded prospect

for some in the surfing business.

"Those signs will be the worst thing for us," said Herberto Perez Yanez, who

teaches surfing and rents out boards at Troncones beach, where 24-year-old

Adrian Ruiz of San Francisco was killed April 28.

"Plenty of fishermen out here hunt sharks, and no one says anything. The

ecologists say they don't want the hunt, but they're just sitting in their

offices while we have to be here," he said.

Perez Yanez was interviewed while giving surfing lessons to a couple from Texas

the only two people in the water at Troncones and his first clients since

Ruiz died. He usually teaches three groups a week.

Lisa Rabon, of Walnut Springs, Texas, said she and her husband came to

celebrate her 50th birthday and fulfill her lifelong dream of learning to surf.

She didn't learn of the attacks until after arriving and said she has seen

hardly anyone else in the water.

"I've been hearing about the attacks, but I didn't ask for any details. I

didn't want it to be part of my experience," she said. "If I think about

sharks, I'll never learn."

Leon Perez Yanez, brother of Herberto and president of the Guerrero state

surfers association, said at least three groups canceled surfing lessons with

him since the weekend attacks.

Grimes said he was worried about his own business a surf shop he opened six

months ago when he decided to move to Zihuatanejo permanently after 25 years of

visiting.

But he said he will soon be back on his board, and is sure most surfers won't

stay away long because they accept the risks of their sport.

"I'll go right back. Yeah, I'm that stupid," Grimes said, examining his

bandaged arm outside the hospital where he just had his daily cleaning. "I'll

go right back out as soon as I'm able to."

That is part of the problem, said Lowe, an avid surfer himself. With more

people in the water, in more remote locations, attacks are inevitable.

"For every shark we take out of the water, we put 10 people in," he said. "The

bottom line is the ocean is a wild environment and people just have to accept

the risks when they go in it."