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."