66 year old Dave Martin, a retired veterinarian and a Solana Beach resident since 1970, was killed in an attack by a great white shark 20 miles north of San Diego. LA Times reports that the attack occurred about 7 a.m. near Fletcher Cove in an area known as Table Tops, according to Lt. Phil Brust, a spokesman for the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. Martin was part of a group from the Triathlon Club of San Diego that swims every Friday morning in the Fletcher Cove area. He was on the group’s scheduled 6:30 a.m. swim. “They were swimming and the victim apparently yelled ‘Shark,’ or words to that effect, and the witnesses that were in the water apparently saw him actually being lifted out of the water and drug under,” Brust said. “They went to his aid and dragged him onto the beach, where he succumbed to his injuries.” (Youtube video).

Slowtwitch.com has a more detailed article. Martin was remembered as a well-liked person. Dan Rock of B&L Bike and Sport in Solana Beach reminisced that, “Dave used to borrow my triathlon bike when he did shorter races like Solana Beach or Mission Bay… a lot of Koz races.” Martin is survived, according to Rock, by a son in his thirties as well as grandchildren. Miller [Solana Beach lifeguard captain Craig Miller] said that while the event will certainly raise concern about water safety, the rarity of this accident shouldn’t be lost. “Thinking about our past history here and the fact that it is so rare, I can only imagine that this is a freak accident. I certainly hope it is,” he said. 

So, the San Diego beaches are closed, and everyone is talking about sharks and blood in the water. But what are the facts? The shark was loony and mistook the man for a seal or something? Which beaches are safe, and which ones have more chances of a possible shark attack? Stephen Regenold, ForbesTraveller, bites into statistics about North America’s top shark attack beaches. New Smyrna Beach in Volusia County, Fla., is the shark attack capital of the world, according to a database called the International Shark Attack File. In Northern California, seal populations draw great white sharks like flies to fertilizer. When surfers suit up at places like Bolinas Beach and Stinson Beach, they’re catching waves in one of the world’s most dangerous predator’s habitat. Patric Douglas, owner of Shark Diver, an ocean guiding outfit in San Francisco, calls Stinson “the granddaddy of all shark beaches.” He says, “It’s common to see 18-footers buzz by surfers bobbing in the waves.”

Mandatory travel tip here: So add one more thing to do before you book a beach resort vacation. If you don’t want to get an unwanted tattoo engraved on your thigh by an irritated and prickly shark, then check the International Shark Attack File (http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/ISAF/ISAF.htm) for the safety record of your intended beach. Check out the link. Its a really useful and interesting read. There’s lots of information there about how to reduce risk of a shark attack, what to do when you’re faced by one (that’s an easy one…hypnotize the shark and make it think its a seal. You’ll ruin its social life for sure), and learn what are the different types of attacks, and when and where they’re likely to occur.

Posted on April 26th, 2008 by PLing
Filed under: Travel News