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The Shark Attack of
Etienne Decora |
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| Date of Incident: |
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June 1st, 1988 |
| Time of Day: |
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08h00 |
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| Victim Information |
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| Name of Victim: |
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Etienne Decora |
| Sex of Victim: |
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M |
| Age of Victim: |
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25 |
| Clothing Worn: |
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Bright multi colored surfing
shorts - no wetsuit or shirt |
| Injury to Victim: |
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Foot
Lacerations -
two operations and 275
stitches to repair tendon damage. |
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| Location Information |
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| Country of Incident: |
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USA |
| State or Area: |
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Florida |
| Exact or Nearest Location: |
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Next
to the Main St Pier in Daytona Beach, Volusia County |
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| Activity Information |
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| General Activity |
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Surfing |
| Detailed Activity prior to incident: |
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I rode a wave in and was
paddling back out. |
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| Weather & Water Conditions |
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| Air Temp: |
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| Clear/Cloudy/Raining: |
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Clear / Sunny |
| Water Temp: |
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85 Degrees F |
| Water Clarity: |
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| Depth of Water: |
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3 - 6 Feet |
| Distance from Shore: |
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| Species Information |
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| Species: |
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Bull |
| Species Length: |
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78 inches - 6 -7 feet |
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| Description of incident: |
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Shark Attack on
Etienne Decora
Written by Etienne Decora for
SharkAttackSurvivors.com
Attacked June 1st, 1988
Daytona Beach – Volusia County - FL - U.S.A.
8 am
Water Temperature about 85 degrees - F
Clear Sunny Day
Clothes - Bright multi colored surfing shorts - no
wetsuit or shirt
Riding white surfboard with black and white logo on
bottom (town and country Hawaii) - 6'4"long board
with no leash.
Waves - Small 1-3 foot clean surf
I was surfing next to the Main St Pier in Daytona
Beach Fl in 3-6 feet of water.
The shark was a bull shark about 6-7 feet long.
I rode a wave in and was paddling back out.
The shark was spotted on the other side of the pier
and took an aggressive immediate U turn and attacked
me, (According to some of my friends fishing on the
pier).
My friends were yelling but I couldn’t hear them in
the surf.
I never saw it coming until it hit me.
The shark hit me at a high rate of speed with great
force.
I was grabbed by the foot and the shark shook its
head.
The shark then went to bite again and I was able to
remove my foot.
At this point I was turned around on my surfboard.
The shark came at me again and I hit it on the snout
and it went away.
I then paddled in with my foot in the air .Luckily
the lifeguards were running drills that morning and
were on hand to dress the wounds.
I had two operations and 275 stitches to repair
tendon damage.
It took about six months to get back to normal.
I continued surfing and have surfed the same spot
many times since.
My guess would be that the attack was a territorial
attack not mistaken identity because of the
aggressive U turn and lack of baitfish.
Etienne Decora |
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| Injury Picture: |
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All the details and pictures of this shark attack are the
property of Etienne Decora .
Etienne provided this information to Shark Attack
Survivors to share with you.
