"Shark Attack Survivors News Archive"

09/27/2007 Sue Snyder (California) No Injury

Shark Attack Survivors News Archive for Shark Attacks in 2007.
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sharkbait
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09/27/2007 Sue Snyder (California) No Injury

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By: Scott T. Paynton
All photos: Scott T. Paynton
September 28, 2007

On Thursday, September 27th, Sue Snyder's 9'6" longboard was struck and bit by a great white shark at Moonstone Beach in Humboldt County at about 8:15 a.m. It was a beautiful sunny morning with a full moon setting over the horizon as we surfed. The conditions were small, but glassy and clean.

There were nine of us in the water at the time. Seven of us were pretty close together, with two others about 100 yards south.

Sue was positioned a little further on the outside than the rest of us, and everyone was catching their fair share of waves and having a good morning session. I was riding a wave when I heard shouting from behind me.

After I got off the wave I saw my buddy waving me in to shore. I noticed everyone else was making their way to the beach, riding waves on their stomachs as fast as they could (never a good sign). At this point, I knew something was up, but we experience lots of false alarms in our area. Sue was the last of us to reach the beach, and everyone congregated around to see what had happened and make sure she was okay. Sue had no apparent injuries, and at this point, we all noticed the crescent shaped bite mark at the tail of her board.

According to Sue and others in the water, this is the scenario that we pieced together. Sue said she felt her board get bumped, but not violently, as she was sitting waiting for a wave. The force of the "bump" knocked her off the board. As she fell off, her arm ran along the length of the shark as it swam by her. At this point she began kicking the shark before jumping back on her board and paddling to shore. One of the witnesses in the water turned when he heard Sue scream and saw the dorsal fin and tail of the shark splashing around the board before it submerged under water. The shark wasn't spotted again by any of us. The most fortunate part of the experience was that Sue was sitting on her board at the time of the attack. Thus, the shark did not make contact with any part of her when it bit, leaving her uninjured.After examining the bite mark on the board, we determined that the radius is approximately 16", although we don't know if this is the full radius. We noticed that the shark hit Sue's center fin as it tried to bite due to the fact that there were a couple of gouges and a scrape mark running down the fin, with teeth fragments left in the fin box. You'll also notice in the pictures that some of the bite marks punctured all the way through her board.

The most fortunate part of the experience was that Sue was sitting on her board at the time of the attack. Thus, the shark did not make contact with any part of her when it bit, leaving her uninjured. We have a pretty close community of surfers here who do a good job of looking out for each other in the water, even when people are surfing solo. This was a great example where those in the water pulled together to keep each other calm and help one another. Bottom line: We know sharks are out there, and we're glad Sue (or anyone else) was not hurt in the attack.



http://www.surfline.com/surfnews/articl ... m?id=11376
sharkbait
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Post by sharkbait »

Woman survives attack by giant shark

Date created: 10/2/2007 10:38:04 AM
Last updated: 10/2/2007 3:02:55 PM

Image

A northern California woman is counting her lucky stars after being attacked by a great white shark.


Experts say the shark was somewhere between 14 and 15 feet long and probably weighed about 3,000 pounds.

"It came from down below and took a nice big bite out of the board and the only thing that stopped from going all the way across was it's lower jaw hit the fin," she explained.

She says she kicked the shark, and he swam off without biting her.

She says she still has the passion for surfing, but she's going to give it up for a little while.

http://www.wbir.com/news/national/story ... ider=gnews
sharkbait
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Post by sharkbait »

Humboldt County surfer escapes great white attack
The Associated Press
Article Launched: 09/28/2007 10:53:19 PM PDT


McKINLEYVILLE, Calif.—A surfer was unhurt after a shark attacked her near a Humboldt County beach, though her surfboard wasn't so lucky, witnesses said.
Sue Snyder was sitting on her surfboard Thursday when the great white knocked her off from behind, said Ralph Collier of the Van Nuys-based Shark Research Committee, which tracks shark attacks along the Pacific coast.

Snyder began kicking the shark, which left a 16-inch bite and teeth fragments in her board, according to other witnesses in the water at the time of the attack.

The shark was likely 14 to 15 feet long and weighed about 3,000 pounds, Collier said.

Shark run-ins are becoming more common in Northern California as more people take to the water, said Jess Bareilles, owner of the Greenhouse Surf Shop in Arcata.


http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_7033 ... ck_check=1
sharkbait
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Post by sharkbait »

Great white shark bites Humboldt County surfer's board




Associated Press - September 29, 2007 1:44 AM ET

McKINLEYVILLE, Calif. (AP) - A surfer is unhurt after a shark attacked her near a Humboldt County beach -- but her board wasn't so lucky.

Witnesses say Sue Snyder was sitting on her surfboard yesterday when the great white knocked her off from behind.

She began kicking the shark -- which left a 16-inch bite on her board. The shark also left teeth fragments behind.

Researchers say the shark was likely 14 to 15 feet long and weighed about 3,000 pounds.

Surfers say shark run-ins are becoming more common in Northern California as more people take to the water.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=7145492&nav=9qrx
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