Deep Dark Water - Shark Attack StoriesIts Not Safe.               Shark Attack Chronicles.

Named for the dark stripes along its gray back, the tiger shark is one of four species considered to be very dangerous to humans. Its second only to the great white shark in the number of recorded attacks.

An opportunistic hunter, the tiger shark often inhabits populated waters ( such as the beaches of Hawaii ), encountering humans while visiting shallow reefs, harbors, and canals.

Its an aggressive shark which typically hunts at night on anything that it might find. It has excellent eyesight, a superb sense of smell, and an ability to pick up on low-frequency pressure waves which allow it to target its prey in the worst of conditions.

An entertaining and informative video showing how young albatross are .. ahem, “motivated” to fly by tiger sharks!

Date: September 9, 2008 Afternoon
Location: Kaaawa, Oahu
Shark: 12 foot Tiger Shark

I guess he didn’t like the way I tasted, said Todd Murashige, a 40-year-old surfer in describing his recent encounter with what authorities believe to be a Tiger shark. “I didn’t see it at all. It just seemed so surreal, like it wasn’t real, just head of a shark right there in my lap.”

“I stuck my fingers into his mouth to try to pry him off, but I didn’t feel any teeth. I think I was grabbing onto his gums or the lip part.”

Although Murashige didn’t feel any teeth with his hands, he certainly felt them sinking into his thigh. The shark bit once and after the surfer pried the jaws from his leg. He felt like the shark just took a “test bite”, because he wasn’t that aggressive after the initial attack.

“You never think that you’re going to be the one,” he said.

A stranger, Aren Souza of Punalu’u, who also had been surfing at Crouching Lion, came to Murashige’s aid, and the two paddled to shore, leaving a trail of blood in the water from “the chunk of flesh just hanging there” that used to be Murashige’s healthy thigh.

“While I was lying on the shore, I thought I was going to black out,” Murashige said. “I told myself if I black out, I’m going to die. That’s what I really felt in my gut.”

And this is where, he thought, that his life might end. Lying on the beach with a large piece of thigh muscle missing and bleeding profusely, he tried to call his wife and his mom. He said that he didn’t want to leave a message, but his wife called back.

“Its bad,” he said, “really bad.”

Murashige spent Tuesday night in Queen’s Medical Center in serious condition, having surgery to treat the deep wound in his thigh. Dr Kevin Christensen reported that Todd had lost a significant amount of blood, but the the prognosis is good.

Since then, Todd has been reliving the attack repeatedly in his mind and isn’t sure if he’ll try and surf again.

“I want to get back to walking first.”

Date: April 28, 2008 Afternoon
Location: Pacific Coast of Mexico
Shark: Tiger Shark

A 24-year-old surfer and bartender, Adrian Ruiz, from San Francisco, California was on a surfing trip to the Pacific Coast of Mexico with a good friend, Brent Helms. They could never have expected the unfortunate ending.

The two surfers actually saw the Tiger shark in the water before the attack, joking to themselves about keeping their hands and toes out of the surf. Shark attacks are so rare in the area, and in general, that they couldn’t have thought it would target one of them. In fact, several of the residents in the area remarked that a shark attack hasn’t happened there before. Other sources say that no one has been killed by a shark on Mexico’s Pacific Coast in over thirty years.

Ruiz was hit in the thigh by the shark, which took a large bite which reached from the hip to the knee, completely exposing the femur. His friend dragged him to the shore where he attempted CPR on Ruiz, but it was too late. Ruiz never regained consciousness due to the severity of the would and the lack of medical help in the area.

I know I’m going to die …

Adrian said he knew he was going to die, according to his boss and the owner of the nightclub where Ruiz worked. Most people that came into contact with him loved him, though, and one coworker nicknamed him “smiley”. Apparently he was a great friend and seemed to be a fun-loving, free-spirited soul who loved life.

Surprisingly, Mexican authorities strung up nets in the area in a vain attempt to try and catch the predator. This has ignited a small controversy with environmentalists who are worried about indiscriminate killing of all kinds of marine species in the area. Can you really even hope to catch the same shark?

Sources: San Francisco Chronicle, NY Daily News, Timesonline.com