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

Jaques Cousteau, the famous oceanographic researcher, once described the oceanic whitetip as “the most dangerous of all sharks”. Generally the other four sharks notorious for threatening humans ( the bullshark, the tiger, and the great white ) all habitat areas of the ocean closer to land. The oceanic whitetip, however, is more dangerous than the others.

In fact, oceanic whitetips are responsible for more fatal attacks on humans than any other shark species. If you are ever stranded at sea, you should be wary of this beast. Extremely aggressive when curious, the whitetips have been known to attack anything that it sees as prey on the open water.

During World War II, these sharks repeatedly attacked crew members of the torpedoed USS Indianapolis, tearing apart 60 to 80 sailors.

A similar incident occurred when a German submarine sank the Nova Scotia, a steamship carrying over a thousand people in the waters of South Africa. Only 192 passengers survived and many of the deaths were at the jaws of the whitetip.

Whitetips are large sharks with rounded dorsal fins and short blunt snouts. They can grow very large ( up to 11 - 13 feet ), but are generally in the range of 10 feet long. They often swim in the deep ocean with packs of silky sharks.

Date: April 25, 2008 7 AM
Location: Solona Beach, California
Shark: Great White

“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 dragged under,” reported police Lieutenant Phil Brust in the aftermath of the violent shark attack on Dr. Dave Martin.

Every Friday morning for the past 4-5 years, Dr. Dave Martin has gone on a weekly training swim with the San Diego Triathlon Club. An expert swimmer familiar with the waters, Dr. Dave Martin was training with members of the club close to 7AM local time. Somewhere, about 150 yards offshore, a great white shark was lurking.

Apparently mistaking Martin for a seal, the 12-17 foot long adult great white shark, charged Martin from below.

The attack was on Martin’s leg, actually lifting him completely out of the water while its razor teeth inflicted deep, gashing wounds. Two swimmers that had been nearly twenty yards ahead heard the screams and raced back to pull him towards the beach. Martin was taken by truck to a lifeguard station nearby where he passed away from his wounds at 7:49 AM.

The doctor and his family were from Solona Beach, California, about fourteen miles North West of San Diego, where he had worked as a veterinarian.

Kevin Martin, the oldest of his four children was interviewed by msnbc, “I’m thankful that it wasn’t a long, drawn out process. We’re sad that he was taken away from us so quickly. We didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. We weren’t ready for him to go. But I’m glad that it was quick and relatively painless.”

Hannah Martin, the youngest of the family, and also a swimmer, said that she never thought that for a million years something like this would happen and that she had been swimming in the Solona Beach area for as long as she can remember.

“He was the rock of our family, he taught me so many lessons”, she said.
They describe him as a great guy who loved swimming, the ocean and the beach very much, an incredible family man.

Jeff Martin, an avid surfer, actually went back out to the water the day after the attack, despite the obvious warnings. He said that there was something soothing about going back out, and made it a point to go surfing the next day. He wanted a way to say good bye and that “I love you, Dad, and I miss you.”

Sources: msnbc.com, bloomberg.com, huffingtonpost.com