Media Show Teeth in Florida

By now, it’s common knowledge that Florida’s waters are overrun with sharks that have developed a taste for human flesh--even though that’s far from true.

By now, tourists planning to visit the Sunshine State, if they haven’t already canceled their plans, are thinking twice about swimming because of the increased danger of being bitten--even though the danger is no greater than it was a year ago, or the year before that.

Yes, there is a frenzy of activity involving sharks around Florida. But it is more a media frenzy than anything else. And not all the stories have been accurate.

“It really is a perception problem,” said George Burgess, a shark expert with the University of Florida and director of the International Shark Attack File in Gainesville. “People are [under the impression] that because the media is covering everything that is happening here, there must be a lot more attacks.”

In reality, Burgess continued, “It has not been a banneryear for anyone other than the press.”

Burgess said the number of confirmed shark attacks this year probably will fall short of last year’s 34--one of those a fatal attack. Through Wednesday, there had been 23 attacks--none fatal--in 2001.

So why have reporters from around the world been banging at Burgess’ door almost daily for more than a month, turning out stories that have effectively portrayed Florida as a state under siege by vicious man-eaters?

Burgess said the answer is threefold: rotten timing on the part of the sharks, a fascination for the predators on the part of the public and an otherwise slow news summer.

“I guess there are not enough Gary Condit stories to keep everyone happy,” Burgess said.

As for the timing, he pointed to the dramatic attack in July on a boy whose arm was bitten off by a six-foot bull shark. The arm was surgically reattached and the boy, who has been in and out of the hospital, remains in a light coma.

That was followed, in early August, by the attack in the Bahamas by another large shark on a prominent Wall Street banker, whose left leg was subsequently amputated.

Two high-profile attacks a month apart put the entire region in the media spotlight.

Those opposed to the controversial practice of baiting sharks to within view of divers and snorkelers--done extensively in the Bahamas and to a lesser extent in Florida--stepped into the spotlight to voice concerns that shark feeding will lead to more attacks because it is conditioning the predators to associate humans with food.

As a result, a movement in Florida to ban the practice has gained considerable momentum.

More recently, there was the bizarre invasion of hundreds of sharks off southern Florida, an event unusual only because of the different types of sharks involved: bull, hammerhead and nurse sharks.

But it was an event that could not be ignored. The sharks made their way into millions of living rooms, thanks to airborne TV news crews.

Topping this off, there were six attacks last weekend on surfers off Florida’s Volusia County beaches. Injuries were mostly minor, and surfers, even some who had been bitten, were not overly fazed and vowed to return to the lineup as soon as possible.

But Burgess was hit by another flood of calls, which poured in from London to Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles earlier this week, one television news crew capitalized on the hysteria by visiting a weigh station during a local mako shark tournament, airing film of large mako sharks hanging by their tails and informing viewers that these potentially deadly beasts are milling about just beyond our shores.

What the reporter failed to mention, while giving safety tips that better pertain to other species of sharks in other parts of the world, was that mako sharks pose virtually no threat to Southland swimmers.

Burgess said he was not surprised. In London last April, after a spate of attacks, a headline in the Daily Telegraph cautioned vacationers heading across the Atlantic: “Florida beaches shut as killer sharks lose their fear of people.”

The killer sharks, most likely, were three-to four-foot blacktip sharks, blacknose sharks or spinner sharks, mistaking hands and feet for small fish.

“We call them hit-and-run attacks because they usually grab a hand or foot and let go,” Burgess said. “And the injuries are usually fairly minor lacerations and puncture wounds.”

The opposite was true on July 6, when 8-year-old Jessie Arbogast had his arm bitten off above the elbow.

Burgess termed that an unfortunate but very unusual event, adding, “We maybe have one attack a year by one of the larger species, resulting in serious injury.”

Southland Fishing

The good news is that the transition from albacore to yellowfin tuna seems well underway for San Diego’s overnight boats, as a band of warm water extends from well below Ensenada to, and even beyond, the Mexican border. Philip Friedman of 976tuna.com referred to the band as a “warm-water highway” that promises better fishing in the coming weeks.

The bad news, if it lasts, is that the San Diego fleets this week were having trouble getting Mexican permits, forcing some boats to ply less-productive U.S. waters.

Reports that Seaforth Landing was out of permits were erroneous, said a spokesman who wouldn’t give his name. He added, however, that a Seaforth boat was in Mexican waters Thursday but with a limited passenger load because of limited permits.

Ross Hecht, general manager of Point Loma Sportfishing, called the issue “a non-story,” saying that new shipments of Mexican permits were delayed and that new supplies were due Sunday night or Monday morning.

The yellowtail bite at San Clemente Island has been holding fairly steady. The Toronado out of Pierpoint Landing had 72 on Tuesday (along with 16 black sea bass from 40 to 100 pounds; all released) and 87 on Wednesday. The boat had 40 aboard at last report Thursday.

Marlin Madness

How dramatic was last week’s 42nd Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament?

“It was like scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter, watching everyone catch up and then winning by a safety at the end of the game,” said Rocky Franich, 55, who was on the winning team for the second time in 40 years of trying.

Franich, 55, is from Watsonville, Calif., “about 1,000 miles from the nearest marlin,” but was the most seasoned competitor in an event that draws teams from around the world.

His team, Pajaro Valley Gamefish Club, earned 1,350 points by catching and releasing five blue marlin during the first three days and going fishless the last day, but holding on.

“I have competed 40 consecutive years and I’d have to say that fishing is the best ever seen in Kona,” Franich said. “Unlike any other year, every team [there were 25] caught a fish.”

For Openers

The summer dove opener is to hunters what the spring trout opener is to fishermen. Both are steeped in tradition and enjoyed by thousands.

And both, of course, are subject to the whims of Mother Nature: The trout opener has its wintry blasts; the dove opener its violent thunderstorms.

For now, however, prospects are very good for hunters who will flock into and beyond the Imperial Valley for the Sept. 1 dove opener.

“If the season opened today, there couldn’t be enough shooters around; they’d all get their [10-bird] limits,” Richard Sprague, owner of Sprague’s Sports and RV in Yuma, Ariz., said Wednesday. “But, of course, weather activity can alter it some.”

Of the Niland area, Leon Lesicka, a Brawley resident and founder of the conservation group, Desert Wildlife Unlimited, said, “I really feel that even if a storm does come through, with all the wheat and safflower in our fields, the doves are still going to be here. In fact, I think there are very few spots where you will not find a dove.”

The first season runs through Sept. 15; a second season is scheduled Nov. 10-Dec. 24.

Winding Up

John McMullen, 50, of Long Beach will be one of more than two dozen “watermen” competing Sunday in the annual Catalina Classic Paddleboard Race from the island’s Isthmus to Manhattan Beach.

While he probably won’t finish first in the grueling 32-mile crossing, his primary goal is to raise money for the City of Hope Cancer Center in Duarte.

“My family and I have been blessed with good health, and since I am physically able to accomplish certain things, this seems like a good opportunity, on a personal level, to raise funds that might make a difference in someone else’s life,” McMullen said.

Those interested in sponsoring McMullen by making donations can call the City of Hope at (213) 202-5735 or McMullen at (562) 598-8808.