THE NATUREĪs vessels leave the harbor mouth, a single green buoy, an aid to navigation, assists their path. At the “wash down” area, many different vessels gather to either begin their preparations for the work day ahead or are finishing the clean up from hours, days, or even weeks at sea. Starting many hours before dawn and through the hours after midnight, vessels enter and leave the harbor. Of the approximate 190 km of shoreline along the west side of the Big Island, this is the busiest bay. The lava rock was blasted with dynamite and carved with large hydraulic chisels to form a protective harbor that houses more than 230 vessel slips. The harbor proper, where the vessels are sheltered, was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1970. The bay has been called many names: “Crescent Beach”, “Alua Bay”, “Dog Beach” (because dogs are allowed to run here), “Naked Beach” (since it was once a nude beach), “The Can Dive” (for the infamous green aid to navigation), “Manta Ray Bay” (because manta rays frequent the cleaning stations), “The Harbor”, and now, as I call it in summer, “Tiger Alley.” Nested inside Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park, along the southern boundary, an anomaly of nature exists. From my many years of personal experience diving this bay, I knew it would be another pristine day just outside the Harbor. The sea is calm and the air still as we load our gear onto our vessel. Inside Honokohau harbor, the busiest harbor on the Big Island of Hawaii, numerous commercial and recreational vessels begin their preparations for their day’s activities on the ocean. Described by some witnesses as being “20 feet long”, the shark tore Durdin in half as her husband and children watched on helplessly from the shore.Īs the attack unfolded, Durdin’s husband allegedly shouted, “she’s gone, she’s gone,” from the coast.Another summer day in Hawaii begins with the sun cresting over the ridge of Mauna Loa. The attack of Shirley Ann Durdin in 1985 is infamously recognised as one of the most gruesome shark attacks in history.ĭurdin was 33 years old at the time and had been diving for scallops in Peake Bay, South Australia, when a great white shark attacked her. By the time they reached the shore, however, Conger had died from blood loss. Conger was dragged underwater by the shark – thought to have been a great white – and violently shaken and slashed.Ĭonger was eventually released, and Rehm managed to heave him onto the dive mat. He had been in the water near a floating dive mat one day when his friend, Chris Rehm, spotted the unmistakable outline of a shark approaching Conger. Omar Conger, an abalone diver in his late 20s, was the first victim. Pacific coast attacks (1984)Īmerica’s Pacific Coast witnessed a slew of vicious shark attacks over the course of a fortnight in 1984. Image Credit: Jeff Rotman / Alamy Stock Photo 5. Rodney Fox displays his wounds after the attack in 1963. And when 24-year-old Stanley Fisher dived into the depths after him, the shark turned on Fisher. Lester Stillwell, aged 12, was dragged underwater by a shark. On 12 July 1916, two further attacks took place. Less than a week later, 27-year-old Charles Bruder suffered a similar fate when his abdomen was slashed open by sharks.
Anomaly shark island skin#
He was out swimming when at least one shark – possibly more – attacked him, leaving the skin of his leg torn to shreds. 25-year-old Charles Vansant was the first to be attacked that summer. Jersey Shore attacks (1916)ĭuring a heatwave in 1916, the Jersey Shore witnessed a string of brutal shark attacks along its beaches. Nonetheless, Watson returned to Britain, became a Member of Parliament and was eventually sworn in as London’s Lord Mayor. Watson was heaved out of the water by his crewmates, and though he lived to tell the tale, he lost a leg in the incident. According to contemporary accounts, Watson’s dip was interrupted by a shark who violently attacked him, backed off and then circled around to strike again. The first documented shark attack in history occurred in 1749 when the British seaman Brook Watson went for a swim in the waters off Havana Harbor, Cuba. Here are 6 of the most notorious shark attacks in history. And in 1984, the notoriously gruesome attack of mother Shirley Ann Durdin occurred in Australia. In 1945, for example, the sinking of the American warship USS Indianapolis saw dozens, if not hundreds, of men mauled to death by sharks.
The earliest surviving record of a shark attack dates to 1749, and in the centuries since, humans have endured countless devastating incidents involving sharks. Nonetheless, for as long as humans have been wading, swimming and diving into sharks’ habitats, attacks have occurred. Fatal shark attacks are relatively rare: in the United States, it’s estimated that a fatal shark attack occurs once every two years, on average.
0 kommentar(er)
