14 year old girl Killed by Shark

June 25th, 2005, 10:27 PM

A 14-year-old girl died Saturday after a shark attacked her while she and a companion were swimming in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida Panhandle, authorities said.
The teenagers were swimming on boogie boards about 100 yards offshore when they noticed a dark shadow in the water, authorities said. The other swimmer was not injured, Walton County Sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Shank said.
Both girls swam to shore, and the victim was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead, Shank said. The girl was on vacation from Gonzales, La., but her name was not immediately released.
Jeff White, 49, of Atlanta, said his son was one of three men who brought the girl to shore in a raft.
"He said at one point, the shark was underneath them," White said. "So they stopped paddling. Somebody distracted the shark and they brought the girl the rest of the way in."
It was not clear what type of shark attacked her, said Stan Kirkland, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"The girl was some distance off from the shore," Kirkland said. "I don't think anyone got a good view of the shark."
The attack happened near the Camping on the Gulf Holiday Travel Park, about 45 miles east of Pensacola. Swimmers were ordered out of the water along 20 miles of crowded beaches shortly after the attack. It was not immediately clear whether they will be allowed back in Sunday.
Robert Goodwin, 12, of St. Louis, Mo., said he was ordered out of the water by authorities. "I didn't know that when I was told to get out it was a shark," he said. "I was like, what? Wow, that's not cool."
Added Goodwin's father, Mark: "It was just an eery feeling to see folks sitting there on the beach."
Florida averaged more than 30 shark attacks a year from 2000 to 2003, but there were only 12 attacks off the state's coast last year, according to statistics compiled by the American Elasmobranch Society and the Florida Museum of Natural History.

**knight_67** · June 25th, 2005, 11:50 PM

doesn't really have to do with the article, but when i was at the beach a few weeks ago, a 5 year old drowned....

**oakland_raiders** · June 28th, 2005, 01:02 PM

my uncle was in florida at the time and was only 14 miles away from where it happened

**OAR** · June 28th, 2005, 01:05 PM

my cousin was also staying in Destin on their vacation when it happened!

June 28th, 2005, 01:05 PM

Wasn't there another attack just yesterday? Or maybe it was near Myrtle Beach? I heard something on the news but never heard a location. Not sure the person died. But was grabbed and bitten.

**Rocky** · June 28th, 2005, 02:34 PM

if you are ever at the beach, and a shark comes near you....... punch that somonabish in the nose.

**MikMo** · June 28th, 2005, 02:48 PM

It was about 80 miles from the place the first attack took place. The teen is in critical condition. Here's a link to the story:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050628/...tkBHNlYwM3MTg-

**Lb_Balla33** · June 28th, 2005, 03:29 PM

if you wanna go to a beach and stay away from sharks go to Pound Beach..lol

**imported_YeahYeah** · June 28th, 2005, 04:34 PM

Knight 67...how did the boy drown? was it the tide that pulled him under what?

it never fails, everytime im at the beach Jaws seems to ALWAYS be on the TNT or USA channels ..whats up with that? I know neither channels have the bearing on when im at the beach and what they show..but to me it always seems ironic..weird

this happen to anyone else?

**knight_67** · June 28th, 2005, 10:23 PM

the tides had gotten worse because of the storms happening down in florida, and when we woke up and were layin on the beach one of our buddies said he heard that a boy was killed by a shark, but a little later some girls we met from another hotel came to talk to us and they were at the hotel in front of where it happened, the tide just pulled him in....