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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT PIERCE - A 9-year-old Pennsylvania girl is recovering today after apparently being bitten on the calf by a shark.
Authorities say the incident happened yesterday in the waters off Hutchinson Island and that the girl won’t lose her leg.
Police say Juliette Shipp of Harleysville, Pa., was standing in the surf on Florida’s Atlantic Coast with a boogie board when she was bitten. Her mother was sitting on the beach. Police say Juliette told them she saw something gray that bit her before she had time to react.
Shipp Family Photo
Authorities say they still aren’t sure that Juliette was bitten by a shark. Police say the water was too murky along the coastline to see anything during fly-overs shortly after the apparent attack.
The beach remains open, though authorities are warning swimmers to be wary about might be lurking in the water.
According to a recent comment by the director of the International Shark Attack File at UF, “Shark Bites” are common on the East Coast and are usually small sharks that do not cause fatal or serious injury. “Shark Attacks” are rare along the Gulf Coast, but are usually serious or fatal and most often Bull Sharks. I think Florida needs to print an information pamphlet to be distributed to all hotels informing people of not only shark activity, but stingrays, alligators, etc… I cannot tell you how many times I have seen peope, probably tourists, allowing their children to play in the water at the beaches at dusk or swim around way out past the sandbars.
I used to live about 10 miles from Hutchinson Island and like Sue mentioned, there are other animals in the water besides a shark, especially in the vacinity of Hutchinson Island.
The good thing is, is the little girl is not in critical condition or dead. Things could have been worse. People have to understand that this is FLORIDA. When you get around fresh or salt water (SUe’s comment once again) you have to play at your own risk. As for a child, that is why they have parents for.
It can be assumed that the paramedics, EMT’s or doctors could look at the wound and make an educated guess that it was probably a shark bite. However, another wicked biter is the Bluefish. Typically, this type of fish schools towards the north & mid-Atlantic states in the summer, but not all. Also, they tend to be a little larger the further up the Atlantic seaboard. I used to catch them weighing around 15-20 pounds while living on Cape Cod. I do remember in the early 1970’s there was a rash of swimmers being attacked by Bluefish in the Ft. Lauderdale area.
Dear Robert Evans,
Since you live in Tampa too, I would suggest actually GOING to a beach so you can educate yourself about what is in the water besides sharks.
I’ve seen several sting-ray wounds at Honeymoon Island. The untrainded eye could not be certain of whether the wound was from a small shark or a ray...trust me...I’ve seen both and they look alike.
My brother-in-law was stung by a ray, and my mother-in-law was “nipped” by a small shark. BOTH relatives saw the animal that “got them”. In truth? The ray caused more pain and injury than the little shark (shark was about 1 ft. long).
As for closing the beach for “safety”, that is truly silly thinking. If we really wanted to avoid the possibility of a person receiving a shark, ray, alligator, or snake bite in Florida, understand that there is not a fresh or salt body of water that could be found without any of those dangers present.
We live life at our own risk....
SM
I’m sure it was a shark. However, this girl’s family may have been uneducated regarding times to be in the water. It was around 11am which is a time Sharks are active. Water was murky which makes it easier for sharks to swim around. It was a accidental bite which is obvious because it left after biting her and realizing it wasn’t what it wanted. These beach towns need to post signs regarding the rules of swiming with sharks.
What else would have bitten her??? Is there anything else that is out there bitting people besides sharks? Why is the beach open after an attack, so more peoples children can be bitten and possibly killed!!!
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Posted by H J Johnston, Tampa, FL on 06/29 at 11:38 AM
Sharks have been swimming the oceans for 180M years and humans have just recently taken to the water. Do you really think that Sharks have been so successful all those years by attacking humans when we weren’t in their water? It is a mistake when a shark attacks humans. That is why most people do survive the attacks. There are very few sharks of the 360 plus species that have attacked humans. The beaches shouldn’t be closed due to an attack. That is the risk you take when you enter the water and your best defense is educating people about when sharks are more active and what not to wear, etc.