It was nothing less than a horror
story.
After fighting for his life with two sharks "as wide as a
car," surfer Brad Smith, 29, was bitten in half and
killed. Friends could only helplessly watch as he fell into
the water after the initial attack, while another of the enormous
creatures moved in on him. Experts said it was almost as if
they had ambushed him.
"Generally sharks are solo hunters," said marine expert
Mike Roennfeldt. "It's unusual - unheard of, in fact -
for one Great White to knock a guy off his surfboard and then for
another to attack, which seems to have happened here."
According to witnesses, the attack didn't last long, with Brad
pounding with his fists to try to keep the sharks at bay as they
repeatedly came at him. After about 45 seconds, he went
down, and water became red. When his friends saw his body
float to the surface, they risked their own lives by going out and
dragging it back to shore. They were too upset to describe
his injuries.
"There was nothing we could do to help him," said
another surfer, Cameron Rowe, 17. "At first I saw one
shark and thought it was one of the usual ones you see
swimming-around, reef sharks, which don't cause you any
trouble. But these things were massive. When the first
one came up a bit I could see its fin and it was almost a yard
high. When it came out of the water with Brad still fighting
it, I could see its body was about the width of a car and its open
jaws were as wide as a man's arm. What happened then just
ended up in a terrible feeding frenzy. It was awful."
One of Smith's friends, Mitch Campbell, agreed.
"It was the worst thing I
have seen. There was so much confusion out there it was
impossible to tell which shark was attacking, but they kept coming
at him time and time again. You could see Brad trying to
whack at them to keep them away. We were shouting out, 'Swim
for your life, mate! Swim for your life!' But he
obviously didn't have a chance. They were massive. He
put up such a brave fight. He was punching away and there
was water and blood everywhere."
After a search for the sharks by helicopter, attempts at finding
and killing them were called off. It was the second fatal
attack in West Australian waters in less than four years.
Some experts now believe, based on examination of Smith's
surfboard, that both a Great White and a Bronze Whaler Shark were
responsible for the attack. Whether one just happened to be
close by and join in, or whether both worked cooperatively,
remains to be determined. The latter case, however, seems
unlikely.
Bigfoot Spotted In Alaska
by Jonathan
Drake
S: CBC North (6-7-04)
The infamous Sasquatch is back at it again.
Marion Sheldon and Gus Jules were driving down the side of the
highway near the Yukon village of Teslin on an all-terrain vehicle
when, suddenly, they saw it.
It was crossing the highway.
"They claim they thought it was a person standing beside the
road, but couldn't tell from all the dust," said Conservation
Officer Dave Bakica. "By the time they turned around to
look back they said this person was completely covered in hair and
took just two strides to get across the whole Alaska
highway."
According to the report, by the time SHeldon and Jules got back to
the location, the creature had disappeared into the bush.
Bakica searched the area for tracks, but said they may have been
wiped out by that day's evening rain.
Both witnesses were very shaken by the sighting, and don't want to
talk about the encounter until they have consulted with local
Teslin Tlingit elders.
Described as shy and nocturnal, Bipedal ape-men have been reported
throughout North America's Pacific northwest and as far away as
China. Some Bigfoot believers say there are at least 2,000
ape people walking upright in North America's woods today.
Weird Sea Creature Washes Ashore
by
Jonathan Robison
S: NBC 4 (6-04)
It truly is frightening to look at. The face only a mother
could love. With it's big head and bulging eyes, it looks
like something out of Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under The
Sea."
Found by a retired biologist on a beach near Port Angeles,
Washington, the animal is actually a deep-water fish known as King
of the Salmon.
According to scientists, sightings of the animal are rare, but it
is known to live in the Pacific Ocean in the water from Alaska to
Baja California, Mexico.
Government marine biologists will examine the Washington specimen
to learn more about it.
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