Shark Week came early this year. I’ll keep these stories as graphic as possible, so you can live vicariously through them and never want to go to the beach again. Be warned: These shark attacks are the worst of the worst. Enjoy.
1. When Abalone Diving Goes Wrong
Randy Fry and his buddy Cliff went out to catch some abalone off the Mendocino coast in August 2004. Less than 15 minutes in the water, Cliff heard a heavy ‘whoosh’ under him. The water was a distinct red in a matter of seconds.
“I heard a noise like a submarine, like a boat going by fast.”
A Great White shark the size of a pickup truck killed Fry instantly. A couple days later, they found his headless body in the cold Northern California sea.
2. Dinosaur-Sized Great White Obliterates Man as Onlookers Watch
Horror would strike a quaint tourist town on the coast of Cape Town on a warm January day. Witnesses saw a “dinosaur-sized” shark “longer than a minibus” attack Lloyd Skinner in chest-deep water 100 meters out.
The only thing they found were his goggles. A man tweeted what happened as he saw it: “Holy shit, we just saw a GIGANTIC shark eat what looked like a person right in front of our house in fishhoek [sic]. Unbelievable.”
3. “Help Me, Dude!”
In 2010, Lucas Ransom went out to Surf Beach for a nice afternoon of boogie boarding with his friend, Matthew Garcia. Ransom, a UC Santa Barbara junior, was sitting on his board a mere two feet away from Garcia when an estimated 18-foot-long Great White poked its head out of the water and clamped down on his leg.
Ransom screamed, “Help me, dude!” before he was pulled under.
The waves turned red. Garcia saw him drifting lifeless in the water, his leg mauled, and he pulled Ransom to shore and tried to give him CPR, but it was futile.
Oddly enough, Ransom joked about being attacked by a shark the night before.
4. Woman Ripped in Half and Devoured by Massive Shark
In 1985, 33-year-old Shirley Ann Durdin was scanning the sea floor for scallops in Fort Lincoln, Australia. Her husband and four children were watching from the beach. Durdin was in only seven feet of water when a gargantuan Great White crashed into her and bit her in half.
The shark was estimated to be at least 20 feet long. The first strike instantly killed her, and the shark doubled back to continue chowing. When rescuers rushed out to save her, they discovered only a headless torso.
Her husband Barry had to be held down while he watched in terror. “She’s gone, she’s gone,” he cried.
5. Man Eaten Whole
In June 1959, Robert Pamperin and his friend (and witness) Gerald Lehrer went abalone diving in La Jolla, Calif. They were in about 40 feet of water.
Suddenly, Lehrer heard the screams of Pamperin, 50 feet away: “Help!”
He saw Pamperin rise out of the water with a giant shark latched onto his legs. The shark then slowly brought him under.
Lehrer dove. He saw a 23-foot-long Great White dragging Pamperin down to the ocean floor, thrashing his body. Lehrer tried to frighten the shark by waving his hands, but it didn’t help. He beelined it to the shore to get help.
Authorities only found a swim fin and an inner tube.
6. Man Watches Father and Brother Get Eaten as He Clings for Dear Life
A man and his two sons were forced to abandon their fishing boat when it capsized amid gale force winds in Northeastern Australia in 1988. They boarded a half-submerged dinghy, which they clung onto after calling in a mayday.
While battling huge waves and howling winds, they noticed two sharks twice the size of their dinghy stalking them. The sharks eventually began pounding on the small lifeboat. Father Cedric Coucom fell and the two massive sharks tore off his leg and pulled him from the boat as his kids helplessly watched.
Later, younger brother Bruce couldn’t hack it much longer; exhausted and delirious, he decided to let go of the skiff and drifted away. His brother James witnessed yet another of his kin get killed. The sea beasts took his head.
Rescuers came upon James in shock as two massive sharks ominously circled the dinghy.
7. Haitian Immigrants Capsize Boat, Tiger Sharks Take Advantage
“It was a pretty horrible sight. It’s just not something you can get out of your brain.”
Coast Guard Jonathan Rose came upon an overturned vessel off the Florida coast in 2008. He saw tiger sharks circling the boat. He also saw three bloody bodies floating in the water, and he watched as one was being mauled and consumed.
A large group of Haitians capsized the boat due to overcrowding. The sharks came and began feasting on the crew. The names of the three men and woman killed are unknown.
8. Brazilian Teenager Dies After Shark Tears Apart Leg … All Captured on Video (NSFW)
An 18-year-old woman was wading in waist-deep water when a bull shark bit into her leg. It was all captured on video. Rescuers brought her to shore, but she later died after doctors amputated her mangled leg.
A total of 28 fatal shark attacks have happened in the same spot Bruna Gobbi met her demise.
9. Woman Witnesses Husband’s Death by Great White on Honeymoon
It was the happiest week of her life. Gemma Redmond was honeymooning with her husband Ian on the Indian Ocean archipelago of Seychelles. One day, Ian went snorkeling only 20 yards out while Gemma sat on the beach reading.
She suddenly heard his screams. When Ian arose from the water, she knew it was serious.
His face pale, Ian fell as blood poured from his wounds. He had been bitten several times by a Great White. He soon died.
When asked why the couple chose Seychelles for their honeymoon, Gemma said because of “the beautiful waters and the fact that there aren’t really any dangerous animals.” She says she still hears his screams when she closes her eyes.
10. Shark Kills 10-Year-Old in Four Feet of Water
Young Virginia boy David Peltier was hanging out on a sandbar some 50 yards from the shore. Beachgoers saw what appeared to be a shadowy blow-up toy in the distance, but it wasn’t. “The way the child screamed and the reaction of the dad, I knew it wasn’t a toy,” one witness said.
A large shark clamped down on David’s thigh and thrashed. His father fought and punched to release him, and when he did, David suffered massive blood loss due to a severed artery.
He died in the hospital.
