The Dorsal Fin

Lucy Mangum, the 6-year-old girl who was bitten by a shark off Ocracoke Island last week, appeared with her mother and father (Jordan and Craig Mangum) on The Early Show this morning. According to CBS News, Lucy is getting ready to leave the hospital after sustaining injuries to her foot and calf. Injuries to Lucy’s Achilles tendon are expected to take 6 to 8 weeks to recover, according to the report.

While 6-year-old Lucy didn’t seem particularly eager to talk to The Early Show anchor, her mother said that she expects her daughter to return to the water after her injuries are healed. She also noted that Lucy “loves the beach.” Here’s to a full and speedy recovery for Lucy!

KABC News is reporting that a 13-year-old North Carolina teen is expected to fully recover after being bitten twice on her left leg while swimming off Topsail Island in North Carolina. Carley Schlentz’s wounds required 60 stitches. While doctors expect her to recover fully, she will be on crutches for the next few weeks and her mother said she may need reconstructive surgery after the wounds heal. The species of shark involved in the attack has not yet been determined.

Holden Beach, NC & St. Pete Beach, FL

The Star News Online is reporting that Julia Anne Mittleberg, a 26-year old woman, was bitten on the foot by a shark on Wednesday (July 22, 2009). Mittleberg was in 3-4′ of water at Holden Beach, NC when the attack occurred. According to the report, the hospital has confirmed she is in “good condition”.

In other shark attack news, ABC Action News, is reporting that Jenna James, a 19-year-old female, was also bit by a shark on Wednesday (July 22, 2009) while swimming at St. Pete Beach, FL. James was bitten above the knee and did not see the shark, but the wound is said to be consistent with a shark bite. Her injuries are said to not be life-threatening but she underwent surgery, according to the report.
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CNN’s American Morning ran a segment today around 8:30am EST about the 9 shark attack survivors who are lobbying for the U.S. Congress to support a bill aimed at ending shark finning. The segment featured two of the survivors who spoke about their attacks, and their feelings about sharks after having survived their ordeals. While surfer Mike Coots said he never had any animosity, Debbie Alamone said that it took her a while to get over her animosity. Both are now working with the Pew Environment Group to lobby for a bill that would ban finning. Both survivors stressed the importance of sharks in the marine ecosystem. Coots ended the interview portion of the segment by stating that the issue was “way bigger than the two of us. It’s absolutely incredible, just the amount of sharks being killed.”

A transcript of the interview portion of the segment can be found at CNN’s AM Fix blog. The interview portion of the segment was well done. Unfortunately, as soon as the attack survivors were off camera, CNN anchor John Roberts started in saying how it was “hard to swallow” that shark attack survivors would be lobbying for the protection of sharks. Robert’s co-anchor, whose name escapes me (Kiran Chentry was not on during the segment) then stated that she doesn’t go in the ocean due to her “unnatural” fear of being attacked by a shark. Roberts then brought up Jaws and how he was afraid to swim even in a lake after seeing the film.

If nothing else, at least another story exposing the finning industry is appearing in the main stream media.

A full press release from the Pew Environmental Group on the subject is available at Pew Brings Survivors to Congress to Seek Protections for Sharks That Attacked Them from PR Newswire.

Here’s a fine example of an objective report on a recent suspected great white shark attack off the coast of South Africa compared to a less-than-objective “report” from another media source.

What I’ll refer to as the “objective” news story can be found at the Bloomberg.com. In summary, the story reports that Paul Buckley, a surfer, was bitten by what was believed to be a great white shark off of South Africa’s south coast. According to the story, Buckley “grabbed hold of the shark’s tail and it let go of his thigh and swam out to sea.” Buckley then paddled ashore and later received stitches for the bite wound.

For the “sensationalized” story, we need look no further than The Sun with its headline of “Surfer attacked by 3m killer shark.” To The Sun’s credit, their story does offer more details than the Bloomberg.com story, such as the shark being an estimated 3.5m (11.5′), and Buckley receiving 150 stitches to close his wound. However, (as if the headline alone isn’t enough) the story also describes how “brave Paul managed to seize the killer’s tail,” and how he “grabbed the beast’s tail to stop it from killing him.” The word “kill” seems to be a recurring theme in the report.
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