In a rare shark attack, 38-year old Stephen Howard Schafer, died from injuries while kite boarding in the Stuart Beach area. The Martin County Sheriff’s Office said a lifeguard first saw the man in distress at 4:15 p.m. about 500 yards from shore near Stuart. When he swam out to save the man, Schafer was being circled by sharks.
Schafer later died at Martin Memorial Hospital from the injuries. “When (lifeguards) got there, they found a number of sharks in the water and they found the victim had been bitten several times,” this according to Daniel Wouters, of Martin County Fire Rescue. Research scientist Grant Gilmore told The Palm Beach Post it was very unusual for sharks to bite humans off Florida’s east coast at this time of year. He added it should be possible to tell which sharks were responsible from the bite marks. Gilmore said of the four species known to attack humans in the area, great hammerheads, bulls and tigers all prefer warm water and leave or go deep in winter. “The only other species that gathers in abundance out there in the winter are the juvenile great white sharks,” Gilmore told The Palm Peach Post.
Schafer had numerous bites on his hand and buttocks and an 8- to 10-inch gash on his thigh.
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