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TWICE BITTEN
Shark attacks surfer in New Jersey -- but is the media attack even worse?
Surfers don't spend too much time worrying about sharks. Although the mainstream seems to think we deal with sharks everyday, it's rarely an issue, especially in New Jersey.
Still, every surfer is at least conscious of "The Men in Gray Suits."
Recently, Point Pleasant Beach Tattoo artist, Brody Longo pointed to a cartoon of a Great White snapping a surfboard. Someone had requested the tattoo.
Longo, a fixture at Jenks, was puzzled as to why a surfer might temp fate like that.
"I don't even eat shark," I offered.
"Me either," he answered, "If I get bit by a cow, I probably deserve it."
While there is always the random story about a huge shark caught here or a sighting there, we don't pay much mind. Long Beach Island summers are known for flatness, tourists and cops. Sharks are normally the least of our concerns.
Any type of run in with a shark quickly reverberates outside of the surf community. The mainstream media loves this stuff. Meanwhile, officials of coastal towns do what they can to play the incident down. When your local economy is dependent on a three-month tourist season, you can't have any negative press.
On Sunday, June 5th, 17-year-old Ryan Horton was enjoying a fading swell in Surf City with his brother. After a wave, he was retrieving his Hot Buttered thruster, when he felt something strike his leg,
"Like a baseball bat had whacked my foot," he told reporters.
He rode to the beach, where his brother inspected a giant gash on his foot, slung him over his shoulder, carried him to the car, wrapped the wound in a towel, and headed for Southern Ocean County Hospital.
"It was a large, gaping, wound," said Horton's aunt, Megan Flynn-Sindoni, who met the pair in the emergency room.
"You could see into it. You could see bone; you could see the tendons."
The unnerving gash was photographed and stitched up. The hospital would only confirm that Horton was treated and released.
The pictures were sent to George Burgess, curator of the International Shark Attack File, at the University of Florida. He decided, on Tuesday, that it was, in fact, a shark bite.
This announcement sparked a small-scale media frenzy. A shark attack, on the brink of a Jersey Shore summer? What a story.
Horton lives in the small town of Forked River, New Jersey. This "coastal" town has the unfortunate lack of proximity to the bridges that connect mainland Ocean County to its barrier islands. While the Horton home is merely four miles from the Atlantic Ocean, it takes 25 minutes to get to the surf. I know. I grew up there.
In hopes of hearing Horton's story first hand for Surfline, I zipped up the Garden State Parkway. I wasn't a quarter mile off Exit 74, into my hometown, when I saw the Channel 7 Eyewitness News Truck. Upon finding the Horton residence, I noticed all the bigs were in town. The Jersey stations, Philly, New York, all the major networks wanted to talk to Horton.
The Horton's had posted his Aunt, Megan Flynn-Sindoni on the front porch, in front of Ryan's surfboard, to handle the press. Horton was recovering, in slight discomfort. He
was now stitched and in a cast.
Several cameras recorded her every word, as she held an 8x10 picture of the wound.
"We knew something took a chunk out of him," she explained, "but we weren't thinking shark until an expert confirmed it. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Sharks make a very characteristic wound pattern. This definitely involved teeth," said Burgess, who had been talking to media all day. "I've seen hundreds of these over the years and seen thousands of pictures," he explained, "anyone who has studied shark attacks, and takes a look will see right away."
The International Shark Attack File classifies this type of incident as a "hit and run."
"It's as much of a slash as a bite. The shark was doing what sharks do, feeding in the troughs between the sand bars. It was a moment of normal prey. Surfers are prone to this."
The ISAF states that although shark attacks get a
lot of attention, they far less than the number of people killed each year by elephants, bees, crocodiles, lightning or many other natural dangers.
According to Surf City Borough officials, it was a laceration on his foot. No one saw a shark.
The borough is rightfully conservative. For the public to go shark crazy as it did with the release of Jaws in the summer of 1976, would be foolish.
Don Meyers, of the Long Beach Township Beach Patrol has been guarding Island beaches for 39 seasons.
"We had probably 2 million people use our beaches last season and no incidents. It's obviously a big deal to the person involved, but I don't see any cause for concern," he said.
Horton's stitches should come out in two weeks, and then he will start physical therapy. His aunt doubts he'll have any reservations about jumping back in the water. He'll have a busy few weeks with the media circus.
There must be an easier way to get a date with Bethany Hamilton!
--
Jon Coen
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