More Shadows Attack 39 



licity about shark attacks. In 1958, however, the Sarasota County Chamber 

 of Commerce requested the Florida State Board of Conservation to 

 "determine as many facts as possible about sharks in Florida waters, their 

 potential (statistical) danger to bathers and what measures or recom- 

 mendations for precautionary measures seemed advisable." 



The Chamber's unprecedented request w^as not inspired by a sudden 

 academic interest in ichthyology. In the summer of 1958, four shark 

 attacks occurred within five weeks along a 60-mile stretch of beach 

 between Sarasota and Sanibel Island on the lower west coast of Florida. 



On June 24th, Frank A. Mahala, aged 17, was walking toward shore in 

 lYo feet of murkv water at Turtle Beach on Siesta Key. He was about 10 

 feet from shore when, coming from behind, a shark grabbed his left 

 leg. Mahala said he did not feel any sensation in his wounded leg. He 

 thought he had been bitten only once. Actually, he had several wounds. 

 This insensitivity to pain is typical in shark bites.* He was dragged to 

 shore by relatives and taken to a hospital, where it was found that his 

 left foot and leg were severely injured by what the attending physician 

 described as teeth "shaped like the teeth of a heavy saw." The physician 

 believed, from the nature of the wounds, that the shark had taken the 

 youth's entire foot in its mouth, but had not been quite strong enough 

 to bite through it. A4ahala recovered. 



On June 26th, Eric N. Cockerill, aged 59, was wading in water about 

 3 feet deep on a sand bar some 30 feet from shore off Sanibel Island. 

 Cockerill said that he felt a sharp pain in his right foot and realized 

 that he had put it right into the mouth of a shark. He yanked his foot out 

 of the water and saw the shark's jaws still locked around it. The shark 

 let go and disappeared. Cockerill limped ashore, and eventually recovered 

 the use of his foot. From Cockerill's description of the shark and from 

 the pattern of the wounds, it was concluded that a "harmless" Nurse 

 shark, about 7 feet long, had attacked him. 



On July 2nd, again at Siesta Key, Jon Hamlin, aged 22, was skin-diving 

 about 10 feet from shore. He saw a "harmless" Nurse shark lying amid 

 some rocks on the bottom. Hamlin grabbed the 5V2-foot shark by the 

 tail with both hands and started making his way toward shore. Sud- 

 denly, the shark twisted and sank its teeth into the inner part of Hamlin's 

 left leg, just below the knee. Hamlin immediately released his grip, and 

 so did the shark, which rapidly swam away. Hamlin recovered. 



The fourth attack occurred on July 27th, 9 miles north of where 

 Frank Aiahala had been attacked on June 24th. Douglas Lawton, an SYo- 



* The authors have no explanation as to why some sharks can bite sizeable 

 chunks of flesh from victims without apparently causing pain. This phenomenon 

 is reported frequently in case histories of shark attacks. 



