Our condolences go out to the friends and family of Dave Martin, a 66-year-old swimmer from Solana Beach, who was killed by a 17-foot white shark while doing a group swim around 7:00 AM Friday April 24th off Solana Beach, Calif.
Having just surfed a nearby beach two weeks ago, and given the extremely rare nature of fatal shark attacks in San Diego (the last one being in 1959) this news comes as extremely shocking.
No doubt, this attack, like most, was a case of mistaken identity whereby the shark mistakes a wetsuit-clad swimmer (or surfer) as a seal (food). When you think about it, there are so few sports in the world that put you in danger of being killed by a predator like a white shark. Again, the likelihood of a fatal attack (this being only the 8th on record in California) is tiny but the thought of it, and the terror of it crushes any stats you can put out there. The fact remains, when we step off the sand and into the ocean we become part of the food chain.
Godspeed, Dave Martin. RIP.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
