Shark attacks, kills surfer off Reunion Island...

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Surfer loses leg, bleeds to death despite help from rescue workers

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 23 July, 2012 : - - Authorities say a shark killed a 22-year-old surfer in the Indian Ocean waters off France's Reunion Island. Island government spokesman Serge Bideau says the man was in a surfing spot west of the island Monday when a shark bit off his right leg.

Witnesses helped the victim, identified as island resident Alexandre Rassica, to shore where rescue workers tried in vain to resuscitate him. The type of shark involved was not immediately clear. The number of shark attacks has risen in Reunion Island in the last two years.

This is the ninth deadly shark attack to be recorded in La Reunion since 1972. Last year, there were two fatal shark attacks off the coast of the island, which is a popular tourist destination. In one of those incidents, sharks shredded a surfer's leg and severed his right arm, police told the Underwater Times news service following the attack.

This is not the first extreme shark attack to be reported on this year. Last week, a great white shark reportedly bit a surfer in half off the coast of Western Australia.

According to the International Shark Attack File, there were 12 deaths from unprovoked shark attacks around the world in 2011. But although shark attacks often make news, some activists point out that humans are a greater threat to sharks than sharks are to humans.

A statement by the file's director, George Burgess, estimated that 30 to 70 million sharks are killed in fisheries each year. Shark populations face danger from finning, bycatch and fishing pressure, according to advocacy group Oceana.

Shark kills surfer off Reunion island
Deadly Indian Ocean shark attacks continue

www.ap.org

Source: Associated Press / Huffington Post

Tags: Reunion Island, Shark Attacks, France, Indian Ocean

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