The lifeguard who attempted to save a kiteboarder Wednesday off Stuart Beach was the victim of a shark attack himself more than 20 years ago.

So as he fought rough winds and high waves on Wednesday, Daniel Lund, 46, realized what lay ahead about 20 yards before he reached the kiteboarder, Stephen Schafer, a quarter-mile off the beach.

He saw blood in the water and “two or three sharks” nearby.

Kiteboarder Killed by Sharks

Lund, a nine-year veteran whose leg was severely injured by a shark in 1986 off Hutchinson Island, swam in anyway.

“It was nerve-wracking,” Lund said today in his first interview after the fatal shark attack that claimed Schafer, 38. The fatal attack was the first in Martin County.

Knowing from experience and lifeguard training that sharks tend to bite, then swim away, and come back to their victim, Lund moved fast to recover Schafer. The man had several big gashes in his leg and arm, according to a police report.

“The amount of blood that was in the water was definitely going to attract them,” Lund said.

Lund cradled the man’s head in one arm and paddled back to shore with the other. The waves were so rough that both were thrown apart once before they made it in.

See data, trends, stats and analysis about shark attacks

Great whites prefer colder northern Atlantic Ocean waters and aren’t usually thought of as a Florida shark. But smaller 6- to 8-foot ones migrate to Florida’s east coast during winter.

Lund recovered the man a second time on his buoy and brought him to the beach where paramedics started CPR. Schafer later died at Martin Memorial Medical Center in Stuart.

Lund said Schafer talked to him until they were about half-way from shore. He wouldn’t say what Schafer’s last words were, but Lund said he remained hopeful throughout the ordeal that the man would survive the attack.

The injured man stopped talking as the lifeguard swam ashore with him in tow. Paramedics were unable to revive him, and the victim, 38-year-old Stephen Schafer, died at a hospital without regaining consciousness, the report said.

On Facebook: Stephen Schafer memorial page

Schafer had numerous bites on his hand and buttocks and an 8- to 10-inch (20- to 25-cm) gash on his thigh.

Authorities are investigating what types of sharks may have been involved.

“You don’t ever want to lose somebody,” he said.  Read more here

Sharks spotted off Palm Beach

More than 100 sharks were seen in the ocean off Reef Road in Palm Beach on Thursday morning, prompting lifeguards to keep a lookout after officials say a shark attack in Martin County killed a man a day earlier.

Hammerheads, spinners, reef and bull sharks are very common off South Florida this time of year.

They follow schools of migrating fish along the Florida coastline.

There were easily more than a hundred in the water off Reef Road Thursday morning.

Lifeguards will monitor the migrating sharks and decide whether any beaches need to be closed. Read full story here

A fisherman catches a hammerhead shark on Singer Island.

Last week beaches were closed for three days on Singer Island because of shark sightings.

Two fishermen reeled in a nearly 10 foot hammerhead shark, then released it.

Hammerheads along with spinners, reef, and bull sharks are very common

off south Florida this time of year. They follow schools of migrating fish along the Florida coastline.

Source:  TCPalm.com

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Basking Shark Washes Ashore On A Long Island Beach

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

Posted by:  Blondie

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