Alligator attack - Myakka River, Florida

[DandyDon]

‘An inch away from death’: Tampa diver replays frightening moments of alligator attack

TAMPA, Fla. — A Tampa man is recovering after an alligator attacked him during a dive along the Myakka River.

With a bandage wrapped around his head, Jeffrey Heim replayed the tense moments for ABC Action News Monday, the same day he was discharged from Sarasota Memorial Hospital.

WFTS
“I thought I got hit by a propeller; it hit me so fast,” recalled Heim. “It felt like a boat was going 50 mph.”

Heim said he encountered the alligator while looking for shark teeth in Venice. It all happened within seconds of entering the water.

The alligator bit Heim on his head and hand, resulting in a skull fracture and 34 staples.

WFTS
“Because of the bite force on those animals, he could have got me anywhere else and I would have died.”

Heim is an advocate for marine life who collects shark teeth. The Tampa personal trainer hopes to one day turn his passion project, shrkco, into a full-time profession.

With years of diving experience across Florida, Heim admits he should have known better.

According to Florida Fish and Wildlife, the mating season for alligators is in May and June, a time when they are more active and aggressive.

“Her environment, protecting her family,” said Heim. “That’s what those animals are bred to do, and I learned that the hard way. I’m lucky it wasn’t much worse.”

Heim calls it an act of God that he wasn’t killed on Sunday and remains thankful his recovery will only take a few weeks.

“I’ve never cried so much in my life,” said Heim. “And not from the pain, just from the realization of what I’ve gone through and how I was literally an inch away from death.”

 

[Raphus]

Crazy story.
“Because of the bite force on those animals, he could have got me anywhere else and I would have died.”
He got bitten in the head, cracking his scull. Where would be more deadly?

He was lucky the alligator wasn't there to kill, just to scare him of.

I don't understand people who are scared of sharks, but I would never ever go I to waters where crocodiles or alligators are..
These guys are evil

 

[BlueTrin]

I guess he meant to say the skull is quite hard

 

[DandyDon]

He got bitten in the head, cracking his scull. Where would be more deadly?

He was lucky the alligator wasn't there to kill, just to scare him of.

If the gator had torn into his guts, femoral artery, or any artery as far as that goes, he wouldn't have made it out of the water. And I don't think the gator was out to scare him; just whatever it took to protect her nest. As he said, he should have known better to dive there during mating season.

I would never ever go I to waters where crocodiles or alligators are..
These guys are evil

I'm no expert, but I wouldn't put Nile crocs or Australian crocs in the same threat level as American gators or even American crocs. We walk around gators in state parks without worries as long as we don't take lapdogs or let little kids run loose. American crocs are a little scarier, attacks have been reported, but nothing like Old World crocs.

 

[greeniguana]

Toilet Journalism.

Why was he diving in the Myakka River in the first place?

 

[Marie13]

Toilet Journalism.

Why was he diving in the Myakka River in the first place?

Teeth.

 

[kelemvor]

Toilet Journalism.

Why was he diving in the Myakka River in the first place?

There's lots of fossilized Megalodon (and occasionally other) teeth in that part of Florida. That said, I've never heard of looking for them in Myakka river before. Usually shore divers go across town to the Gulf of Mexico/Venice Beach to hunt for teeth. If you've got a boat, then you'll have better luck looking slightly offshore.

My wife's cousin is a park ranger who lives in Myakka River State Park, I'll have to ask him about fossil hunting in the river.

 

[Knockneed Man]

Wow. I’ve dove the Myakka before looking for teeth. There are a few deep spots worthy of a tank, but in general it’s pretty shallow if you kayak up river and there you can snorkel and dig through the fossil beds. We probably saw about 50 gators in one day. That said, the Myakka isn’t very productive for megs, though there are lots of tiny teeth liked you’d find on the beach. The Peace River is better for megs.

 

[The Chairman]

I wonder how big that gator was. I've dove with gators and had no issues. We would swim up under them then bubble them with our reg just to watch them scoot. They don't seem to like bubbles. 8 ft or longer and I'd take a pass. I've been warned by bull gators of their presence and I take a hard, hard pass on that as well.

 

[letterboy]

A quick Google takes one to thefossilforum.com which says Myakka river is rich with fossils because of its vacinity to the "bone Valley" but it isn't searched much due to gators....

I'd say this guy was probably just looking to spend his day face down in shallow water and not have to come up for air or hassle with a snorkel while searching....

He probably had the same menamtality of several here that the Gator will skitter off as they neared it, but this one didn't.

I imagine it can't have been a very large Gator or that the Gator didn't mean to bite him... A full grown Gator will crush your little Skull....

It may be a place to go in a kayak and jumping out in a shallow could be fun, as long as I could see the bottom...

This picture was taken in everglades national park, in ~8 inches of water though... This little guy wasn't as long as my 12 ft kayak, but I didn't see him until I was nearly ontop of him....