Girl seriously injured in shark attack off Florida’s Gulf Coast, officials say

[Biotech Diver]

Hm. I wouldn't call getting your leg amputated a 'full recovery.'

I looked at the report @CuzzA linked for us, searching for mitigating factors associated with shark attacks. From the article:

"The attack occurred Thursday afternoon off Keaton Beach, according to a Taylor County Sheriff’s Office news release.

The 17-year-old girl had been looking for scallops in the water with her family when a 9-foot shark wrapped its jaws around the girl’s thigh, according to statement from her family."

So it was in the afternoon, not early morning, evening or night, when light levels are lower and risk might be thought higher. Useful info.

Any idea roughly what water depth a snorkeler or free-diver might dive for scallops in? It'd be interesting to know at what depth she was attacked. Even if at the surface, it might impact the odds of a bull vs. tiger shark perhaps?

Anyone got an idea what is typical water visibility for that area?

I'm curious as to whether the shark could see her clearly. I get that not every case of shark attack fits the 'mistaken identity due to poor viz.' stereotype that's popular.

Sharks have enough other sensors to know what they are going after and they are more intelligent than you think they are. The sharks were probably attracted to the scallops sent in the water. There are plenty of examples of people shellfish getting attacked by sharks.

 

[Waterwulf]

Again, I think the big lesson here is that tourniquet saved her life and everyone should have one in their kit. It is awful what happened to her and hopefully they were able to avoid taking her leg at the hip.

I've carried one on my rig since the early seventies, regardless of whether I was snorkeling or on canned air. In the early days, it looked more like a Garrote than anything else but nowadays, they're pretty neat looking. I keep it in an inside pouch because it made people nervous.

 

[lucca brassi]

If that's the case, then she should've gotten an attorney, like one from this list.