Doug Lloyd wrote: > > > The two paddlers who disappeared off the California coast (Point Dume) > were never officially listed as shark attack victims, Once upon a time ago, they were included in the ISAF. > I don't think (never saw the coroner's report), rather shark expert > John McCosker reached that conclusion while local paddlers and > kayaking experts disagreed with the conclusion of McCosker, who > himself was part of a feeding frenzy - by the media. Yup. That about sums it up. McCosker was ready to go to print with his Great White Shark book (illustrated by Richard Ellis) when Roy Stoddard and Tamara McAllister went missing (Tamara's body was later found). So he held up the printing process in order to add the sensational section about the couple being killed by a white pointer, spinning a fish tale unlike anything ever heard of in the world of shark experts. McCosker is the reason the two were originally listed. > The one kayaker who's body was recovered, Stoddard, as well as later > the other paddler that went missing, have had both their names removed > from the shark attack files according to Jackie, our past list mom. I emailed George Burgess (and others in the field of ichthyology) about this fish story. Burgess (who maintains the ISAF) knew the wild tale didn't make sense. Eventually, the two names were removed (see "International Shark Attack File" Map of California's Confirmed Unprovoked Shark Attacks 1926-2007 http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/statistics/GAttack/mapCA.htm ). Misinformation about this incident still exists on the internet. btw, the expert kayakers that viewed the damaged kayak suspected that the kayak was damaged by a breaching whale. They did not see anything that resembled a bite on the kayak. There were no teeth left behind. Jackie *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Apr 29 2008 - 02:38:21 PDT
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