# Witnessed a Horror Shark Attack Today at the Beach



## solid7 (Dec 31, 2010)

Spessard Holland North, Melbourne Beach

Thank God the victim was a tarpon, and not a swimmer...

It was the biggest damn shark that I've ever seen swim up near the beach. It started with a humongous commotion about 300 yards offshore. Next thing I know, I see this 4 ft. tarpon being vaulted out of the water, just like the footage you sometimes see of great whites or killer whales, hunting sealions. When I saw the length of the pectorals on this beastie, I was sort of in a state of shock. (it had side fins that were a considerable amount longer than my arms) I would have normally been yelling at beach goers to clear out, but I just stood there, mouth agape, as the scene unfolded, dumbfounded by what was taking place. It started making a beeline for the shore, zigged, zagged, did a couple of rolls and tosses on the tarpon, until it finally threw it up on the beach, about 30 feet in front of my beach chair. (fish never cleared the tide line) Wave broke, he grabbed the stunned fish, and started rolling it into the ocean floor, tearing out chunks.

Never actually saw what it was, but judging by the length of the pecs and dorsal fins, and the fact that he was munching a tarpon, I'd almost have to say this was a big ass hammerhead. And this one was HUGE. Can't say how big, but I damn sure never saw anything that size from the beach before...

How ironic that it's shark week.


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## fishinbob (May 27, 2011)

Wow...what a sight to see!


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## NC KingFisher (Nov 20, 2011)

I coulda taken him on my 9/0 Why didn't you swim out there and grab him by the tail and drag em up? Before everyone starts freaking out, hammerheads won't and can't attack people. There head gets in the way. Way cool Solid


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

NC KingFisher said:


> I coulda taken him on my 9/0 Why didn't you swim out there and grab him by the tail and drag em up? Before everyone starts freaking out, hammerheads won't and can't attack people. There head gets in the way. Way cool Solid


Having been around a lot of Hammerheads when they were prevalent on the OBX in July when they spawned right off the beaches in the 1960's-1980'sI would venture to say that a 15- 20 footer can eat whatever it chooses and as far as the head getting in the way that is a misconception, all the Shark needs to do is tilt his body or raise his head up and you come into contact with its mouth

As far as your 9/0 you may do just fine on a ten footer, but there was a 14 footer that worked the area between Kitty Hawk Pier and Oregon Inlet in 1985 that stripped 16/0 Penn's on unlimited rods every time it was hooked up


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## solid7 (Dec 31, 2010)

I can say one thing for sure... Nobody was gonna be takin' this big boy from the beach with a rod and reel. He'd have had you skiing, or tore your arms out of the sockets. This fella wasn't like anything that I've seen in these parts before. I probably wouldn't believe my own story coming from someone else. 

Bottom line - it was a monster. And he scared the living bejeezus out of everyone that saw him.


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## lmolinajr (Jul 26, 2013)

Man! Wish I would have been there to see it! Sounds sweet! Heck I would have jumped on him and got a ride!...kidding of course!


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## NC KingFisher (Nov 20, 2011)

Garboman said:


> As far as your 9/0 you may do just fine on a ten footer, but there was a 14 footer that worked the area between Kitty Hawk Pier and Oregon Inlet in 1985 that stripped 16/0 Penn's on unlimited rods every time it was hooked up


I was just kidding about that Garbo. I have no doubt I would be seeing the apple core if I hooked him


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## solid7 (Dec 31, 2010)

lmolinajr said:


> Man! Wish I would have been there to see it! Sounds sweet! Heck I would have jumped on him and got a ride!...kidding of course!


I actually wish I hadn't seen it. Not sweet. Everyone was taking inventory on their kids - it caused major panic. And I've seen alot of frenzied sharks feeding, but this one was just in a class of its own. There was a group of people who just barely managed to get out of the water before it ventured into their space.

I'm trying to see if somebody got footage of it, because this surely would have made the local news...

Garboman - I don't like to make sensational claims, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if this was a 15+ ft fish. I actually think it was closer to that 20' size, but I certainly couldn't afford to bet on that. (but he was the size of a small boat, that's for certain)


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## bo_peep (Aug 12, 2013)

Oh wow, and I hate sharks, they scare me crazy.


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## NC KingFisher (Nov 20, 2011)

Solid I believe your right on for the size from the sounds of what happened.


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## bstarling (Apr 24, 2005)

Back "in the day" that being the early 60's I saw one eat a tarpon that was hooked up and way out off the end of Johnnie Mercer's Pier at Wrightsville Beach, NC. He was huge and came up with the tarpon in his mouth much like a king would do when skying with a blue in his mouth. There was one of those huge hammers that hung around the pier every summer. We named him "George". I'm certain that it was George that ate the tarpon. 

Bill:fishing:


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## solid7 (Dec 31, 2010)

This happens alot down here in our gulf waters. There are numerous videos on YouTube showing hammers annihilating tarpon that have been hooked up. But it's just not common to see it here. Usually, when I've seen it happen here, you don't get to see much of the shark that gets your tarpon. (just the commotion) And to be right honest, hammerhead sightings just aren't that common on the beach. Bulls, Spinners, Blacktip, Lemon, Tiger, yes. And even at that, a shark in the surf near the shore is usually not more than about 7', max. That's not to say that they aren't out there - they just don't tend to make their presence known.

Most commonly, we see the awesome aerial displays put on by spinner sharks. But even at that, they tend to favor baitfish. This was more like seeing Jaws. :O


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## NcRon (Dec 15, 2007)

That was a sighting of a lifetime I would say solid.I would have loved to have saw it also.


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## solid7 (Dec 31, 2010)

Still can't find any reference to it, anywhere. It was reported to the lifeguards in the area, but I'm really surprised that no footage has emerged. 

On another note, The more I look at photos, the more I'm convinced that this was a hammerhead. It happened so quick, that it was hard to get a profile. The only thing that stayed visible, and unobstructed by water or fish, was the fins. He rolled them right in front of us on near shore, so it was easy to distinguish what he WASN'T. He was not a bull shark, mako, great white, etc. Elongated pectorals, and dorsal. In fact, the dorsal was so long, I wasn't sure if I was seeing a tail or top fin, at the time.


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

Must have been quite a sight.


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## NC KingFisher (Nov 20, 2011)

Yep, sounds like a big greater hammerhead


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## solid7 (Dec 31, 2010)

Not really much doubt in my mind...


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## rainman21 (Dec 17, 2008)

Damn... that had to have been a sight to behold.


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## solid7 (Dec 31, 2010)

OK, so I've become a bit obsessed over this the last few days. Done a lot of research, and from what I see, no other shark in the ocean has fins like the Great Hammerhead. (long, thin, crescent, terminating at a sharp point) I'm damn certain that is what we saw. But then, there was an article a few weeks back. Here is an excerpt:



Florida Today said:


> "Another reason for increased sightings, Burgess says, is over-fishing and habitat destruction. In Florida, sightings of the great hammerhead shark — a species that has historically kept far away from the shoreline — have increased in the last two years and it's not uncommon to see this species following fishing boats in an attempt to snag some easy meals, Burgess says."


http://www.floridatoday.com/article...ightings-rise-along-East-Coast?nclick_check=1

Yes, I'm pretty sure that this mystery is solved. Although I'm a bit curious as to how big the shark would be, based on a dorsal height of roughly 3.5-4'...



Just for fun, there was this....



Some Random Yahoo Contributor said:


> Out of all the counties in Florida, the beaches in Volusia and Brevard have had the most attacks. These beaches include Daytona Beach, Cocoa Beach and Melbourne. Over the last 100 years more than half of the shark attacks in Florida have taken place along this stretch of coast.
> 
> Most of the attacks in Florida waters come from Bull Sharks, Hammer Heads and Black Tip sharks. Though these sharks are not the size of the Great White sharks we have all seen in the movies, they are still fairly large and aggressive sharks. For example, the largest (by weight) Hammerhead ever caught was caught in Florida waters, and it weighed 1280 lbs!


Yep, that's my neighborhood...


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## speckhunter80 (Oct 3, 2011)

NC KingFisher said:


> I coulda taken him on my 9/0 Why didn't you swim out there and grab him by the tail and drag em up? *Before everyone starts freaking out*,* hammerheads won't and can't attack people. There head gets in the way*. Way cool Solid


You really believe that? They can eat a 200 pound tarpon but can't eat a 100 pound human???


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## NC KingFisher (Nov 20, 2011)

Yes I do, I don't mean that it couldn't if it wanted to but what's the last time you heard of a hammer attack? Big difference in body shape of a 100lb person and a 200lb tarpon


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## speckhunter80 (Oct 3, 2011)

Yeah, the Tarpon is bigger.


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## NC KingFisher (Nov 20, 2011)

That's not what I meant. Put a tarpon and human side by side. Big difference


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## SloppyTilapia (Oct 4, 2013)

I talked to an old salt down at Port St. Joe, FL about his hammerhead experience several years ago. He told me that he waded out to a sandbar about 100 yards offshore just to fish for whiting and pompano and ended up in about waist deep water to fish. Then, he saw a stingray with about a 3 foot wingspan glide by and bury itself in the sand about 20 yards away from where he was fishing on the sandbar. About 10 minutes later, a hammerhead probably about 10-12 feet long came by and sucked that stingray off the bottom like a vacuum cleaner!! He said that was the scaredest he had ever been up to that point......knowing you are that far off the beach with deeper water between you and safety and having that massive beast still swimming around??


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## don brinson (Apr 8, 2011)

the largest tarpon I ever hooked was on paridise pier on topsail island . After about 45 minutes a very large hammerhead started chasing him and took him behind the gill plates.I landed a 14 pound tarpon head.The rest was gone.This tarpon was well over 120 lbs. I really wanted that fish.


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## surffshr (Dec 8, 2003)

I body surfed Melbourne beach about everyday in the late 60's. Never even thought about a shark attack. Once in awhile a surfer would mention a shark. Never gave it a second thought. Ignorance is bliss. Great surf there.


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