8 Sharks Devour 2 Boys in Feeding Frenzy

I am forty years old. I live in Florida and I used to love swimming in the ocean. When I was sixteen, a friend and I were swimming off my father's boat. We were in the Gulf off of Hernando Beach about five miles off shore. The water was perfectly clear and couldn't have been deeper than fifteen feet. It was a beautiful day. We swam for about thirty min when I noticed a shadow swimming at the bottom of the ocean floor. I didn't think much of it at first. We had seen a few dolphins about an hour previous so I just assumed that's what it was. We swam a little longer then decided to get back in the boat. Literally ten seconds after I got into the boat, a boat about fifteen yards to our right hooked a ten foot tiger shark. I have not swam in a body of water that was not surrounded by concrete since.

I'm always amazed about the friends and family who swim over to the victims of a shark attack. They do everything in their power to make an attempt to fight the shark. Honestly, I didn't know where that resolve comes from but I hope I could do the same.

Swimming with sharks is like walking the edge of a 60 story building, your not always going to fall but, when you do there is no mercy. Another great episode Hal.

I am glad you mentioned that sharks can come onto the beach. Like many sunbathers, I was relaxing on a beach chair in about a foot of water. All of a sudden a tarpon leaped onto the beach and a hammerhead shark that was 5 or 6 feet long leaped out onto the beach, grabbed the tarpon and wriggled itself back into the water. This happened about 5 yards away from where I was sitting. You can imagine how quickly all of us moved our sand chairs out of the water and onto dry sand. This happened in Siesta Key, FL in the mid 1990s.

Hal looks so comfy and relaxed while he telling these bloody tales of shark attacks.

Imagine the horror those two boys went through for a few seconds ....

About 32 years ago I was about to paddle over a swell that was just breaking when I saw a great white spy-hoppping. Needless to say, I made it back to the shallows, where I grabbed my surfboard and literally ran to my car. It was the most frightened I've ever been, and I don't scare easy. It was an almost primordial fear that I had never experienced before or after, including while being shot at. This was different. It was as if my conscious mind shut down, and I was propelled and guided only by an animals desperation for survival. Of course, we can imagine how scary it must be when it's getting near twilight and you're not just the only person in the water, at least in my vicinity, there was hardly anyone on the beach, and you come within 5 yards of a dinosaur. But to actually experience it, was chilling. In retrospect, my longtime passion for surfing began to ebb after that. Scared the living shit out of me, as my grandmother used to say.

Awesome story telling...hearing these stories makes my skin crawl at the thought of all the times I have been in the water. As a teen I still hated going in the ocean just from fear of sharks. But of course you can't show your scared when all your mates are there. I'm glad my fear kept me alot closer to shore than others haha I do have a doosey for ya, my wife took me out for my birthday "scooter snorkelling". Which she didn't tell me she had booked, I was not happy. It was an overcast day, the water was grey, clouds were grey, it just looked like a very good day to NOT be in the water. The guide got us all kitted up, then asked the group who can swim...I put my hand up, he goes good, you can go first....my heart absolutely sank. He took me out a good 50m into the middle of the bay and then left me there alone, went back and got the next person ready. I was so terrified by that experience I still get goosebumps thinking about how lucky I am nothing happened. Will never do that again haha EVER. That was the first time I had felt PURE fear, knowing I had zero control of my outcome. It was up to whatever could be in that water, whether I made it out. Not a great feeling leaving your life in the hands of a fish

Hi Hal, I love your listening to your shark histories. I had a shark roll onto the sand behind me in Hilton Head a few years ago. I was walking in mid calf deep water with one friend and our other (smarter) friend was walking on the sand ahead of us. She turned around and started frantically pointing stuttering and finally yelled shark! I turned around and a 4 1/2 foot shark had been washed onto the sand right behind us. Another lady was running up the beach and said she had seen it following us but was too far away to warn us. I realized I had a cut on my foot when I was back on the beach. A couple weeks after we left a man had his leg bitten while sitting in the shallow water at the same beach. That's the last time I put a toe in the ocean. Thanks for sharing all your reasearch and knowledge!

When you hear stories that are from the 70's onward, those same sharks could still be here. GW's can live for over 70 years.

There's a video somewhere out there of a woman and her child walking along the beach parallel to the water. In the water, about 1-2 feet deep is a half-submerged bull shark keeping pace with them, seemingly trying to get at them.

I live in south Florida, but I choose to swim in a pool in my backyard. I feel safer. I remember one year an 8 foot alligator managed to make its way into the gulf off the island of Venice. It was happily swimming just off shore freaking out everyone on the beach. It took the fish & wildlife people all afternoon to catch him because he was smart. Every time they got close to the gator it would dive underneath the boat….they’re very agile in the water. They finally got him and removed him, and people were able to go back in the water. So it’s not just sharks that will get you. There is so much marine life down here I won’t dare swim in these waters.

LOVE THE OUTSIDE EFFECT WITH BLUE SKIES AND PALM TREE. ALSO YOUR SOUND WAS GREAT AS YOU HELD THE MIC. MORE OUTSIDE PLEASE!! WE ARE IN THE DREARY NORTH AND YOU BRING A WONDERFUL BIT OF SUNSHINE TO US!

"You don't wanna run into those feeding frenzies." That seems like good advice. I'll be avoiding those.

After watching your videos quite a while....I am struck by the bravery of the swimming companions of the victims who invariably attempt to save the victim, and bring them back to shore.

Hal, sir love all your videos the one you just did on the USS Indianapolis was an honor to hear. The respect for those brave men was so fitting. God bless them all!

I love being on the water. Never in the water. I live in Australia in the Northern Territory we also have to worry about crocodiles so i am even nervous swimming in swimming pools that i cannot see the bottom of - we have over the years had a few instances of crocodiles being found in back yard pools for some reason they like to occasionally wander in. So you check your pool before you just jump in here.

These sharks can eat a horse and still have room and people think these guys won't bother us.

Every video of yours I watch makes my ‘swimming in the ocean meter’ NOPE get bigger and bigger

You deserve a good beer, a good steak, and a whole lot of respect and admiration. Love and respect Hal, and thank you for your work. It is entertaining, educational, and very very fun.