Shark Attacks

It may be December, but it's never too late to close the book on a shark mystery. A quarter-century after a 15-year-old from Hatboro ran out of the surf in Ocean City, N.J., dripping blood, a renowned expert has ruled that Jeffrey Moffat's injury was the work of a shark. "The crescent-shaped wound is typical of a shark," George H. Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research, said Monday. "The reality is there is not an awful lot else out there that can make that kind of a pattern.

You are hundreds of times more likely to be injured by a toilet - or a lightning strike - than by a shark. Ladders, buckets and paints, too, are far riskier to humans than killer sharks, according to researchers at the Florida Museum of Natural History. And although shark attacks are terrifying, bathers are in more danger from drowning after a heart attack or becoming paralyzed from diving into a sandbar, said John Morrissey, a shark expert at Long Island's Hofstra University.

Sharks spotted off the Jersey Shore on Thursday morning prompted lifeguards to briefly close a beach on Barnegat Peninsula for the second day in a row. Three shark fins cut through the water about 9:30 a.m. near 10th Lane off Midway Beach in Ocean County, said Sgt. Nick Bruno of the Midway Beach beach patrol, who saw them. Swimming was banned for about an hour until the sharks moved south, he said. "Usually when they're in that close to shore they're either sick or dying," said Bruno, who believed they might have been five-foot sand sharks.

A shark alert was issued by local authorities in Florida's Pasco County yesterday after hundreds of sharks were seen swimming in the Gulf of Mexico near a popular beach on the state's West coast. Swimmers and boaters were warned to avoid the area off the coast of New Port Richey, a few miles northwest of Tampa. Bull sharks, hammerheads and nurse sharks were among those spotted by sheriff's marine patrols in the shallow Gulf of Mexico waters off Pasco County, northwest of Tampa.

A 5-foot sand shark spotted at the Jersey Shore this afternoon prompted lifeguards to briefly close a beach on the Barnegat Peninsula for the third time this month. Lifeguards in Seaside Park called bathers out of the water about 2:30 p.m. after the shark was seen swimming 10-feet off shore. Beach patrol officials followed the shark as it swam from the northern end of town to the south. Swimmers were allowed back in after the shark made its way out to sea, said a spokeswoman for Seaside Park Beach Control.

A group of sharks spotted off the Jersey Shore this morning prompted lifeguards to briefly close a beach on Barnegat Peninsula for the second day in a row. Three shark fins cut through the water about 9:30 a.m. near 10th Lane off Midway Beach, said Sgt. Nick Bruno who made the sighting. Swimming was banned for about an hour until the sharks moved south, he said. "Usually when they're in that close to shore they're either sick or dying," said Bruno, who believed they might be five-foot sand sharks.

If the Coast Guard had yelled "barracuda" before the July Fourth weekend, tourists, boaters and the news media might have responded with "Huh? What?" But a news release issued by the Coast Guard shortly before the holiday weekend yelled "shark" instead, and just like in "Jaws," there was a bit of a panic up and down the Northeast coast. The Coast Guard has since retracted all mention of sharks from that news release, which had included terrifying lines about a great white shark finding a "dangling hand inviting" or being unable to differentiate between "boater, paddler, and prey.

Beachgoers resumed their usual perches along the shore at Surf City yesterday, almost a week after a 17-year-old boy was bitten by a shark while surfing. Local residents and merchants snickered at the idea that a shark could deter swimming and surfing, but a few visitors were nervous about venturing far into the water. "We're laughing about it," said Tara Archer, 20, an employee at Broadway Pizza near the 18th Street beach, where the surfer was bitten. "A few visitors were a little concerned but I told them it's absolutely safe to go in the water.

For his fourth outing, in Jaws the Revenge, Bruce the great white shark takes a vacation in the Caribbean. Things are not better in the Bahamas. The primal screams prompted by Steven Spielberg's Jaws - can you believe it's been 12 years? - have turned into a Universal yawn for this silliest of sequel-mongering exercises. The series is now reduced to having Michael Caine make snide remarks about Bruce's breath. But neither diligent flossing nor a director foolhardy enough to take on a Jaws sequel could rescue a film that was dead in the water before the cameras started rolling and the actors started floundering.

In these anxious times, do you ever find yourself playing the Before and After Game? You know, you remember how you felt about something back in the good old "pre" days, run it through the new reality, and see how it gets a whole new twist. It works with almost anything . . . events, places, people, politics. Very little looks exactly the same anymore. In fact, some of the old worries now seem darn quaint and funny. Here are a few examples. If you think of some of your own, send them to us using the phone number or e-mail address at the bottom of this column.

THE CONFERENCE call, in which Danny Briere would explain his vulnerable position prior to being crunched by the Sharks' Marc-Edouard Vlasic, with NHL dean of discipline Brendan Shanahan on the other end of the line, seemed inevitable. But it never came. Shanahan reviewed the video from Tuesday night's dangerous hit with 4 minutes, 52 seconds remaining in San Jose and decided that it wasn't worthy of a suspension, a league source informed the Daily News. The general consensus in the Department of Player Safety was that Briere knew Vlasic was coming and slowed down prior to getting hit, as his skates are obviously in a stopping motion.

LOS ANGELES - For Bethany Hamilton, it's all about God and surfing. That's how it was when a shark ripped off her arm as she lolled on a surfboard off the shores of Kauai in 2003, and that's how it is now as the cinematic version of her story, "Soul Surfer," opens in theaters today. "He continues to just guide me and lead my every step, because even though the shark attack was scary and crazy, but I think all of this is just as hard to deal with, you know?" said the 21-year-old, who became an instant celebrity after the attack.

A 5-foot sand shark spotted at the Jersey Shore this afternoon prompted lifeguards to briefly close a beach on the Barnegat Peninsula for the third time this month. Lifeguards in Seaside Park called bathers out of the water about 2:30 p.m. after the shark was seen swimming 10-feet off shore. Beach patrol officials followed the shark as it swam from the northern end of town to the south. Swimmers were allowed back in after the shark made its way out to sea, said a spokeswoman for Seaside Park Beach Control.

Sharks spotted off the Jersey Shore on Thursday morning prompted lifeguards to briefly close a beach on Barnegat Peninsula for the second day in a row. Three shark fins cut through the water about 9:30 a.m. near 10th Lane off Midway Beach in Ocean County, said Sgt. Nick Bruno of the Midway Beach beach patrol, who saw them. Swimming was banned for about an hour until the sharks moved south, he said. "Usually when they're in that close to shore they're either sick or dying," said Bruno, who believed they might have been five-foot sand sharks.

A group of sharks spotted off the Jersey Shore this morning prompted lifeguards to briefly close a beach on Barnegat Peninsula for the second day in a row. Three shark fins cut through the water about 9:30 a.m. near 10th Lane off Midway Beach, said Sgt. Nick Bruno who made the sighting. Swimming was banned for about an hour until the sharks moved south, he said. "Usually when they're in that close to shore they're either sick or dying," said Bruno, who believed they might be five-foot sand sharks.

If the Coast Guard had yelled "barracuda" before the July Fourth weekend, tourists, boaters and the news media might have responded with "Huh? What?" But a news release issued by the Coast Guard shortly before the holiday weekend yelled "shark" instead, and just like in "Jaws," there was a bit of a panic up and down the Northeast coast. The Coast Guard has since retracted all mention of sharks from that news release, which had included terrifying lines about a great white shark finding a "dangling hand inviting" or being unable to differentiate between "boater, paddler, and prey.

From my cable-news viewing to date, I offer this summertime roundup: Pain at the pump: Americans are spending more money than ever at the pump this summer. The reason? Rising gas prices. With gas soaring near $4 a gallon, consumers are finding it more expensive to fill up the family car than when gas cost $3 a gallon. And don't expect the pain at the pump to get better any time soon. According to experts, gas prices will continue to be sky high until they go down. Attractive white woman found: An attractive white woman who failed to show up for a spinning class in Denver on Tuesday morning turned up safe and sound Tuesday afternoon.

It may be December, but it's never too late to close the book on a shark mystery. A quarter-century after a 15-year-old from Hatboro ran out of the surf in Ocean City, N.J., dripping blood, a renowned expert has ruled that Jeffrey Moffat's injury was the work of a shark. "The crescent-shaped wound is typical of a shark," George H. Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research, said Monday. "The reality is there is not an awful lot else out there that can make that kind of a pattern.

Beachgoers resumed their usual perches along the shore at Surf City yesterday, almost a week after a 17-year-old boy was bitten by a shark while surfing. Local residents and merchants snickered at the idea that a shark could deter swimming and surfing, but a few visitors were nervous about venturing far into the water. "We're laughing about it," said Tara Archer, 20, an employee at Broadway Pizza near the 18th Street beach, where the surfer was bitten. "A few visitors were a little concerned but I told them it's absolutely safe to go in the water.

In these anxious times, do you ever find yourself playing the Before and After Game? You know, you remember how you felt about something back in the good old "pre" days, run it through the new reality, and see how it gets a whole new twist. It works with almost anything . . . events, places, people, politics. Very little looks exactly the same anymore. In fact, some of the old worries now seem darn quaint and funny. Here are a few examples. If you think of some of your own, send them to us using the phone number or e-mail address at the bottom of this column.