The "What An Awful Way To Die" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading account after account about a recent fatal shark attack off of Orient Beach on the island of St. Martin.  The more I read, the more I swore I would never go in that water again.  Who would have thought that there would be sharks big enough in that small bay area to kill you.  According to several news stories, both on television as well as in print, a 38-year-old female tourist was killed in the French Caribbean territory of St. Martin on Thursday, December 10, 2020.  According to a government spokesman, it was the first time in the territory's recent history that a fatal attack had been reported.  The woman died after having her leg torn off in the attack about 500 feet from shore.  The beach on which it happened is directly in front of a beach bar/restaurant known as La Playa.  

Orient Beach in St. Martin

Carol and I have sat on the beach at that exact spot many, many times in the past 20 years.  I can feel the chills in my body as I type this story.  When the attack was witnessed by those on the beach, a Watersport boat rushed to her aide.  Despite the quick arrival of help, the victim did not survive her injuries.  There has been only one unprovoked and non-fatal bite reported in St. Martin in the recent past.  

Emergency vehicle on the scene of the shark attack

Overall, there have been 34 unprovoked bites in the entire Caribbean region since 2000, four of which have been fatal.  The most common shark species in the region are Caribbean reef sharks and nurse sharks, which don't pose a threat to bathers.  Tiger and bull sharks, which can create problems, are occasionally seen in the area.  The majority of shark attacks in the Caribbean have occurred in the Bahamas, with two reported last year, one being fatal.  They occur in the Bahamas because of the massive tourism and the boat trips that take those tourists on snorkeling tours.  A bit more about that later.  A shark attack also was reported in Cuba in 2019.  Actually, only 64 confirmed shark attacks were reported worldwide last year.  To the East of the La Playa beach is a few other beach bars with Club Orient being the last beach bar on the beach.  While swimming at a few of those beaches, I have noticed small fish which if you're not careful will nit at you, but I have never witnessed anything bigger that perhaps 6 inches in length.  And, we have been making visits to Orient Beach for many years.  After the attack the French Government closed the beach for swimming for 48 hours.  St. Martin is the French side of the island with Sint Maarten being the Dutch side of the multi-national island.  I didn't read of beaches elsewhere on the island being closed, but if I had heard about the attack at any beach on the island, I wouldn't enter the water.  I searched on the Web for stories on the shark attack and found several that were in French.  Most who posted on this site were from St. Martin or visitors to the island, as Carol and I are.  One wrote that this is the first time they had heard of a shark attack on the island.  Another posted that they have been visiting 25 years and never seen this.  One warned: Global warming...they're approaching the coast, due to the warmer water.  Another posted that how can a tourist beach like Orient not have at least two rescue stations and not anticipate problems.  And then there was a fellow who wrote that he saw a video a few months ago of a tiger shark next to boaters in St. Martin.  He said he warned of the danger telling people to go warn the authorities and a lot had taken this lightly. One person said they should stop the habit of throwing garbage and other debris in the water while another pointed out that with the virus, there is no tourist activity and no boat traffic as before to chase the sharks out to sea.  One couple who posted said they were there a few days ago when it happened and someone ran up the beach to Club O to tell the Beach Guy to get everyone out of the water.  Another couple posted that they too were on the beach and the word was that it was a tiger shark and there were turtles near the swimmer and the shark may have been feeding on the turtles.  An autopsy conducted on Friday, the day after the attack, confirmed that she was attacked by a shark.  Carol and I wish to express our condolences to the woman's family.  How awful an experience and how heartbroken they must feel.  

I'm preparing to swim with the sharks...how stupid!

Twice in the past, Carol and I, as well as friends Jere and Just Sue, went snorkeling in the Bahamas.  Just Sue and I both swam with the sharks.  A chum bucket was lowered to the bottom of the ocean and we were to snorkel on the surface.  

The sharks surfaced after Just Sue and I got out of the water.

We were told they were reef sharks and wouldn't harm us.   Why on earth I ever did that, I just don't know.  I must have been insane.  And, after hearing about the death on the beach where Carol and I swim every time we visit St. Martin, I may not venture far from shore anymore.  Life's just too short to chance death by a shark!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.