OBX Alert.net
Friday, Sept. 18, 2009
Pennsylvania man was victim of fatal shark attack
The first on the North Carolina coast in 8 years
Richard A. Snead, 60, of Ross Township, a suburb of Pittsburgh, whose body was found on a beach in Kill Devil Hills on Thursday morning, apparently died of shark bites five days earlier. Snead had last been seen by his wife last Saturday night when he went for a swim at Corolla Beach, some 28 miles north of Kill Devil Hills. A family member was unable to identify his remains, which were sent to the state Medical Examiner in Greenville where identification was made. A spokesman said the cause of death was "multiple injuries over the whole body" from shark bites. A Currituck deputy later said he believes Snead was the first victim of a fatal shark attack in county waters since 2000. Since then, the last confirmed fatality on the North Carolina coast was in September of 2001 at Avon on Hatteras Island in Dare County when a Russian couple was attacked. The 27-year-old man died from blood loss. His girlfriend lost a foot but survived. The two were vacationing on the Outer Banks and were attacked while swimming near a sandbar around 6 o’clock in the evening (shark feeding time).
Washed up in Duck
This 20-foot Basking Shark, apparently a male judging from the size, was found in the Sanderling area of Duck, about five miles south of Corolla, on Thursday morning, about the same time the body of the of the Corolla shark bite victim was discovered on a beach in Kill Devil Hills. One of the biggest fish in the world and considered generally harmless unless disturbed, the Basking Shark is so named because it is often seen feeding at the surface and appears to be basking.
(Photo by Carolyn J. Drost)
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