POMPANO BEACH, Florida (9 Apr 2002) -- The International Shark Attack File (ISAF) has concluded that a shark attack caused the death of a Florida diver killed last September near a popular shark feeding site. The body of Eric Reichardt, 42, was found near the wreck of the 'Ronald B. Johnson' off Pompano Beach less than a mile from Shark Diving USA's bull shark feeding site, which was shut down by Florida law in January 2002. Reichardt and a friend had been diving the 275 ft deep wreck on rebreathers. The Broward County Medical Examiner's Office declared the cause of death to be drowning, however, the autopsy report notes, in addition to water found in Reichardt's lungs, the amputation of his right arm and leg, puncture marks on his face and torso, bleeding from his left thigh and bruises on his left arm and back. "This gentleman met a shark," said George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File, the world's leading authority on shark attacks. "And he drowned. And after he was dead other organisms, including sharks, went after his body." Burgess requested a copy of the autopsy report after receiving a tip from an unidentified source that the death may have been caused by a shark attack. After reviewing the evidence, Burgess concluded a shark attacked Reichardt primarily because of hemorrhaging from the left thigh. "You don't get hemorrhage unless you're alive," Burgess said. "That indicates it happened while he was alive. That's a shark attack -- unless he encountered some sort of injury-making machine in 200 feet of water. That's deep for an outboard motor. "Just from this description, there's ample evidence that this was a shark," Burgess added. | | Broward County medical examiner, Dr. Joshua Perper, said he thinks a shark may have attacked Reichardt but that the evidence isn't conclusive enough to reclassify the case. "Probably it was," said Dr. Perper. "We didn't say it because we weren't sure." Bob Dimond, President of the Marine Safety Group, said the findings of the International Shark Attack File confirm the wisdom of Florida's decision to ban shark feeding. "Krishna Thompson at Freeport, Eric Reichardt at Pompano Beach, and three nurse shark attacks in South Florida, all in the past year, and all in close proximity to feeding sites leaves no doubt in my mind that the decision to ban shark feeding by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was the correct one," said Dimond. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORK |
