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Then there's the sneak attack. The shark is in the right place to find its prey, it is the right time to feed, and the target is the right size. At sunset on July 6 off Pensacola, Fla., Jessie Arbogast, 8, apparently fit the needs of a bull shark. Dusk is one of the shark's feeding periods; the boy was in the shallow water where the bull prowls; and splashing about, Jessie may have seemed to be a large fish. The shark pounced. The ensuing attack and the boy's struggle to survive have stirred an inchoate fascination...
...numbers remain minuscule. Worldwide, there were 79 unprovoked attacks last year, compared with 58 in 1999 and 54 the year before. Two-thirds were in U.S. waters. The higher numbers may reflect more surfers, boogie-boarders and open-water swimmers--more people splashing around, hence more attacks. Volusia County, Fla., holds the state record for attacks because its long coastline and many beaches are increasingly packed with bathers from the booming cities of central Florida...
...weighs up to 500 lbs., but what it lacks in size it makes up for in aggressiveness. Experts regard it as the most pugnacious of sharks. It has, according to Robert Hueter, director of the Center of Shark Research at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla., the highest level of testosterone in any animal, including lions and elephants. Its lower spiked teeth are designed to hold prey while the upper triangular serrated teeth gouge out flesh. "The bull is an ambush type of predator, it makes this big mortal wound," says Hueter. It is fearless, taking on prey...
DIED. GUNTHER GEBEL-WILLIAMS, 66, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus animal trainer; of cancer; in Venice, Fla. Gebel-Williams, the best-known animal trainer in the world, diminutive at 5 ft. 4 in., trained tigers and leopards to jump through flaming hoops and wrap their bodies around his neck. Though a gifted trainer, he lost teeth and bore deep scars from the huge animals, with whom he performed in 12,000 shows. When Kenny, one of his beloved panthers, died, his skin was preserved and displayed in Gebel-Williams' living room...
...dusk, two days after the fourth of July, Jessie Arbogast was having a Kodak moment on the beach in Pensacola, Fla. The Gulf waves were mild, no higher than a foot and a half. His sister and the other girls had ventured out much farther, but Jessie, 8, his brothers and some cousins stayed 15 ft. from shore, crouched in the shallow surf. Then, one brother felt something swish by his leg, and Jessie saw the sharp fins of a bull shark protruding 2 ft. above the water. The shark took an exploratory bite of his arm and a chunk...