Word: martins
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...satellite transmitters hoisted like mechanical battle flags. Out of the assorted automobiles poured reporters and burly camera guys, the latter adept at shouldering aside the former for best position at a press conference. At this particular press conference, we were to hear from the family of amateur triathlete David Martin, 66, whose legs were chewed apart by a shark as he was swimming in the Pacific on Friday morning, and who died from blood loss a few minutes later, probably before his swimming companions could pull his snow-white body to shore. His family had agreed to speak...
That's one reason local officials' response to Martin's death was so transparently silly. For 72 hours, they banned ocean swimming along a 13-mile swath from South Carlsbad State Beach to Torrey Pines State Beach. That's like a ban on leaving your home after a thunderstorm. Actually, statistically speaking the latter ban would make more sense: Your chances of dying after being struck by lightning are 1 in 3 million, about 93 times more likely than dying after an altercation with a shark...
...have this sense, perhaps born of Jaws in 1975 and nurtured by its three sequels, that sharks lurk in an area, waiting to eat us as revenge for Roy Scheider's oceanic wickedness. It's not true; sharks attack and move on. The shark that bit into Martin - probably a 15- to 16-foot great white, according to a marine scientist quoted in Sunday's San Diego Union-Tribune, was probably a bit dim. The animal likely mistook Martin, who was clad in a black wetsuit, for a seal. Some here are even wondering if, in a way, the seals...
...tamp down ditzy media speculation that his overzealous officers have been searching for the offending shark. He admitted that helicopters were monitoring the waters, but only so that officials could advise illegal swimmers of any shark activity. They know that the shark that attacked Martin is long gone...
Helicopters? One can forgive the overreaction. Martin's death has shocked this town, which has searched for the appropriate response. One good response: the city will be working with the Martin family to establish a website where people from around the world can post condolences...