Zihuatanejo, Mexico under attack by sharks

Zihuatanejo, that magical sounding Mexican town I first heard mentioned in a Stephen King novella, is under attack by at least one, and perhaps a handful, of sharks.

There have been three attacks in the waters off the coast of the resort town in less than a month, and two people have died. The most recent incident happened this past weekend, when the owner of a local surfing shop, Bruce Grimes, had his armed chomped by a sharp as he was out surfing the break. Luckily, he was able to escape relatively unharmed.

"There wasn't any time to panic," he said. "I thought: 'Don't want to die. Don't want to lose my arm'," he tells the Associated Press.

What you have right now is a panic in Zihuatanejo right out of the movie Jaws, with local officials closing local stretches of water and hiring fishermen to hunt sharks; dozens of sharks have been pulled out of the water and killed, which has raised the ire of animal rights activists.

Shark experts right now are studying the attacks in Zihuatanejo, trying to figure out why they are happening. So far, they haven't come up with any answers, and they have not concluded what kind of shark(s) is/are responsible.

But they are trying to allay fear. Says one expert to the AP, you're more likely to die of food poisoning visiting Mexico than be attacked by a shark.

Official worldwide shark files say only around four people die in attacks each year.

Last month, Iva wrote about a Great White shark off the coast of San Diego.

Filed under: North America, Mexico