Killer Earth
Killer Earth
Deadly Lightning Strikes and the History of Florida Shark Attacks
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On today's episode, Kat and Vanessa cover deadly lightning strikes throughout history as well as the history of shark attacks in the shark attack capital of the world, Florida.
They also hear from Kat's friend Ludo Frichment, a lightning strike survivor.
Find us on Facebook, @killerearthpodcast on Instagram, and @KillerEarthPod on Twitter.
Send your natural disaster survival stories to killerearthpodcast@gmail.com.
Earthquakes, lightning, pouring rain, tornadoes, nommies in a hurricane.
unknownKiller.
SPEAKER_03Hey cat. Hey V. How are you? I'm good. Good. I'm a little disturbed.
SPEAKER_06Why? There's been like two boating accidents from like Maine. And they like like two boats have sank.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_06And there was one, I think, last week or a week and a half ago. I can't remember.
SPEAKER_03Um, the Emmy Rose out of Portland sank. I think off the coast of Providence, Rhode Island with um four fishermen on it.
SPEAKER_06Uh, I think it was Provincetown Mass. They're going to go off. Yes, oh my god.
SPEAKER_03Yes, you're right. Not Providence, Provincetown, yes.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, and they sank at like one in the morning and it was super stormy that night. And um, they didn't even have time to like an alert like went out because a part of their boat, it's like a function in a um in the boat that got wet or something. And um, that's like what pinged an alert system, and like they were like never found. And um, there was the lifeboat that was like empty and some um debris, and that was about it. So that was really sad. I just looked on Facebook and I saw that another boat like sank out of Knox County, and it was like three fishermen.
SPEAKER_03Really? Where where is Knox County?
SPEAKER_06I'm not sure. I just kind of like glanced over it because we were about to record, but I was like, no, not another one. So it's like really disturbing me.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's a dangerous job for sure, but to have two because there was another one, wasn't there another one earlier this year? There was I think it had two fishermen on it. It was near Bar Harbor, I think.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I don't know about that one, but it's just like really troubling when a boat sinks and you can't find them. Like I would die. I would just, if that was like my loved one, like I would be so devastated.
SPEAKER_03Well, your husband works on a boat, so I'll must. Yeah, it really hits home totally.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, and then you have Dom out at, you know, your brother lost at Dutch Harbor. So it's like I don't like it. So sending love to all the family members out there. Yeah. Who have lost people at sea, it's really tough. But other than that, I am doing well. Um, and I've just been like really into cooking and cleaning because I'm quarantined and that's what I've been doing.
SPEAKER_03So me too. What else are you gonna do? You know?
SPEAKER_06I know, but like, and I'm watching a lot of Food Network, so that helps me like learn new things to cook. So it's been fun, and that's kind of what's going on.
SPEAKER_03I just saw something interesting on Instagram this morning. Um, something about how this December is going to be unseasonably warm.
SPEAKER_06Ew, I know it kind of creeps me out, like total global warming situation, because this fall in Maine has been so warm. I think yesterday it was like 55.
SPEAKER_03I know, and I know it's not a good sign and it's not a good thing, but I kind of am gonna love it because winters in Vermont and Maine are so brutal.
SPEAKER_06They're so brutal and they last forever, you guys. We have like four months of summer, six months of winter. Oh, and like my birthday's in March, and like growing up in Dallas, I was always like, Oh, March is so beautiful, like all the flowers are out, it's so warm. Here it's like mud, it's like freezing in April, freezing, yeah, and it just like doesn't give it like it just doesn't end, and then May is still really cold sometimes, and even June, like June's like rainy sometimes. I don't know, and then you have July, August, September, and it's beautiful. Yeah, don't get me wrong though, we do get all the seasons, which is nice. Yeah, we get a beautiful fall.
SPEAKER_03We do, seasons are important. I couldn't live in a place full time without seasons.
SPEAKER_06Like, I guess like people I've talked to in Florida who live there full time, there's like not any seasons. It's just like warm all the time.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, there are little seasons. My my grandparents live in Florida, so like it's definitely chillier there in the winter, but it's much more, yeah. They don't have like we have like dramatic seasons where it's five below in the winter and then like 95 in the summer.
SPEAKER_06I know that's true.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_06My mom actually, when she came into town, she kept checking the weather in Dallas, and she's like, Oh my gosh, it's so much colder in Dallas than it was here, which freaks me out.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, there was a weird situation a couple days ago. I I spoke to my grandmother and she said it was 40 in Florida and like 55 here.
SPEAKER_06That's so that creeps me out. But that's okay.
SPEAKER_03What are you gonna do?
SPEAKER_06At least we get a little bit of well, in in 2020, we kind of deserve deserve a warmer.
SPEAKER_03Um that's what I said. Uh like let's end the year with like a nice, pleasant, warmer than average December, so we can still like be outside without freezing our balls off.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And we, you know, aren't gonna be cooped up inside. Exactly. We can take walks, yeah.
SPEAKER_06We can get a little sunshine.
SPEAKER_03Like I live in kind of an old house, and the heating is just really annoying in the winter when it's really cold. I have a wood stove and a furnace, yeah. But it's still fucking freezing in here in the winter. So I'm kind of looking forward to like a warm.
SPEAKER_06And maybe we can save in our heat bill. Exactly. So which is really expensive here. So yeah. Well, cool. Um, and also it doesn't help that it's getting that it's been dark here at I mean, literally by 3:30, the sun's going down, and it's just like I feel like it's midnight at six o'clock.
SPEAKER_03I know.
SPEAKER_06So that hasn't been helping my moods.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I know. It's tough when it gets too far. But that's all right, it's warmer.
SPEAKER_06So we're looking at the positive here. Cool. Um, all right, should we get into our stories?
SPEAKER_03Oh, um, I have a correction for your story from last episode.
SPEAKER_06Okay, do it. Yes, I want to know.
SPEAKER_03Um, you said that the capital of Pakistan is Karachi.
SPEAKER_06Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_03But it's actually Islamabad. Okay. The capital was Karachi. Oh. Now I randomly I think heard this on the news the other night.
SPEAKER_06Wow, that's like a sign.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's not, I didn't look it up. Yeah, I didn't look it up or anything, and I was like, oh. So then I did Google it, and I guess is the capital was moved from Karachi to Islamabad in 1957. So I just wanted to mention that.
SPEAKER_06Oh, wow. So I must have been looking at an article that was lying.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, totally.
SPEAKER_06But I had good sources.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think it probably, yeah, it just wasn't clear in something that you read.
SPEAKER_06Well, I appreciate you correcting me.
SPEAKER_03Do you have any for me?
SPEAKER_06Always correct me.
SPEAKER_03Do you have any for me? Um, you're like, no, because I'm not a dick.
SPEAKER_06No. No, I mean, I would correct you, but I just don't know. Like, I've never heard of that story, so I was really fascinated. And um, you didn't make any claims like the capital is this.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I probably will one day though. Yeah, that's okay.
SPEAKER_06Well, I appreciate that. Thanks. I have no idea. You're welcome. At least it was a capital at one point, so I wasn't just like pulling it out of my ass, you know.
SPEAKER_03Totally. And I think it might be the bigger city in the country in Pakistan. Okay, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_06They said it was the biggest city in Pakistan, but I also did read Capital. Yeah. Um, but maybe I glanced over and didn't realize that they had changed it. I'm not sure. Um, but I appreciate that. Thanks.
SPEAKER_03You're welcome. So you're gonna go first.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I'll go first.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. All right, let's do it.
SPEAKER_06Okay, so I am going to talk about the most dangerous lightning strikes ever recorded in the world.
SPEAKER_03I'm so excited.
SPEAKER_06Okay, you are going to freak out when I tell you some of this.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_06I'm not even kidding. Okay. Um, my sources are history.com, lightningmaster.com, standingwellback.com, National Park Services, um, today, Wikipedia, weather.gov, Discovery Magazine, Time and Aviation Safety Network.
SPEAKER_03So many sources.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I had to because there was just a lot to go over. So, um, okay. So just a little bit about lightning. Um, some of you may know, but um, I I didn't know a lot of this. So um lightning is a natural occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions in the atmosphere or ground temporarily equalize themselves, causing the instantaneous instantaneous release of energy. So that's a scientific that's I don't know what that means, but thank you for explaining. You're welcome. I just had to throw it in there for all you smart people out there that might get that. Yeah. Um, but basically it's like two points where energy is created, like a replacement energy. Okay. Um, lightning causes thunder, which is a sound from the shock wave, which develops as gases in the vicinity of the discharge experience, the discharge of energy experience a sudden increase in pressure.
SPEAKER_03Wait, lightning causes thunder? Yes. Okay, because I've heard okay, so I guess when you hear thunder, but you're not seeing the lightning, it's just because the lightning's too far away. Gotcha. Wow, I didn't know that. I didn't know you. I thought you could have thunder without lightning.
SPEAKER_06No, you can't. That's like so the so the explosion of the release of energy is what causes thunder.
SPEAKER_03Wow.
SPEAKER_06And you can hear you can hear it up to 25 miles away after that. Like you can't hear it.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_06Um, lightning occurs commonly during thunderstorms and other types of energetic weather systems, but get this. But volcanic uh volcanic lightning can also occur during volcanic eruptions.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_06Did you know that?
SPEAKER_03No, I I've never heard of that.
SPEAKER_06Okay, so volcanic lightning arises from colliding fragmented particles of volcanic ash and sometimes ice, which generate static electricity. Oh, okay. That makes sense. Isn't that crazy? That is I had no idea lightning can happen like while an explosion's going on with a volcano.
SPEAKER_03Wow.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I thought that was crazy. Okay. Okay, so uh lightning can heat the air, it passes through to 50,000 degree Fahrenheit.
SPEAKER_05Holy shit.
SPEAKER_06Which is five times hotter than the surface of the sun. When lightning strikes a tree, the heat vaporizes any water in its path, possibly causing the tree to explode or strip um off bark to be blown off. So yeah, it will like any water in its path, it will just like evaporate.
SPEAKER_03Um, okay, so it vaporizes water that it hits.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, because it's so hot, 50,000 degrees.
SPEAKER_03Holy crap.
SPEAKER_06Like five times hotter than the surface of the sun. Like it's crazy.
SPEAKER_03Actually, that kind of makes sense because I feel like I've seen trees with no bark, and someone has explained that it probably got hit by lightning.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Interesting. Okay.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. And like also like trees that um catch fire because it's so hot, like when it gets struck by lightning. Right. Um, okay. So the earth experiences eight to nine million lightning strikes every single day. In a typical No.
SPEAKER_03Eight to nine million every single day.
SPEAKER_06Yes, the Earth experiences eight to nine million lightning strikes every single day.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_06And I got that from like literally a very good source. I think it was Discovery. Um, in a typical year, the United States will see about 70,000 thunderstorms somewhere in its territory. This produces approximately 20 million lightning strikes annually in the US. Um, there are a hundred million volts and an average lightning bolt, which can be as much as five miles long. Wow. Yeah. Okay, so I didn't know this, but my mom actually told me about this when I told her my topic, because she was like, Have you ever seen Sweet Home Alabama? And I was like, No, that sounds awful.
SPEAKER_03Okay, I was just yes, I hate that movie. I love Reese Witherspoon, but I hate this movie.
SPEAKER_06I love Reese Witherspoon, but I just like cannot stand some of these like rom-coms. Like, okay, I can't deal with it.
SPEAKER_03Can I tell you too? You know, one of the reasons I hate this movie, this is a side note. There's a part in it where Reese Witherspoon's childhood friend has her baby in a bar. Oh God. And Reese Witherspoon goes, A baby in a bar. Do you remember the night? We won't say who, but someone said that to me when we were out at a restaurant. Yes. Waiting in the bar area for our table, and I had Lola in a carrier. Yes. And someone who we know turned around and goes, A baby in a bar. And I like freaked out and left because I was so mad.
SPEAKER_06Oh my God. I didn't realize that was from that movie. It's from that movie. And it looked like why did you even watch that movie? It sounds so awful.
SPEAKER_03It's like one of my mom's favorite movies.
SPEAKER_06Oh my god, my mom was like, I love that movie.
SPEAKER_03And I was like, Yeah, my mom, all she watches are Jennifer Aniston and Reeze Witherspoon movies and shows. So yes, okay. So I hate that movie, but I know what you're talking about with the lightning with that movie, too.
SPEAKER_06Okay. So for all of you who haven't seen it, including my, I think I saw like five minutes and I was like, This is terrible. So I turned up. That's a bad movie. I I just can't deal with those. Like, I feel like there's so many like predictable makeshift like rom-coms that and I just cannot like it's kind of like the other movie I hate so much is You Got Mail. Oh god, with um Tom Hanks and Meg, whatever her name. Oh, I just can't. Anyways, there are some really good ones out there, like while you were sleeping. I love that. Yeah, that's classic. I mean, um, okay, so for all of you who haven't seen that movie, she told my mom told me about this, um, but I researched it. When it hits uh sandy beach high in silica or quartz, and the temperature goes beyond 3,272 degrees Fahrenheit. The lightning can fuse the sand into silica glass. This is called a fulgurate. So I did look it up, and it's really actually cool. It's like the lightning will strike sand, and literally like glass sculptures are created that stick out of the sand.
SPEAKER_03So in the movie, Reese Witherspin's Love Interest has this like glass barn. Like he sells these things and this like really nice store, and he puts like rods in the lake, like beach or the beach. I think it's you know, it's not a lake, it's the ocean. And then he that's how he col he waits for the lightning to strike, and then he picks the rods up in like the glass sculptures or at the end of the rods. Yeah, that's what he does for a living, yeah. And he sells them.
SPEAKER_06But that's like a lot of lightning.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I know.
SPEAKER_06Well, he has these things like how are you making a living off of that?
SPEAKER_03Oh, I know, and like one of I think one of their big like arguments in the movie is when he's like taking the rods out of the sand.
SPEAKER_05Oh my god, I can't. It's a horrible terrible, I hate that so much.
SPEAKER_03That is cool though, that you could make a pretty glass sculpture out of lightning striking sand, though.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. So um, okay. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it's really dangerous to shower while there's a storm brewing outside. And there's an entire laundry list of activities you should avoid too in your house. Yes. Um, and so I kind of knew about this, but I didn't really know like why. Um, but so you shouldn't do anything with a sink, anything with a shower, bathtub, dishwasher, washing machine, or mess with anything that's plugged into the wall, like a lamp or a corded phone. Right. When they're when it's lightning out. Um, so here's a little story of like why. Um, Dr. Mary Ann Cooper, who is the director of lightning injury research program. That's what it says. Um, so in quotes, she says, um, it can also strike at a distance away. Say it strikes 50 or 100 feet from your house, but some of the wiring or plumbing is going close to that. Um, the lightning can come through like that way, like through your plumbing or your wiring. Um, if you hear thunder, lightning in within and you're within striking distance, um, it should be your signal to step away from plumbing and electricity, to be safe, wait at least 30 minutes after the storm passes to resume use.
SPEAKER_03Are there people out there that really would get in the shower if they heard thunder and lightning?
SPEAKER_06I've yelled at like family members before.
SPEAKER_03I've yelled at my dad before. I remember when I was a kid, I'm like, are you trying to commit suicide? Right.
SPEAKER_06I'm like, get out of the shower. It's like literally lightning out like everywhere. I I don't know who it was, but I just remember like being frustrated. But also I didn't realize like this, it makes sense to not be in the shower, but like also it makes sense to not be messing in the sink. But I've done that before just because I just didn't know or like washing. I don't know. I just like didn't think about it.
SPEAKER_03I I would never, yeah, I don't go anywhere near water if there's lightning and thunder.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. Okay. So in July 2017, um, 17-year-old Faith Mobley was working at McDonald's in Alabama washing dishes when a storm started to roll through. Um, she said, when I got to the last dish to wash, I filled up the sink. And right when I put my hands in the water, lightning struck the McDonald's and the bank across the street.
SPEAKER_03Oh my God.
SPEAKER_06She told today.com over the phone. Um, I saw a flash of light in front of my face, and it was so bright that it burned. I almost fell backwards. She had no idea what happened in the moment. Um, later she learned that the current had gone through the plumbing to the faucet and into the standing water in the sink through her headset and down her body.
SPEAKER_03Oh my God.
SPEAKER_06Um, she said there was a hole through my shoe and a burn mark on the bottom of my foot. Mobley recalled. Her muscles spasmed, her whole body went tight and she felt like she couldn't breathe. Her vision was like super bad too. Um, luckily, there were no long-term effects of the strike, but she uh but she does claim for a few months after the fact her vision had somehow improved. Um, so her vision was it was like really bad. And then like after and it didn't come back right away. Right. It was so bright.
SPEAKER_03Oh my god. Okay. You may I'm you maybe you're gonna explain this, but I'm how does lightning even go through your body? Like it goes, what channels does it use?
SPEAKER_06I don't do you know, um I don't know, but I like you know, people do survive it, and I guess it's the way you're grounded. It's kind of like maybe her like this sounds so stupid because I don't know the answer, but like maybe she had like a lot of rubber on her at the bottom of her feet, you know, because like when you get struck by right lightning in a car, apparently the current like goes through the rubber of the tires, so that's why like people can survive in a car.
SPEAKER_03She was probably wearing shoes with like a no-grip sole because she was in a kitchen, right? I mean a no-grip sole, a grippy sole, or like yeah, something with a lot of padding with like with like a rubber, with like a rubber sole, with like you know, so she didn't know.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, because it said like it went through her head like from the water through her headset down her body, and she might have been standing on a rubber mat if she was.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, because she was at the sink.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, maybe that's what saved her life. A rubber mat. Yeah, so that's pretty that's so scary, but she lived. Good. Um, okay, so now I'm gonna get into like some of the most dangerous lightning strikes in the world. Yes. Okay, so Brazil, um okay, Brasia, Italy, and it's spelled B-R-E-S-C-I-A. Do you know how to spell that?
SPEAKER_03I think it's Brescia.
SPEAKER_06Brussia. Um, okay, Brussia, Italy, August 1769. Okay, lightning struck the tower of Church of San Nazareno. Bizarro. In the vaults of the church, there were 200,000 sorry, 200,000 pounds of explosives stored.
SPEAKER_03Why? Why?
SPEAKER_06I'll tell you. Uh, for many centuries, gunpowder was stored in churches. There seems to have been a belief that church bells prevented lightning. So this was like in the like in because they're metal. So that makes sense. Yeah. Unfortunately, I guess the opposite is true. The tall steeples and towers of a church actually encourage lightning strikes, as we all know, like high objects. Um, but this is back in you know, 1769. During thunderstorms, teams of men rang bells and church towers in efforts to prevent lightning from striking.
SPEAKER_03God, we were so dumb a couple hundred years ago.
SPEAKER_06I know. Um, during the period 17 during this period from 1753 to 1786, lightning killed 103 French bell ringers. Because they were all up there trying to ring the bells.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, they just kept dropping like flies.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. So when this light, so going back to the church, when the lightning um struck the church um of San Nara uh sorry, San Nazaro, um, it exploded by being hit by lightning. Nearly a sixth of the city, because of the gunpowder. Right, right. Yeah. So the gunpowder exploded and um everything caught on fire, and um nearly a sixth of the city was destroyed and killed by nearly 3,000 people. Oh 3,000 people died because of the fires and everything. Um okay. In terms of damage and destruction, the Brescia, is that right?
SPEAKER_03I think so, yeah.
SPEAKER_06The Brescia incident is still considered one of the worst lightning strikes in history because it killed that many people.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_06Um, okay, so a little bit before this, so that was in 1760, uh, hold on. 1769. Um, a little bit after this, in 1971, Benjamin Franklin became the worst the first person. I almost said the worst person. In 1971, Benjamin Franklin became the first person to initiate explosive um explosives with electricity. Franklin was extremely active in advising European governments after the Brischia event on the principles of lightning. Um, so he was like trying to advocate and be late, guys. Um, at this time there was a dispute over the best shaped lightning rods. And Franklin was saying to use sharp pointed rods on the top of buildings, which we have today, like essentially lightning rods. Um, but an English man named Benjamin Wilson was urging the use of ball-shaped terminals below the roof line. And I um I tried to look up ball-shaped terminals because I was like, what is this? Like, I'm trying to picture these like metal balls like under the roof, but like I could not find a picture.
SPEAKER_03What the okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_06The argument became political, and King George III decided he didn't want American advice. Thanks a lot, King George.
SPEAKER_03Of course he didn't.
SPEAKER_06And Franklin's conductors were replaced on several British roofs with those balls.
SPEAKER_03That is so stupid.
SPEAKER_06And then, like as late as 1856, gunpowder stored in a church with probably the balls on it, um, in roads was hit by lightning and exploded and killed allegedly 4,000 people.
SPEAKER_03Oh my god.
SPEAKER_06So those are some bad lightning strikes.
SPEAKER_03So you said they put the balls uh at the roof line, not on top of the roof?
SPEAKER_06No, it said below the roof line.
SPEAKER_03Below the roof line. Okay.
SPEAKER_06And maybe that was to like not like have the roof catch fire. I don't know there, I really couldn't find a lot about that. I I did try to look.
SPEAKER_03So if anyone out there knows, like I mean, I'm I'm no scientist, but wouldn't the point of a lightning rod being on top of the roof isn't that a important that it's the first thing the lightning would hit? Isn't that why you know we don't put them like you know?
SPEAKER_06Well, I think in our driveway Englishman Benjamin Wilson probably got his balls taken off after this 56 gunpowder situation.
SPEAKER_03I hope they removed his balls because that they were not helpful. I know.
SPEAKER_06Okay, anyways. Um, okay, so this is also like another this is like a theme in the lightning, the worst lightning strikes in the world. So lightning strike um hits Luxembourg. Do you know where that is?
SPEAKER_03Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Germ. Isn't that a city in Germany?
SPEAKER_06Okay, so I thought it was a city too in Germany. It's actually a country.
SPEAKER_03Oh, god damn it.
SPEAKER_06How and I put in my notes, I put in my notes. We sound every episode. I put in my notes. I didn't know, but I thought I was so good at geography.
SPEAKER_03I seriously geography, not geology. I seriously thought that was a city.
SPEAKER_06Me too.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, isn't it? Okay, I think it now I know it's up next to France, Luxembourg.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, it's nestled between Belgium, Germany, and France. So they're like the bordering countries. Okay. Um, I've heard of it before, but literally thought it was a city until I looked it up.
SPEAKER_03I did too, yeah. Wow.
SPEAKER_06Um, on June 26, 1807, lightning hits a gunpowder factory in the small European country of Luxembourg, killing more than 300 people. So again, um, this gunpowder situation getting struck by lightning is really deadly. Um, lightning kills approximately 73 people every year in the United States alone, but victims are almost always killed one at a time.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_0673 is a lot every year to get struck by lightning and die.
SPEAKER_03It's kind of it does seem like a lot.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. That's like I was gonna do math, but I don't want to do it. It's like I was gonna say it's like three a month. No wait. It's like no, it's like five a month, six a month. Um, okay. The Luxembourg disaster was also considered one of the most deadly lightning strikes in history, um, besides the one I just told you about in Bruchia. Um, in 1807, Luxembourg was occupied by Napoleon's army. The French um dictator used the country to stockpile weapons and ammunition. Many underground bunkers were built for this purpose. In the southern Luxembourg city of Kirchberg, a fortress built in 1732 was used as um an armory. Um, when lightning struck the fortress on June 26, the ammunition house um within ignited on contact, causing a massive explosion. And so we know that 300 people died, but also two entire blocks were completely um destroyed by the blast, which caused uh several other fires to rage nearby. So another tragic fire situation with gunpowder. So gunpowder is so dangerous in every way. What do we even do with gunpowder now? I'm sure they're like underground in a basement somewhere.
SPEAKER_03I don't know. I know nothing about guns or gunpowder. I know either I know a little bit, but yeah.
SPEAKER_06Okay, so another terrible fire was the Yellowstone fires during the summer of 1988. Yellowstone National Park experienced a severe drought and high winds. Um, one day a lightning storm passed through the park and struck trees and plants, setting them ablaze. In all, nearly 42 fires were caused directly by lightning strikes, burning approximately 750 that sorry, 750,000 acres. Um, combined the winds near combined with the winds, nearly 40% of the park caught fire and burned to the ground, which is so terrible.
SPEAKER_03I didn't know about that.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, that was in 1988. Um, a large amount of wildfire. Uh oh my god, a large amount, a large amount of wildlife perished in the fire as well. So the poor buffalo and the bears and all that. Okay. Also, there was a New York City blackout. Um, the blackout of New York City in 1977 is a well-known incident. And I put in my notes that I had no idea about. Did you know about that?
SPEAKER_03Yes, because something else culturally significant happened during that blackout. Oh. That I don't know.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I don't know.
SPEAKER_03I don't know what I just I remember something about the big New York City blackout in the 70s.
SPEAKER_06Okay, so electrical power to the city was lost for nearly 25 hours, which is an entire day, um, creating fear and confusion among population. Um, what most people do not know is that the lightning um strike, a lightning strike caused the entire city to blackout, which oh, yeah. Um, the utility company supplying New York City at the time was um called Consolidated Edison, and it was located in Westchester County. So like that place got struck. Oh caused the whole city to go out. I can't I can't even imagine like New York City just all shutting down.
SPEAKER_03It happened a few years ago.
SPEAKER_06I kind of remember that, but it wasn't for very long, right? It was like for it was like at night.
SPEAKER_03I don't know. It yeah, I think it happened like four or five years ago. Yeah, but I I think it was for a while.
SPEAKER_06Maybe not a whole day, but yeah, I'll have to Google that. I kind of remember something about that. I just don't know the details. Um, when a lightning storm occurred near the plant one day, a lightning bolt struck one of the high tension wires, causing a major short circuit. Life came to a grinding halt in New York City as subways and elevators stop working.
SPEAKER_03So people must have been trapped in the subway.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_03They had to be, right?
SPEAKER_06Uh yeah, I'm sure. Like people like this, like they were probably like in one of the trains and it just like stopped.
SPEAKER_03Like a ton of people at any given time. There must be thousands of people in the that's scary.
SPEAKER_06Okay, are you ready to like freak out? And I have to like warn all of you to like maybe skip ahead if you hate flying.
SPEAKER_03Oh, oh no. Okay. Great. Okay.
SPEAKER_06Here we go. Okay. Deep breath. Okay. So personally, personally, I am terrified of flying, and I actually am prescribed Xanax by my doctor every time I fly.
SPEAKER_03You and I have not flown together yet. I know we will one day. We both hate flying and have to take drugs and drink alcohol in order to even get on a plane.
SPEAKER_06Yes. It's like really scary to me. And like I've had some really bad incidences. Like one time we were landing in a blizzard in Portland and my plane went off the runway. And we did like a 360 in the snow. We couldn't see anything. Like, I've had there's just been so many bad flights that I've had that literally I'm I need Xanax. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, same. And you and I, once we do finally fly together, we'll hold our sweaty palms together, our hands.
SPEAKER_03We're gonna have to hire like a handler who like just like makes sure that we don't overdose on all the things that we need when we fly.
SPEAKER_06Oh my god, it's so bad. Okay. Is it safe to fly in lightning in a lightning storm? The answer, one expert says, is a resounding yes. And uh standard commercial airplanes are designed to take lightning strikes, says Professor John Hansman, who is the professor of aeronautics and aeronautic aeronauticals, maybe. Well, it says professor of aeronautics and aeronautics. Okay. I don't, I might I might have written that type of thing. I don't think that's correct. Okay, anyways, he's the director of the International Center for Air Transportation at MIT, which is a really good school. I know. For safety reasons, planes hit by lightning mid-flight undergo inspection after landing in most cases. Um, the aircraft is either unharmed or sustains only minor damage. Um, newer airlines like Boeing 787 and the Airbus A350 are made with a higher proportion of composite materials like carbon fibers, resulting in reduced electrical conductivity of the fuselage and wings. So, like when you book your flight next time, try to get like a Boeing 787.
SPEAKER_03I thought we were avoiding Boeing, avoiding Boeing.
SPEAKER_06Well, we were avoiding the the Max, the three, I think it's right 730.
SPEAKER_03The Airbus is that's what jet blue is. Isn't it all oh no?
SPEAKER_06Is that a different airbuses are really bad too because they keep crashing in the ocean?
SPEAKER_03No, I thought that that was the that's the Boeing Max. Airbus is different.
SPEAKER_06Well, that one too, but the Airbus was like the the France one that went down on the ocean.
SPEAKER_03Jeez.
SPEAKER_06I know. I'm like I'm such a creep when I like book my flights. I'm like looking at the airline, looking at the flight number.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah. I don't, there's certain airlines I completely avoid. I will never step foot on them.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, and I like will look at the plane type. I'll be like, is this safe?
SPEAKER_03I always feel safe on jet blue.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, but like they had that one time where like a jet flu uh jet blue flight was like trying to land and the wheels wouldn't go down.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but they're it was fine, they were fine. That's the worst that's ever happened.
SPEAKER_06Oh no. Anyway, at least like people aren't getting sucked out the window, like on Delta, which was so terrible.
SPEAKER_03That was southwest. That was not Delta.
SPEAKER_06Oh, yeah, that was Southwest. Oh my god. And then didn't it like a window break again like right afterwards?
SPEAKER_03Honestly, probably. Oh my god. Okay, sorry guys, we're just like yeah, so so you can you your plane can get hit by lightning and be fine.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, but I think they lied because actually, that's not true. That's not true. I'm about to tell you about some of the worst disasters, um, aviation disasters from planes being struck by lightning, but all of these happened um like later, like earlier.
SPEAKER_03When the planes were like metal.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. Okay. So, like, to be fair, like I think they've improved it, but I just wanted to go into it.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_06One of the worst lightning strikes involving aviation occurred in 1963, which again, a long time ago. Um, a Pan Am flight was preparing to land in Philadelphia when it was struck by lightning. A portion of the wing tore off and the fuel tank ignited, killing all 81 passengers and crew on board. So fucked up. And like, sorry, again, I think that the movie, what's the movie where the plane goes up and explodes? Um flight, whatever, you know. No, I don't know I'll think of it. You know, it's final destination. Final destination.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, in the beginning, I think they're going to Paris or something.
SPEAKER_06That movie ruined my life. I I watched that scene and I I couldn't finish the movie. Yeah, it ruined my life. I can't fly anymore. Like that's yeah.
SPEAKER_03Well, you do fly though, all the time. Yeah, I know.
SPEAKER_06I just take drugs. You're like my jet setter friend. Okay. So, and then TWA flight 891, um, June 26, 1959, in Milan, Italy. And this was during climb. So, you know how like landing and um going up is like the worst part of it, apparently. Um, when flight 891 departed Milan, light rain was falling with a low overcast and a ceiling of around 2,000 feet um with uh with visibility of approximately two miles. Uh, there was also thunderstorms in the area. 12 minutes after takeoff, the flight crew reported the aircraft was climbing through 10,000 feet. A few minutes after that, the Starliner suffered structural failure and broke up in mid-air due to a lightning strike. Everyone on board was killed. Yes, I know.
SPEAKER_03That's my legit biggest fear is being on a plane and it breaking like a Lego plane.
SPEAKER_06I can't. And also, like, I'm never flying in a storm again. I will literally cancel my flight.
SPEAKER_03Well, how because how but some storms just come in and out? Like, how are you? How do you I don't know? I feel like now they don't take off if there's a storm. Yeah, you know, they have better technology.
SPEAKER_06They're safer, but like also what I read above about like how they build planes now. It's like less electricity that doesn't go to like the fuel tank.
SPEAKER_03Listen, every time there's a plane crash, flying gets safer. Yes, because they figure out what went wrong. Yeah, it's like I want to travel the world, but I don't want to be in a plane crash. I don't know what to do.
SPEAKER_06Okay, just a couple more. Um, Lance a flight 508, December 24th, right before Christmas, 1971, in Peru. Um, Porta Inca, Peru. And they were up in the air. Um, the flight was operated as scheduled domestic passenger flight by Linus Ares, uh, Nacionalist Associate. I don't know. I was trying to like spell it Lansa, but I'm just gonna say Lansa. Um, it crashed in a thunderstorm en route to uh Lima. The sole survivor, okay, so a lightning strike said it crashes. The sole survivor was a 17-year-old girl named Julianne Kopek, uh, who while strapped to her seat fell 2,800. No. It says miles. That's not right.
SPEAKER_03No, feet, probably.
SPEAKER_06Well, okay, no, 9,200 feet.
SPEAKER_03Oh my god.
SPEAKER_06So she was strapped to her seat and fell. Like out of the room.
SPEAKER_03She's just in her seat falling through the through the air. Yeah, she's like those movies.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Oh my god.
SPEAKER_06Into the Amazon rainforest. She survived the fall and was able to walk through the jungle for 11 days until being rescued by local lumbermen.
SPEAKER_03How do you she so she did she didn't have broken bones?
SPEAKER_06I don't know. How do you it just says like she fell out of her seat after the plane like exploded and like literally like went into the jungle and then had like walked her way to find somebody to find help?
SPEAKER_03Oh my god.
SPEAKER_06It also said the Electra was Lance's last aircraft. The company lost its operating permit 11 days later. So I don't know if there was also like issues with the plane, but it definitely was struck by lightning, and that's the reason it like broke apart.
SPEAKER_03Well, like don't they say about plane crashes there's always like three things that have to go wrong? Yeah, it's never just one thing, it's never just one thing, yeah.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, so maybe that's why they always have backup for like literally every single thing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, maybe their mechanical the the state of the plane mechanically wasn't where it needed to be.
SPEAKER_06I don't know, but that story is incredible. I Julianne out there, if you or if you are here with us, right? Like, call us. Like we need to talk to you. We want to we want to talk to you. Let's see. This was back in 1971. So please like let us know. We wanna we wanna talk. I think that's incredible.
SPEAKER_03That's I've I've never heard that story. That's unreal.
SPEAKER_06I can't read a book about that. Like, I want to read it. Okay. Um, there are Iran Air Force Flight 58, which is a military flight, May 9th, 7 uh 1976, um, in Madrid, Spain. Um, it was landing. The crew was aware that they were flying into poor weather conditions, but none of them expressed any concern until 2:34 p.m. when a crew member said, We're in the soup. Um, three seconds later, uh, two witnesses on the ground reported seeing lightning strike the aircraft, followed by an explosion on the left wing near the engine. Um, the left wing exploded into three large parts and disintegrated into 15 fragments. And there were 10 uh crew and seven seven passengers on board. And that was a military flight, so that's really sad. Oh, and then uh Kuwait Air Force in 1980, it crashed just north of Montemular after a lightning strike, and the fatalities was eight crew. Um, I couldn't really find a lot about that. And then this is the last one that I um have to tell you about today. The Nuremberger flu dynast uh flight. 108, um February 8th, 1988, in Kettwig, Germany. Um, there were two crew and 19 passengers on board. Flight 108 took off from Hanover Airport at 7:15 a.m. and was on approach to runway 24 at Dusseldorf Airport by 7:50 a.m. in a thunderstorm. The captain of the flight was Ralph Bordoff, uh Borstorff, who was 36. And the first officer was Sybille Hillman, who was 29. At 7:56 a.m., both flight recorders abruptly stopped recording and the aircraft disappeared from secondary uh radar. Two minutes later, pieces of the Metro three impacted near Ketwig adjacent to the Rare River, killing all 21 on board.
SPEAKER_03Wow.
SPEAKER_06Um, okay, so that's like terrifying. So again, check your weather before you fly, but I think it's way safer now, but I I still don't care. Yeah, I will change my flight. I will pay another $100 to change my flight if it's if there's a thunderstorm going on and they're taking off. I don't think they would though. I don't think I don't think they're doing it anymore. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I was in an airport one time and there was a storm, and I remember like there was a pilot in line somewhere, and my mom asked him what how you handle lightning. And he literally goes, We're just trying to fly around it. I'm not kidding.
SPEAKER_06We were like, Oh, okay. How do you even know where it's gonna hit? That's like the other scary lightning.
SPEAKER_03That's what didn't make sense about his response. We were like, Okay, okay, thank you.
SPEAKER_06That's crazy. Okay, so I have a very special announcement. I am going to actually have one of my friends call in to this podcast because he was struck by lightning himself and is here to tell his tale. I am so excited about this. I know. So um let's uh let's have him call in.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_06Hey Ludo, how's it going?
SPEAKER_01Hi, Kitty. I'm doing great. Good to hear from you guys.
SPEAKER_06I know. We're so so happy to have you um on our podcast and thank you so much for calling in. Um basically, uh, we wanted to interview about uh interview you about the time that you were struck by lightning and survived. Yay!
SPEAKER_00Yeah, crazy experience. You know, it's uh it's been uh it is it's been um how do you say uh a challenging time. But what what do you guys want to know exactly about it?
SPEAKER_03Uh like where were you start with the like where what you were?
SPEAKER_00So it's a um so I was used, so when I was younger, you know, uh so like about 20 years ago, I was uh doing a lot of work, uh, you know, summer holidays, you know, like how everyone does, you know, you find a job for the summer, you're trying to make a bit of money on the on the side. And um at that time, because I'm from the south of France, okay. Uh at that time, you know, the best in the summer is to go work on the beach, right? All the tourists come there, you know, it's it's crowddy, you know, there is a lot of business going on. So it's great, a great place to find like uh uh you know uh a summer job.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I was I was living in a you know, in a in so I think if I remember well, it was in Biscarros. So Biscarros is a is a very touristic destination in the south of France. And um, so I was there for the for the two months. All right, I was about like 20, yeah, 20 years old, I think, 21. And um, and basically what I will be doing there, uh going short, you know, like on the experience, but like I will I will be working on the morning to do preparation, you know, like for a restaurant. And uh so I will wake up very, very early to do that. And what I like to do usually was when I was done with work is to go for uh a run, you know, on the beach while like everything was still very uh quiet, you know, like so. I will finish around seven o'clock in the morning, eight o'clock. I will go for a run, you know, it's quiet, it's nice, you have a beach for yourself, you know, before all the tourists invite that. You know, uh so I will do that. And um, so that particular morning, apparently, because uh as you can imagine, when you get struck by lightning, uh you don't you don't remember much after that, right? Uh but uh apparently some people were following me, not following me, but were behind me when I was uh doing my walkslash jog, you know, and uh those people reach out to me after like to say, like, listen, you know, we've we witnessed this, you know, we really want to share a little about it uh with you because you know what we think it's crazy what happened, and like we cannot believe our eyes when we saw it, you know. Uh but when I was walking or running that day, uh you know what the way the people describe it behind me was like well, we were just following you or walking with you, and suddenly like a huge bubble of light just surrounded you, right? Oh my gosh. Um and uh and and it looked like it lasted for like so long, but it went very fast, as you can imagine. But like you totally disappear under like that light bubble, and like suddenly you're just like like if you were ejected from something from a car or something, but you just uh burst out of it, you know, and uh we're on the floor. And um so apparently I didn't know that before, but apparently it happened a lot in in on the beach at Biscaros because of the surfers, you know, usually they connect because they're in the water. But what they explain me to me here, what they think happened, it it was a a summer storm, i.e., like it was not cloudy or anything, but uh it was just a one-off, and uh and apparently what happened probably is like uh with the war, you know, because of the war, there's a lot of like metal things under the sand.
SPEAKER_02And I uh I basically connected.
SPEAKER_06Basically, I was the fuse or the connector with what's under and so essentially like the storm was like not even like right over you, but it was like coming. But you so you felt kind of safe, like just walking around.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it felt safe, you know, like uh that would be the usual wadu, and um and you know, I don't know if it's bad luck or anything, but you know, we you know I'm alive, so I cannot talk about bad luck, but uh yeah, so it was just like nothing, no no signs basically, it was just uh no storm, not rain, you know, it was just like a one-off like this.
SPEAKER_06So did you wake up right away or were you passed out for a little bit? Like how did you recover something?
SPEAKER_00So I got lucky. So talking about good luck or bad luck, so I got lucky because he actually just happened in front of the lifeguard um house, you know, you get on the beach, and I think they were just setting up for the day or something, and um so they were able like in like in a few seconds just to be on the spot. And uh so they uh they brought into the helicopter to bring me to the the the closest hospital. But what so what happened is uh my heart stopped twice, you know, like during the uh from the beach to the hospital. And uh and uh and I was basically for weeks in a coma after that.
SPEAKER_06Oh my gosh, were you burnt or anything? Like, was your clothes like burnt?
SPEAKER_00Like well, so the the clothes were like shred, you know, it's very interesting because my shoes were melted. Um my gosh. I was wearing a gin that day, and the gin was basically like if you use a razor and cut it in pieces, right? And um, and my I had a uh a neck t-shirt, and the t-shirt was literally totally burned. And um so and and you know what's funny is like at the beginning, so now it's gone. I still have some marks, so at the feet on the head, you know, because he struck me on the head, went through the uh the the body and like get out from the feet.
SPEAKER_06Remembering me like the scar on your head.
SPEAKER_00So I still have the scar on the head, I didn't get and uh I got the scars on on the feet as well. Um, but you could see like the first few months, you could still see on the skin where the the the lightning went through the body. Um and um and so I got lucky because he went basically right by the spy, and they thought that the spy would have been probably damaged. So so anyway, uh when I woke up after a few weeks of coma, you know, like uh I had to relearn how to walk and and everything.
SPEAKER_06You are so lucky. I am lucky, and they don't have they don't really have a reason of like why or how you survived, like were you was there something specific, or is it just luck?
SPEAKER_00I I think it's luck, you know. Like the actually there is two experts. So apparently in the entire France, there is only two experts in that domain, or maybe just one. And and when the guy uh I forgot his name, you know, it's been a long time, but anyway, uh, when the guy uh learned about what happened, he contacted me as well because he wanted to do some testing, yeah, and um and and really try to understand what went up, right? Because yes, usually you die, usually you don't survive. So yeah, he wanted to do a bunch of tests and everything, and uh, but you know, I was not in a good shape, and the guy was just trying to stick needle inside me. And I was like, you know what?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, you're like, I've been through enough, man.
SPEAKER_00I'm not interested in this at this stage, right? Yeah and uh so he tried to contact me a few times again, but uh, you know, I think I just moved on a bit, but yeah, that's that's what happened, you know.
SPEAKER_06Um my god, I'm so so glad you're alive, and that's thank you so much for sharing your story because like none of us have any idea, like on you know, the effects of this.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's a that is a crazy story. And the people behind you that saw you light up in a bubble.
SPEAKER_00My well, you know, this was like because I totally forgot about it, right? I have no recognition about it, but the intensity, the way they were talking about what they witnessed, you know, was you could say it in their uh or feel it in their voice. They were like like in shock still.
SPEAKER_06I bet. Um, so just some background information. Uh Ludo and I have known each other for maybe like 10 plus years, Ludo. Yeah, like it was a while. It's been a while. It was a while.
SPEAKER_01It was a good time though. We had such a good time.
SPEAKER_06We met in London. And um yeah, we've just been friends for a long time, and it's so so awesome that you came on to the podcast again. Um, just so you know, we're covering just like natural disasters, anything like Mother Earth related. So this is really helpful, and we really appreciate you calling in.
SPEAKER_00Well, that's really interesting. I think you know, all this experience sharing and um uh you know, sharing the the this moment, it's key, you know. Like today, people want it and need it. So I think it's a great work what you guys are doing, and uh and I love your voice on the podcast. Actually, you have great voice. I don't know if you're using anything, but uh sound very podcast uh material.
SPEAKER_06Oh, that's so awesome! Thank you, Ludo. We really appreciate you, and um yeah, you love your voice too, Ludo.
SPEAKER_03You have an amazing accent.
SPEAKER_00Thank you, thank you. Wonderful. Well, good and Katie, great hearing from you. So I wish you all the best of luck with this. I think it's really cool what you're doing, guys. And uh, and if you need anything else, let me know. And um, yeah, so sorry for this morning, it's been a bit crazy on my end.
SPEAKER_06Oh no, you're totally fine. We really appreciate you. Thanks so much, Ludo. Yes, thank you so much. Good luck. All right, thanks, bye bye. Wow, Ludo, that was so great. That was cool. I just it's so interesting because I knew he was struck by lightning, but I never really he never him and I never talked about like the whole account and what happened for some reason. But I remember him showing me the scar and I was like, that is insane!
SPEAKER_03Like, I can't believe he was just walking on the beach and there wasn't a storm anywhere near, and he just happened. And how how fascinating is that that left over from the war, there was like buried metal.
SPEAKER_06I know, and he was the conductor again. He just happened to be walking over a piece. I also didn't realize he was in a coma for that long and had to relearn how to walk. Like, oh my god, I mean, what an incredible story. Ludo, thanks so much. Yeah, Ludo, it was a big first call in.
SPEAKER_03I love his voice too.
SPEAKER_06I know, awesome accent, great accent. Um, yeah, that was just incredible.
SPEAKER_03And like, I just love hearing stories directly from the source of you know first hand first hand survival stories are are what we want to hear. Very cool. Okay, should we should I do mine now? Yeah.
SPEAKER_06I cannot wait for yours. Tell me all about it.
SPEAKER_03I think you're gonna be into it.
SPEAKER_06Oh my gosh. Yes.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so today we're gonna talk about the shark attack capital of the world.
SPEAKER_06Oh my gosh, sharks.
SPEAKER_03Now, where what where do you think the shark attack capital of the world is?
SPEAKER_06I know where it is.
SPEAKER_03Where is it?
SPEAKER_06Florida.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_06Yay! I'm like really into sharks, but okay.
SPEAKER_03So more specifically, the technical capital is New Smyrna Beach. Oh, Florida. Okay, which is on the Atlantic side of Florida. Okay. Yep. Yes, but we're gonna talk about the entire state of Florida and its history of shark attacks.
SPEAKER_06Wow, Mother Earth, you just keep on bringing us some good content.
SPEAKER_03You just throw in so many risks and dangers, Mother Earth, all the time. Um, okay, so my sources are the New York Times, uh, Wikipedia. Couldn't couldn't live without Wikipedia.
SPEAKER_06I I couldn't either.
SPEAKER_03Um, the Daytona Beach News Journal, Florida Shark Living, and the International Shark Attack Database. Okay. Um, I think I said that right. Yeah. Okay, so I'm terrified of sharks.
SPEAKER_06Me too.
SPEAKER_03But you swim in the ocean. I do not swim in the ocean for that reason.
SPEAKER_06I thought you did swim in it a couple times.
SPEAKER_03I used I used to when I was younger. I would never swim in the ocean now. I I can't I I can't.
SPEAKER_06Well, this year changed a lot for me. Um, just sidebar. Um, I never had a problem like jumping off my sister's boat in the middle of the ocean to swim or like swimming to the raft like from the beach. Never had an issue until this year when a great white like ripped a lady in half. Yeah. Literally like 10 miles away from where we go to our beach.
SPEAKER_03Yes. So that was Maine's first fatal shark attack ever.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. And like I think global warming or something is bringing them in more. Um, because that's just never been a thing. And I've never even thought of sharks. And now I like am having a really hard time swimming in the ocean.
SPEAKER_03Well, okay. So I actually take that back. I would swim in the ocean if I was in like the Caribbean or something. And it's like that sea. Yeah, that clear turquoisey water where you can, yeah, you can see everything around you.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. Like Maine has like dark, yeah, darker water.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. But even then, I don't, I wouldn't be in the ocean for a long time. It I would just, I would be so anxious.
SPEAKER_06Oh, and then really quick, um, right before that shark attack, literally three days before, um, we were on my sister's boat and we were near Harpsville, which is like where it happened. And she was like, it was so hot that day. And she's like, Do you guys she just like stopped the boat? She's like, Okay, who wants to jump off and cool down? And I just had this weird feeling, and I was like, nah, I don't really feel like it. And that was right by the shark attack.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so days before. So this this particular attack, the woman was 20 yards from shore with her daughter, and it was like not far. Right. And they were off of Bailey Island, which is off of Harpswell, right?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03I've we I've been to Bailey Island. Have you been?
SPEAKER_06Yeah. Um, I mean, it's to be fair, it is like right, it's like a one of the far islands out. So like the the deep oceans, like right next to it, but like still 20 yards, you don't think like you're gonna get eaten by a shark because you're like close enough.
SPEAKER_03Now I heard that she was wearing a black wetsuit. She was okay. She looked like a seal. That didn't help.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yeah. Like, don't do that, guys. If you're gonna wear a wetsuit, like wear like a bright yellow or something, but you do not want to look like a seal.
SPEAKER_03Right. So, yeah, I mean, I used to swim in the ocean, I used to surf. I've surfed in places like Hawaii and Puerto Rico. It never bothered me.
SPEAKER_06Surf because like I don't know how to surf at all. I've tried and it's really hard.
SPEAKER_03It is hard, but I also I used to be in a place emotionally where I could be out on a board in the in the ocean and like be fine. I would never be able to come. I would never be able to do that now. I would be way too paranoid about sharks. Yeah. Um, I'm more of a lake person, also. But you don't like lakes, right?
SPEAKER_06I think lakes are just not my thing.
SPEAKER_03I know that's so weird to me. You said it makes like you feel like you're like slimy. Yeah, it always feels slimy, but like ocean salt water is like sticky.
SPEAKER_06I know, but the salt's like so good for your skin and hair. Yeah, that's true. Oh okay. I mean, not all lakes are slimy, just that way, but some a lot of them I feel like that. And I just I always like get hit by like a fish or something, I feel like on my feet.
SPEAKER_03Well, what about the ocean? I don't know.
SPEAKER_06The ocean's been a crab this summer and it really freaks me out. It like ran over my toes.
SPEAKER_03I love crabs, they're so cool. I know. Okay, so um back to Florida. Yep. So uh Florida has one of the largest concentrations of sharks in the world. Um, and it's not just the shark attack capital of the world because people just like felt like naming it that or because there happened to be a lot of attacks. That's actually based on data collected by the International Shark Attack File, which is an organization that maintains a database of every single shark attack in the entire world. Wow. Whether it's fatal or not.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_03Um, so New Smyrna Beach wasn't crowned the shark attack capital of the world just for you know, shits and giggles, basically. Like it's it's actually rooted in numbers. Um, so New Smyrna Beach is in Volusia County on the east coast Atlantic Ocean side of the state. It's a little north of central Florida, and it's it's below Daytona Beach. Okay. Um so, like I said, Florida has a huge concentration of sharks.
SPEAKER_06Why is that?
SPEAKER_03Are you gonna get into that or is that why I don't know if I wrote down like why that is, it just there just are a lot of sharks in off the coast of Florida.
SPEAKER_06Maybe it just has to do with like the way the water is and like the warmth of it. I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Well, okay, so there in the new smear nut area specifically, there's an annual migration of two different types of common sharks. Um, one is the black tip and one is the spinner shark. And in the summer months, they that's when their migration period is. So that just adds to the shark population.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And the summer months are when the beaches are the busiest.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fisheries, since 2000, populations of sandbar shark, blacktip shark, and Atlantic sharp nose shark, as well as other shark species, has steadily increased in the South Atlantic coast of the U.S. Okay. Yeah. So there's just more sharks every year.
SPEAKER_06And and like, are those like three like newer sharks that are showing up? Like new newer types? Because aren't there like tiger and like well, yeah.
SPEAKER_03So they're tiger and bull sharks are responsible for most of the attacks.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, they're like dangerous sharks.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but these other sharks I just mentioned, they are also dangerous and they they they have large populations in the area.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um So there have been hundreds of shark attacks just in this area alone. Why would you swim there? Um, well okay, so I was thinking about this. There, so I read an article in the New York Times by this surfer chick that lives in New Smyrna. She wrote, I don't know if it was like an op-ed, but she was just saying, like, it's just normal to see sharks. If you're if you live there, if you swim, people see sharks every time they swim. And it's just like whatever.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, they're like accustomed to it. It doesn't bother them.
SPEAKER_03Well, so here in Vermont during the summer, especially, it's normal to see a bear.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03It's totally normal. Like I had bears basically camping out in my on my property all summer. I like to be.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, and trying to attack Rocco, your dog.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I lived in like Bear Nation.
SPEAKER_06I would be so scared to like take walks in your area.
SPEAKER_03Oh, well, so uh so many people in my community would say, like, oh, I went on, you know, I went for a bike ride or a hike and I saw a bear and cubs. Like, it's just normal to see bear in the wild here, and you know what to do unless you're a total moron.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So in the same way that people that live in that area and, you know, go swimming at their local beaches, they know what to do. They know not to panic. They know they're probably not going to get attacked.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03You know, they know to like, I mean, I'm not exactly sure how to handle a shark sighting, but you know, like here with bears, like you know to like back away, you know, not run, you know, to make like a lot of noise if they're coming towards you. Like, yeah, it's pretty, it's pretty rare to have an actual like altercation with a bear.
SPEAKER_06Do you bring bear spray with you everywhere you go?
SPEAKER_03I don't bring walks. No, I bring a bear horn.
SPEAKER_06Oh, I've never even, I didn't even know that was a thing.
SPEAKER_03It's a little, it looks like a little canister of spray, but it's actually a super loud, terrible horn.
SPEAKER_06So it just like scares them off.
SPEAKER_03It totally I've never had to use it, but I like if I go for a hike, um, I'll bring it with me. Or even like if we just go to the local little lake and go fishing or something, I have in my my back.
SPEAKER_06That's smart. I'm glad you have something. But just in case.
SPEAKER_03Like, you know, all summer when I would go for walks and stuff, just on the road, I'm on back roads. I was super on edge because you just never know when a fucking bear is going to just start heading towards you from the woods.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, if I ever take walks with you there, I'm gonna bring like a lot of things because I just I would be so scared.
SPEAKER_03But it really isn't that big of a deal. Like the chance of a bear attacking you, and I think, you know, statistically, in places like New Smyrna, you're probably not gonna get attacked by a shark if you're swimming. They're they're not gonna touch you, they're gonna swim near you, and yeah, you know, so same kind of mentality. Yeah. Um another little stat is uh since 1882, a third of all the shark attacks in the world have happened in New Smyrna.
SPEAKER_06Wow. Smyrna.
SPEAKER_03A third. A third.
SPEAKER_06That's crazy.
SPEAKER_03An attack could be as simple as like the shark like bumping you with its like mouth to see what you are. That's that that is considered an attack. So keep that in mind.
SPEAKER_06Really? Like just a little nudge, like hey. How do I okay?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, because they're technically touching you and they they didn't run into you, like they are seeing what you are.
SPEAKER_06Are they touching you with their nose or their teeth?
SPEAKER_03Their nose, or like they kind of take a nibble of you and ew.
SPEAKER_06Can can they smell you? Can they tell, but can they smell?
unknownI don't know.
SPEAKER_03I yeah, I think they can because sharks can sense blood in the water. Yeah. Is that a smell thing? Or I don't know. Yeah, I should, I don't, I didn't look that up.
SPEAKER_06I'm just trying to picture like it tapping, like I can tell, like it makes sense for them to take a chunk out of you to see like what you are, because usually if they find out you're a human, they're like, never mind. But like just bumping into you, that's like I don't get that, but all right.
SPEAKER_03So okay, so we will get to that also. I have more about that. Okay, okay, so here's some more numbers for you.
SPEAKER_07Oh gosh.
SPEAKER_03There have been there have been 183 recorded fatal shark attacks in the US.
SPEAKER_06What?
SPEAKER_03In the history of the US, 183? Yes, 183-ish deaths.
SPEAKER_06And that's like just recorded. Like, think about like back in the day. Yeah, so that's probably we don't even have those.
SPEAKER_03It's around that number. Yeah. Um, the majority have happened in Florida and Hawaii. Okay. And Florida has had around 40 of them. Wow. Because you know, shark attacks, fatal shark attacks are still super rare.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, so we don't have 2020 stats yet, obviously. But in 2019, worldwide, there were 64 unprovoked shark attacks on humans and five fatalities.
SPEAKER_06That's like a really big number, 64 shark attacks, and then five, like for shark attacks.
SPEAKER_03Actually, so 2019, there were less shark attacks than usual. Usually it's like more in the 80s and 90s every year.
SPEAKER_06Ew.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Weird. Um, in the scheme of things, that's not like a bad thing.
SPEAKER_03Well, it's so, it's so it's such a small percentage of the people on earth that are in the ocean every day, you know. Um, so most shark attacks involve that exploratory bite we talked about. So basically the shark bites you, grabs onto you with its teeth, like figures out it doesn't want to eat you, releases you, and leaves you with that like half moon formation of teeth gashes that you've seen on TV, probably. Yep.
SPEAKER_06Also, really quick, if you if if this shark is like a great white though, you're probably dead if it tries to figure out what you are and takes a bite because it's so big and so aggressive.
SPEAKER_03Yes, and you know what? This all of like the shark attacks with Florida, yeah, involve no great whites, by the way.
SPEAKER_06That's crazy.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so um, this is appropriate for this episode, also. You're more likely to get struck by lightning than to be killed by a shark.
SPEAKER_06No way, yeah. That's insane. I know also pop quiz. Most people think the most like one of the most dangerous like animals like in the world is a shark, but guess what it is?
SPEAKER_03What a mosquito? Yeah, yeah, I knew that.
SPEAKER_06Okay, well, I was trying to quiz you.
SPEAKER_03Wow, I'm just too smart. I know. Um, okay, so when you're swimming in the ocean in Florida or you're on a boat, you're largely unaware of just of just how many sharks there are around you and under you.
SPEAKER_06You're unaware?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, like you really don't know.
SPEAKER_06See, that's the thing. How many times have I been swimming in the ocean and maybe there was like five sharks under me, and I just didn't know?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Ew. Um I that's why I don't swim in the ocean. It's such a like gamble. Yeah. Um, and bull sharks are the number one killer in Florida, fatal.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, they're really aggressive.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_06And I wonder why. Like they they must they're just assholes.
SPEAKER_03I hate them. Um, okay, so in 2019, um in New Smyrna Beach area, there was a colder ocean current or upwelling. So an upwelling is when cold, nutrient-rich water from the bottom of the ocean rises to the surface and it's cloudy and it's filled with food that attracts bait fish. Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And this attracts sharks.
SPEAKER_07Yep.
SPEAKER_03So this happened in July last year. Um, and this brought a lot of sharks closer to shore. Okay. Like at the peak summer month when the most people are on the beach.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, that's weird. It's uh it's always weird, also, like in water, like when you're swimming, like that the cold is like maybe it's like really warm up top, and then your feet are like freezing, so all of that like rose up.
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Um, also a really dangerous place in terms of sharks to to be in the ocean is the sandbar. Did you know?
SPEAKER_06It's so weird because I thought it would be safer at the sandbar because like no, okay.
SPEAKER_03So if if you don't know what a sandbar is, because some people, I mean, I like technically know what it is, I guess, but I had to look up the definition. Um it's a long, narrow sandbank. It's also called an offshore bar. Um, it's a submerged or partly exposed ridge of sand or coarse sediment that is built by waves offshore from a beach. The swirling turbulence of waves breaking off a beach excavates a uh truff. Is that how you say that? A tru a trough in the sandy bottom.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I don't know, but that makes sense. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So sandbars are a good are great hunting grounds for sharks because fish fish that they eat tend to gather on and around the sandbar. So the sandbar is not where you want to be.
SPEAKER_06Oh, that's great because I was on a sandbar this year in the middle of the ocean thinking I was fine, which was after the shark attack, being like, oh, I'm not gonna get killed here.
SPEAKER_03No, no, no. Yeah. I mean, you we really have to like figure out your high-risk behaviors. We really we need to sit down and make a list and figure out how you can be safer next summer.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_03You really stress me out. You're like on a boat all summer in the ocean.
SPEAKER_05Uh oh my god, I thought the sandbar was safe.
SPEAKER_03No, it's not. Um, okay, so let's get into the shark attacks.
SPEAKER_05Oh god.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so the first recorded shark attack in Florida history was in September of 1845.
SPEAKER_06Okay.
SPEAKER_03A man by the name of Nickerson um is that's all they gave me for his name.
SPEAKER_06I just like the way you said it.
SPEAKER_03Nickerson. Um, so a man, Nickerson, is drawing a sane net. A sane net, uh S-E-I-N-E. Uh-huh. Um, it's a fishing net that hangs vertically in vertically in the water with floats at the top and weights at the bottom near the edge. Yeah. And then you edges are drawn together to encircle the fish. You've seen it, you know.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, so this, he's doing this near Pensacola, which is the westernmost city in the Florida panhandle, like on the border with Alabama. Um I'm assuming he's in a boat and he's lifting the net, and out of nowhere, a shark seizes him out of the boat. Stop. And kills him. No, he's in a boat. He's in like a little boat. What kind of shark was this? A great white? It's unknown. They don't know.
SPEAKER_06It must have been a great white because like I don't know about that.
SPEAKER_03I don't know.
SPEAKER_06There's no Does you know how like great whites can jump really high and eat their fish? That's what I'm thinking, or eat their whatever.
SPEAKER_03It I could have been, I don't know. There was it's a lot of these stories um from like you know, in the 1800s and 1900s, they don't know what kind of shark it was.
SPEAKER_06Right.
SPEAKER_03They just didn't have the they didn't have the technology to um tell by the bite marks and other factors. Okay, so um did someone like watch him get eaten by this, or was he like I don't know if there was a witness or if they put two and two together that he was in the boat, he was lifting the net out, and the shark just came up and like ripped him out of the boat, basically.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, there must have been some kind of witness, I'm assuming.
SPEAKER_03Maybe, yeah. Okay, so um a couple years later in 1849, um, same area of Pensacola, a woman by the name of Mrs. Crackton, and this is literally what it says in Wikipedia, was bathing with another woman.
SPEAKER_05Okay, like the ocean.
SPEAKER_06Oh, okay, bathing.
SPEAKER_03Um, so I don't know what I'm I'm imagining two women in like their little like silk dressing gowns.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, and I you know how they call it bathing suits, so it's probably like their term for bait, like oh, maybe they meant swimming.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but it's a bathing with another woman. Okay. Um, so they're bathing, and um, a shark comes out of nowhere, bites her, and pulls her into deeper water. Ew. Um, um a man who's also on the beach, he was probably watching them.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03That this is making sense now. I think this guy was watching them. That's how he was so close, right? Um, he his name was Mr. Mansfield. Okay. He hears the screaming and he runs into the water to try to save them.
SPEAKER_06Oh, that's heroic.
SPEAKER_03So he saves the other woman, that the bathing companion.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_03But then while trying to save Mrs. Crackton, he himself gets killed by the shark.
SPEAKER_05What?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So Mrs. Crackton's mutilated body washes ashore the next day, and Mr. Mansfield's body is never recovered. Although scraps of his clothing later wash ashore, leaving little doubt that he was devoured by sharks. Like plural. So this was like a feeding frenzy.
SPEAKER_06That's what I was gonna say. Like, if one of them, if the shark has like one chick, like I would assume there was another shark that got the other guy.
SPEAKER_03That I guess that's what um they concluded from the evidence when they found. Yeah. God.
SPEAKER_06That other bathing lady is really lucky.
SPEAKER_03She's super lucky. Don't bathe with your female friend in the ocean and let your guard down. I wonder how far out they were. I don't think they were that far out.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, okay. Couple years later, there's two more deaths from people falling in into the water and getting killed. Um, so 1854, Captain George Jacob Homschelt is knocked overboard near Fernandina Beach. Um, that's the northernmost city on the Atlantic coast of Florida. And he just gets eaten by a shark. He falls overboard and a shark eats him. Oh no. Like, what the fuck? Yeah, that doesn't sound pleasant. Um, and then in 1883, the same thing happens to the son of a captain. He falls off a boat um near Pensacola. The other men on the boat hear screaming, they run over to where the boy had fallen, and all they see is a red cloud in the water.
SPEAKER_05Oh no.
SPEAKER_03Um, they find his body eventually, but it's missing the head and the limbs. So it was just like a torso that they found.
SPEAKER_06Like, wouldn't the shark like take a bite of the head and be like, this isn't a seal? Why would it go after the legs again?
SPEAKER_03Maybe, maybe they bit the head off and then like spit it out, or maybe they ate it.
SPEAKER_06You know, the thing is, is like that's the thing. Like, I know they per don't like human taste, but there has to be some sharks out there that were just starving that ate it anyway.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. I mean you know what I mean? Like that's the thing. Like, we're told, you know, sharks are not these dangerous creatures, they you're not their main source of food. It's like, of course, we're not the main source of food because our habitat isn't in the ocean. Yeah, but sharks have eaten people, like they do, they do it, so stop pretending. Yeah, you know, like I don't know if it's like you know, that'll do for tonight. If I I'll just eat this human because I can't find something better.
SPEAKER_05That'll do.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's like when you're too tired to cook and so you get McDonald's or something. You know what I mean? But it's like it still happens. I am I get so irritated by these like shark activists that are like sharks are they it they don't mean to slaughter you.
SPEAKER_06It's like I think they did do it for tonight.
SPEAKER_03I mean, God also, okay. So what they thought I was a seal, and you know, it's like they still attacked me, yeah.
SPEAKER_05So like they still ate you.
SPEAKER_03Let's stop, let's stop with the the shark apologies, okay?
SPEAKER_06I hate sharks, I hate them, but they are a big part of our ecosystem, B.
SPEAKER_03Whatever, okay. Um, okay, so 1887. Um, this dude, James Edward Hamilton, is trying to cross the Hillsborough Inlet in, I think it's pronounced Pompano Beach, um, which is between Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton. Okay. And there's a witness on the shore, and um this witness sees, he's a fisherman, he sees sharks attacking Hamilton's boat, and Hamilton is trying to fight off the sharks with his oars.
SPEAKER_06Oh, so he's like in a small rowboat, yeah, like a smaller boat. Um also, why are the sharks like attacking this boat when it clearly isn't meat?
SPEAKER_03I haven't that's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. Sharks will just like start ganging up on a boat because they know a human's inside. Like, don't tell me that they, you know, maybe they thought he was a seal. It doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_06Like a seal rowing a boat. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03They're evil, evil little bastards.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_03So Hamilton ends up getting knocked out of the boat. Um, they eat him. He they eat him. He also they rem they eat his head and limbs and leave his torso. Ugh. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06I just like wanted an app. They didn't want like the the dinner.
SPEAKER_03I guess, yeah. They were like which is weird because well, I guess there's more there's more meat on your legs, probably. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Um, okay, so this is getting creepy when we're like, there's more meat on your legs. I know. Killer earth, killer earth.
SPEAKER_03Um I'm not gonna go through every single attack. There's a couple that are just boring. Okay, um, all right, so 1902, um, a male carrier is canoeing at Mosquito Inlet, which is now it's be, it's it's renamed um Ponce de Leon Inlet. It's right above New Smyrna Beach. His canoe is swept out to sea by the current, and his boat capsizes. His body is later found with its limbs uh missing. Um, so he was for sure eaten by a shark.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, 1907, a man named Belton Larkin is fishing in a small skiff, which is a shallow, flat-bottomed open boat with a sharp bow and square stern. Um, in Punta Gorda, which is below Port Charlotte on the west coast of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico side. Um, a bull shark nearby is chasing a tarpon, which is a large fish. Okay. And the shark jumps into the skiff.
SPEAKER_07No.
SPEAKER_03And like breaks it in half. Great. The boat. Then it bites Larkin in half.
SPEAKER_06No.
SPEAKER_03And eats him.
SPEAKER_06That's great. Not kidding. This is just so now I can't even swim in the ocean, let alone be in a boat.
SPEAKER_03You can't sit in your boat. No, you're not safe in the boat. Um great.
SPEAKER_062020 wasn't worse enough.
unknownI know.
SPEAKER_03Um, so there's a lot of other deaths that happen um where people fall off boats or they're just like swimming and they, you know, they get attacked and they they either like get eaten or they get a bad enough bite that they bleed out before they can get medical help.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um 1917, William Sinker is doing some kind of like diving demo, like diving off of a pier in front of hundreds of people.
SPEAKER_06Okay.
SPEAKER_03It's supposed to be like this like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, like, hello, my baby, hello, my honey. Yeah, like some like fun time die, you know, he's probably wearing one of those like striped bodysuits for men. Yeah, yeah, like the onesies. Um he it so in Key West, he dives off of like the pier or whatever and is killed by a shark right away. It just eats him in front of all those in front of hundreds of spectators.
SPEAKER_06Oh my god.
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_06Great. So jumping off docks, I can't do that either.
SPEAKER_03So no, you cannot laundry list is winning. Yep. Um, 1922, an 18-year-old girl named Dorothy Dorothy McLatchie um is swimming near a municipal dock in St. Petersburg, which is right below Tampa on the west coast of Florida. Okay. Um, she is killed by what a witness says is a monster fish, because I guess this person doesn't know what a shark is. Um, and her body is later found floating by the dock. Oh god. Yeah. Um 1928, two young stowaway boys on a ship in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida jump off the ship and attempt to swim to the shore, and they are eaten by sharks.
SPEAKER_04Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03Um then there are a few more attacks of just people um swimming. So a couple of attacks in the 30s. Um I guess if it happens in like the um it can it's considered a Florida shark attack if it happens off the coast of Florida.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_03In in like a certain area.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_03So like um July 18th, 1943, um the crew of a a plane that was shot down by a U-boat um is like waiting in the ocean to be safe. Oh gosh. And be right before they're rescued, one of the um Petty Office, his name was Petty Officer, Officer Isidore Stessel. He's eaten by a shark in the ocean. Right. So it's like they weren't in Florida, but they were like off the coast. So it counts.
SPEAKER_06So it counts as a yeah.
SPEAKER_03Jurisdiction. That was that was the word I was saying when I had that awkward pause. Okay, so now we're getting into oh, so 1947. Um, 20-year-old Ralph Reginald Rives Jr. goes for a swim in a canal 10 miles north of St. Augustine, which is on the East Coast. His leg is severely mangled by a bite from a bull shark. Um so you know, bull sharks are known to enter rivers and canals from the ocean.
SPEAKER_06I mean, that makes sense because there's a ton of those like canals. Like even in yeah, like Fort Lauderville.
SPEAKER_03When I went, it's like so many canals from the ocean, like are just like kind of so it's like that brackish water where freshwater meets salt water, and bull sharks are into that.
SPEAKER_06They can be in there out of the the freshwater, are you sharks?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, um, okay, 1951. 23-year-old William J. Dandridge is scuba diving and spear fishing nine miles east of Key Biscayne, which is off the coast of Miami. And they don't know if it was a bull or a tiger shark, but it basically bites off the entire left side of his body and kills him.
SPEAKER_06Great.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um, this was a weird one. I couldn't find anything about this, but 1974, um, in July, um 10-year-old Billy Horn is on a yacht in the Gulf when the yacht catches on fire and sinks. And I don't know if he was just the only survivor because he's 10, so he's not like taking his yacht out for the day by himself.
SPEAKER_06Right.
SPEAKER_03Um, he's so while adrift, um, an oceanic white-tipped shark eats him, kills him. Oh, how sad.
SPEAKER_06Well, like I think it's funny how you're like, I don't know if he's the only survivor, but he clearly didn't survive.
SPEAKER_03No, no, I meant from like from the fire. From the fire. Yeah, I know. I know what you mean.
SPEAKER_06But yeah, that's terrible. That's awful.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. This is another one that I don't quite understand, or I'm just like disappointed in her judgment. Um, August 10th, 1981, 19-year-old Christy Wapniarsky takes a catamaran out by herself for a sail off the coast of Daytona Beach. Um, and it capsizes. Oh gosh. Um, so I guess she chills out on the capsized catamaran until daybreak, until the light comes up, and then she tries to swim back to shore because she feels she thinks like, you know, because you know you never swim at night in the ocean, especially. Um because of sharks. Because of sharks, it's like it's worse.
SPEAKER_06Um are they nocturnal?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and I think that's like more they feed at night more, so or something.
SPEAKER_06So she like is just like, I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_03She's like, Yeah, I'll just I'll like daybreak. Yeah, like I'll sit on this sink, this floating catamaran, even though it's capsized. So she's swimming back to shore and a shark kills her. Great. Either a tiger or a bull shark.
SPEAKER_06Also, I feel like early morning, like daybreak and sunset is also a bad time to swim.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think I've heard that too. And that's when she chose to swim.
SPEAKER_06This is where we need Kate's input because she's like a fisher woman and she knows all that where all the fish are.
SPEAKER_03Well, I'm sure she'll enjoy this episode.
SPEAKER_06Okay.
SPEAKER_03You know, yeah. Um, okay. Uh September 15th, 1981. 26-year-old Mark Meeker is swimming between Anna Maria Island and Egmont Key State Park in Tampa Bay. Um, he is found dead the next day, I guess on one of the shores of one of the islands. Um, he had bull shark bites, and he had used the drawstring from his swimming trunks to try to make a makeshift tourniquet on his right calf, but he bled to death before anyone found him.
SPEAKER_06Oh, yeah. And also you're like bleeding in the water, so it's probably gonna attract more sharks.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_06That would be like my huge fear, like getting bit, but also just like floating out there, like bleeding.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, totally.
SPEAKER_06You're like, yeah, bait.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so then um there are four more um like diving and snorkeling related shark death or shark attack fatalities in the 80s. Um, just like people um diving like not far from shore and getting murdered.
SPEAKER_06Well, that's another thing you have to have the inner calm with is like again scuba diving, but like with sharks. Like I I don't know how you do that and stay calm.
SPEAKER_03No. So Alex, my friend, who's a diver, she was like dives with sharks or has many times, and it doesn't even phase her. I know, and I was like, what the hell? Like, what do you mean you're diving around sharks? She's like, they're fine, they don't bother you. Oh my god, whatever.
SPEAKER_06Oh my gosh, Alex, you're a brave one.
SPEAKER_03She's very brave. Um, okay. Um, a nine-year-old boy is killed in 1998 by a tiger shark when he's just like minding his own business swimming um off the coast of Vero Beach, which is like central Florida on the Atlantic side. That's so sad. I know. Okay, this one made me like sad. Um, not that the other ones didn't, but August 30th, 2000, 69-year-old Thaddeus Kubinski um has his house is right on the ocean and he has a dock right behind his house. And every morning he would go for a swim. It was like his thing. Yeah. So this particular morning, um, and this happens in Pinellas County. I don't know where that is. I should have looked up on the map. Um, he jumps off his dock like he does every day into the ocean. There's witnesses that are hanging out on like their docks near, I guess.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03The witnesses see him swimming, and then they see a nine-foot, 400-pound bull shark with its dorsal fin out of the water. No, racing towards him like fucking jaw, like jaws. Okay.
SPEAKER_05No.
SPEAKER_03So they start screaming, but like it's he's by the time he realizes what's happening, um, the shark has already gotten to him. Um, he bites him, and um Thaddeus dies from massive blood loss and organ damage before 911 can even get there.
SPEAKER_06That is so sad. What an asshole shark. I'm that's probably going so fast.
SPEAKER_03Like that delinquent. Like, and they the article said something about how him jumping into the ocean as opposed to like walking in, probably is the reason the shark noticed him because he made a big splash.
SPEAKER_06Okay, so that's good to know. So like don't jump, like quietly get in.
SPEAKER_03No cannonballs, cat. No cannonballs. Okay, damn it. This is getting worse. You're ruining my swimming. Yeah, your your summer activities are gonna be pretty limited next year. Um, okay, a couple more. September 16th, 2001. 42-year-old Eric Reichert is diving and exploring the wreck of the Ronald B. Johnson show.
SPEAKER_06Okay, first of all, don't explore rucks if you don't want to get eaten by a shark. But anyway, go ahead.
SPEAKER_03Right. So this is 270 feet deep, um, and it's two miles up the coast of Pompano Beach. Um, so this one sucks. He's he's exploring the wreck. They don't know if it was a bull or a tiger shark, but basically, this dude, Eric, he actually fights the shark off. He doesn't get bit. Like he defends himself, but he drops his diving regulator out of his mouth. So he drowns in the attack.
SPEAKER_06Wow, uh that's stupid.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but they found his body and he didn't know. Isn't that terrible?
SPEAKER_06That's so terrible. He like already survived a shark attack, and then that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that sucks. I'm sorry. Okay, so this one. I remember when this happened. This one freaked me out. June 25th, 2005. 14-year-old Jamie Marie Daigle is swimming with a friend um on boogie, they have boogie boards. They're they're near Dustin, Florida, which is like in the center of the panhandle.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03The girls were about 200 yards out in the water when Jamie's left leg is completely bitten off by I remember this one. Yeah. Six to eight foot bull shark. I remember this in the news. I I was in college.
SPEAKER_06Um 15 years ago, but I do remember like it being in Dustin.
SPEAKER_03Um yeah, and this girl was like this cute, she was just like this cute, like 14-year-old like teenager, happy go lucky, like having fun on vacation with her friend. Yeah, horrible. And so she bleeds out on the beach before I can transport her anywhere. So awful. So the last fatal attack that has happened in Florida actually was in 2010. So there that's a long time ago.
SPEAKER_06So there's been nothing in 10 years.
SPEAKER_03There's been a lot of attacks. There's just hundreds of attacks, but there's been no deaths since 2010. Good.
SPEAKER_06But there were some in like North Carolina, right?
SPEAKER_03There were other um attacks. But this is in Florida. Yeah. Um, so the last fatal attack happened on February 3rd, 2010. 38-year-old Stephen Howard Schaefer is kitesurfing um around 4 15 p.m., about 500 yards off the coast of uh Stuart Beach, um, which is uh like above West Palm Beach. But he's he's kitesurfing off an unguarded section of the beach, so there's no lifeguard monitoring what he's doing. Yeah. He's attacked by a bull shark and suffers a fatal bite to the leg. And I what I read was when rescuers get to where he is, um, he's being eaten by like several sharks. Eating his body.
SPEAKER_06Great. Yeah, I don't like several sharks, let alone one.
SPEAKER_03But I think he might have been already dead at that point. I'm not sure. Yeah, so those I skipped several that were just like I said, just like someone was swimming and got eaten. But those those are the um Florida shark attacks. That's the history of Florida shark attacks.
SPEAKER_06Wow, that was amazing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, interesting, right?
SPEAKER_06It's well, you ruined my summer.
SPEAKER_03Um you're just gonna have to go to the lake like a normal, rational person.
SPEAKER_06I do like my um cousin's lake a lot, little Sabago.
SPEAKER_03So I'll yeah, but lakes are beautiful and they're like fresh water. Yeah, I don't know. I just like the ocean.
SPEAKER_06I know, but um, okay. Can't you like fight off a shark by punching it in the nose or poking out eyes? Is that how you do it? Like if you are in a situation.
SPEAKER_03So if you're ever being attacked, you want to go for the nose and the eyes, like punching, poking.
SPEAKER_06It's so hard to do that when their mouths are open trying to get you.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, like you're really not gonna do well.
SPEAKER_06Like that's why I'm mad about the guy who drowned instead of like he fought off the shark and probably knew what to do.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um, do you remember the movie The Beach?
SPEAKER_06Of course. Leonardo DiCaprio, so hot, and that movie was awesome.
SPEAKER_03I um do you remember that horribly graphic shark attack with the the two fishermen from like Sweden or something?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, that was filmed in Thailand, actually. That was the beach I was like gonna try to go to, but it was closed off due to like too much traffic and yeah. But um, it's Maya Bay, I believe, but it's like the most beautiful water, and it's like so crazy that shark attack. Like, I kept thinking about that scene.
SPEAKER_03So there's another scene where Leo D gets attacked, and remember, he punches the shark in the eyes and nose.
SPEAKER_06In the eyes, yep.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and that's how he allegedly survives. You know what this is kind of off subject, but back to the beach. You know what really bothers me? A plot hole in that movie.
SPEAKER_06Which one?
SPEAKER_03When the two fishermen are one of them dies and the other one needs medical attention.
SPEAKER_07Yep.
SPEAKER_03And I think her name's Lil, the leader of like the cult.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, she Tilda Swinton plays her. She is like, we can't bring doctors here. I know for obvious reasons. But then she's like, Well, we can't bring doctors here, but he won't get on a boat, so we can't bring him to the mainland. Yeah, and it's like, or because he is missing a leg and really isn't in any position to be making medical decisions for himself, just put him in the boat and take him. Like, I never understood why. Um, they were like, Oh no, what do we do? He's too scared to it's like, yes, he just he's he was just attacked by a shark and saw his best friend. He's probably not wanting to get into a boat. You guys should still probably put him in one, though.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_03And then they leave him in the woods in that tent by himself to die.
SPEAKER_06I didn't like the leader of the cult, she was like really weird.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, she was the she was the villain.
SPEAKER_06Um, and then the other scene I really don't like about that movie is when like Leo's like in the woods and he's like tripping on something, and it's just like really weird.
SPEAKER_03Oh, and it turns into like a video game.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I didn't like I didn't like that.
SPEAKER_03I love that movie though. I watched that movie over and over and over again.
SPEAKER_06I kind of want to watch it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's such a good movie. I was a because it was it was the I think it was the second movie that came out after Titanic. So everyone was like, we have Leo to watch this. Yeah, everyone wanted more Leo.
SPEAKER_06Oh, I always want more Leo. Me too.
SPEAKER_03Well, Cat.
SPEAKER_06I think we can have him as a guest to talk about global warming.
SPEAKER_03I think we could.
unknownOh my gosh.
SPEAKER_06I'm sure we know I wouldn't be able to talk though, I'd just be like drooling and I would die.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_06So you would have to do all the talking.
SPEAKER_03I can take, I can take one for the team.
SPEAKER_06Oh my gosh. Well, that was a really fun episode. Oh my gosh, this was great.
SPEAKER_03I learned so much about lightning. Thank you.
SPEAKER_06I learned so much about all of these shark attacks that I had no idea of.
SPEAKER_03I loved speaking with Ludo, that was amazing.
SPEAKER_06Oh, isn't it great?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_06We're just so educating ourselves on.
SPEAKER_03We really are, we really are. So we'll be back in a couple days with another episode, but until then, we are gonna go. We're gonna be gone, and you won't hear from us.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_03That's weird. Oh right, Kat, I love you more than sunsets. I love you more than shark attacks. Thanks. That's really cool. Okay. Bye.