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Only in New York, kids. Only in New York

zuzu

Via Lauren comes this tale of what happens when you put a shark among a bunch of New Yorkers:

A lifeguard saved a shark from a mob of panicking swimmers off a beach on New York’s Coney Island.

Marius Mironescu grabbed the 2ft sand shark in his arms and swam out to sea with it, reports the New York Daily News.

“There must have been 75 to 100 people circled around the shark in the water and they were bugging out,” said Mr Mironescu, 39, of Brooklyn.

“They were holding on to it and some people were actually hitting him, smacking his face. Well, I wasn’t going to let them hurt the poor thing.”

He carried the shark – a baby and harmless to humans – to a less populated area and started backstroking out to sea, dragging the shark with one hand.

“He was making believe like he’s dead, then he wiggled his whole body and tried to bite me. He didn’t get it,” added Mr Mironescu.

Tough crowd.

21 thoughts on Only in New York, kids. Only in New York

  1. If someone turns this thread into another animal rights thread, I might have to take drastic measures. I don’t know what they would be, but they’d happen. 🙂

  2. Poor shark. I like sharks much more than I like children and animal rights activists.
    Their insides are gross though. Full of oil and their livers are huge. I had to dissect one.

  3. This is like that thing in TV news where they go from the report on the latest brutal sectarian violence in Iraq to a story about a puppy rescued from a tree. Except, you know, way weirder. 🙂

  5. The poor thing! A 2ft. shark isn’t gonna hurt no one. Crazy-ass New Yorkers. Talk about being removed from your environment.

  6. When we lived in Hawaii, I would take my dog (a lab) to Honeymoon Beach at Hickam AFB to swim. I’d stand about ankle deep in the water and throw the tennis ball for her out to the deep water. She loved it. Swimming at my ankles was baby hammerhead sharks. It was no big deal in the shallow water. In nearby shallows we saw sea cucumbers and rays and eels.

    We live in Va Beach now. Both my boys surf. They both know that they are infringing on the territory of the sea life and not the other way around.

    It ain’t a pool, people. Its the edge of the wild. If you see a shark, get out of the water and leave it to its business.

  11. The were punching a 2ft sand shark?

    “Tough,” no. I’m torn between “moronic” and “bullying,” but I’m thinking they’re a combination of both.

    Oh, and yeah, what EKSwitaj said, too.

  15. The real scary place to swim is, of course, near the Ponce Inlet around Daytona and New Smyrna, Florida, where the bull sharks breed. Whites are big enough to kill surfers that they bite just out of curiosity, but that’s actually pretty rare. Tigers kill almost anything they bite, but that’s even more rare. Bulls swim up rivers, turn over canoes and seem to really like swimmers. They outnumber all other species in attacks on humans by a lot to a little.

  16. The real scary place to swim is, of course, near the Ponce Inlet around Daytona and New Smyrna, Florida, where the bull sharks breed. Whites are big enough to kill surfers that they bite just out of curiosity, but that’s actually pretty rare. Tigers kill almost anything they bite, but that’s even more rare. Bulls swim up rivers, turn over canoes and seem to really like swimmers. They outnumber all other species in attacks on humans by a lot to a little.
    Yeah, bull sharks do scare me. There was a case of one swimming up a river in NJ in 1916 and killing several people. I can’t help but think about that every time I swim in the Shrewsbury (Sp?) river.

  17. Bulls swim up rivers, turn over canoes and seem to really like swimmers. They outnumber all other species in attacks on humans by a lot to a little.

    Yep — bull sharks are nasty, nasty pieces of work. Most fatal shark attacks are accidental (the Great White takes one bite, realizes you’re not a seal, and swims away, but that was one huge bite) but bull sharks will actually hunt humans.

    I love sharks … except bull sharks.

  18. ^I second the above. I remember a period of time around Daytona when shark bites were being referred to as “nibbles”. Curious sharks chomping on passerby with no intent to eat, lol!!!

    Poor baby shark. It’d freak me out but I’d just leave the water. 🙁

  20. Pingback: New Yorkers Vs. Shark « Our Descent Into Madness

  21. I always just thought sharks were sort of cold and scary since I’d only ever seen them on TV (nature shows and like that). I mean, I respected them — anything that has been around for as long as their species has deserves a ton of respect — I just didn’t have any other feelings for them other than “aaaaaaagh!” (If you look at their eyes on TV, they look almost dead, and that was the cold and scary part. Then there’s the teeth.) Then I got to see real ones at the Monteray Bay Aquarium, and they were SO COOL!! Beautiful, strong, and lithe — slipping through the water just effortlessly — the very image of a predator. And they were mostly little ones. The big Blue shark they had in the deep water tank was amazing. They suddenly got put in the same category as dolphins and whales — strong and beautiful creatures of the sea. (As opposed to the weird and cool creatures of the sea.)

    A 2-foot shark? You just back away from that baby slowly and no one needs to get hurt. Try not to bleed in its vicinity. Beating up on it is just *cruel*. Thank the Powers That Be for Mr. Mironescu!

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