I get lots of email from people who encounter various potentially dangerous marine life. Today I got an email from Jason Lasser, who was kiteboarding yesterday in South Florida and found his foot in contact with the mouth of a Spinner shark.
Jason had “…just started a downwinder from Singer Island, crossing the Palm Beach inlet, and collided with a spinner shark.”
His foot was lacerated and required surgery to repair nerves, tendons and an open wound (below).
Jason Lasser's foot after an unlucky encounter with a Spinner shark. Photo courtesy of Jason Lasser.
After surgery, it looks a lot better:
Jason's foot after surgery to repair damage done by the shark's teeth. Photo courtesy of Jason Lasser.
I asked Jason if the encounter was purely an accident or if he thought the shark was actively feeding and he just got in the way. He’s pretty sure it was a complete fluke. This is what he wrote:
Just two beings surfing the same wave (accidents happen). We were both cruising along, minding our own business and simply didn’t see each other. Absolutely no hard feelings, I hope he/she is OK (that’s one hard head they’ve got). Very impressed with how solid and stable it was in the water – I thought I hit concrete even though I was on an 8-10ft swell that was about to break, 100 yards from the shore.
I lifted my foot out of the water and looped the kite to the shore so fast my shorts fell off!
Jason displaying his trophy bloody foot while posing with his kiteboarding crew shortly after his visit with the shark. Nothing like a group photo before a trip to the hospital!
Read more details on Jason’s shark encounter and how it led to him having heart surgery several days later in this article that appeared in the Aspen Daily News.
Jason Lasser is a principal in the architect / design firm of Studio Aspen, in Aspen, Colorado.
When not kiting in the ocean, he does it in the snow:
