Former Florida Resident Wails on Tiger Shark, Saves Friend

Growing up in the Florida Panhandle town of Niceville seems to have taught Brian Wargo a thing or two about sharks.

When the surfer’s friend, McKenzie Clark, was attacked by a tiger shark in Keawaeli Bay, Hawaii, last Friday, Wargo knew just what to do.

He paddled out to her, grabbed the shark’s dorsal fin, pulled the creature off her board and hit it.

“I hit it probably four times and it just kept going at her,” the Northwest Florida Daily News quoted him as saying. “I hit it as hard as I could. I thought my hand was going to break.”

His effort, however, paid off when the shark finally gave up.

The shark was estimated to be between 12 and 15 feet in length, according to USA Today.

Wargo is convinced the creature would have killed his friend had he not intervened.

“Its intent was to eat my friend right in front of me, and I wasn’t going to let that happen,” the paper quoted Wargo as saying.

Clark managed to escape with only damage to her left hand.

While there hasn’t been a fatal shark attack in Florida since 2010, the summer of 2014 has seen several highly publicized attacks. The total number of confirmed, unprovoked attacks in the state between 1882 and 2013 comes in at 687. The number of fatalities is logged at 11, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Tiger sharks, by the way, are a common species in Florida’s waters, according to the state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The creatures can be found in the open ocean, shallow bays and river mouths.

They are “voracious feeders that will eat just about anything,” the state’s website states. “Stomach contents have been reported to include sea turtles, many species of bony fish, marine birds, other sharks, porpoises, skates, rays, conchs, crabs, and garbage (for example, pieces of coal and wood, burlap bags, small barrels, cans).”

They can grow up to 18 feet in length and weigh up to 2,000 pounds.

See Also:

• Shark Bites Girl in Florida Waters
• Hammerhead Shark Causes Panic on Florida Beach
• Florida Named Scariest State in America
• Fisherman Bitten by Shark in Panhandle Waters
• Florida Shark Attack Prime Time is Now