A snorkeler, whose father says he was pulled underwater by a shark, has died.
Grant Eney was enjoying his spring break just off of Islamorada’s Founders Park, Florida last March 6.
The 21-year-old and his friend Grant Eney were underwater searching for lobster near a rocky ledge when Eney decided to return to the boat with his catch.
Around 3:30 p.m. he reached the boat, Eney realized that his friend was not with him and alerted the boy’s father Craig and girlfriend Morgan Patrician.
The three began searching for Eney and found him floating unconscious in Florida Bay.
Eney was brought to the surface and was still alive when he was taken to Mariner’s hospital.
He was transferred to Miami’s Baptist Hospital that night but was declared brain dead on Saturday and passed away on Sunday.
Craig Eney believes a shark may have grabbed his son’s lobster bag and drug him to the bottom.
A Miami-Dade County medical examiner said there were no wounds or signs of a direct interaction with a shark and listed the official cause of death as drowning.
It is plausible that a shark could have grabbed the bag and either held the snorkeler underwater or drug him so deep he was unable to return to the surface.
Sharks have been know to go after speared fish in collection bags and as such Tracking Sharks advises all divers and snorkelers not to attach collection bags, game bags or dive flags to their body.
Tracking Sharks is directly familiar with a diver who was holding the line of her dive flag while around 30-feet deep. All of a sudden the line was ripped out of her hand by someone in a boat who was stealing the safety flag. Had the line been secured to her body, she would have been rapidly pulled to the surface which could have lead to serious dive related injury.
In addition, there is debate on whether a spearfisher should give up their catch or fight off the shark. Some suggest that giving up the fish will teach the sharks to associate people with food, while others say to give up the fish and pay the so called tax man.
The location has been marked on the 2014 Shark Attack Tracking Map.
