Heroic Shark Attack Rescue Attempt

Swimmers Say They Had To Punch Animal As They Brought Girl To Shore

(CBS/AP)  An autopsy was planned for Monday, and a shark expert was invited to attend to help determine the type and size of the shark involved, said Walton County sheriff's Capt. Danny Glidewell.

Daigle, of Gonzales, La., had been vacationing with friends while the rest of her family was home.

After the attack Saturday, a 20-mile stretch of shore was closed to swimmers, with twin red flags warning people to stay out of the water, but beaches reopened Sunday with a double staff of sheriff's beach patrol officers, Glidewell said.

A makeshift memorial of painted sand dollars, a boogie board and a magnolia was created on the beach where Daigle was brought to shore. Someone wrote in the sand, "Bless U."

Residents of a condominium complex next to the beach where the girl was attacked said they spotted a shark that looked about 6 feet long Sunday morning.

"It was just right at the shoreline," said Jason Miller, who lives in a 10th-floor condo. He took pictures of the shark chasing fish while people stood in the white surf.

Florida averaged more than 30 shark attacks a year from 2000 to 2003, but there were only 12 attacks off the state's coast last year, according to statistics compiled by the American Elasmobranch Society and the Florida Museum of Natural History.

George Burgess, curator of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida, said Sunday that bull sharks are common in the area, are aggressive and can be found in shallow water. He said that of 500 documented attacks in Florida, the fatality rate was 2.4 percent.

"Sharks are one of many hazards that one may encounter when entering the sea," he said. "There is no reason to think that this is the beginning of a trend."

But other experts say those numbers will only go up, as more and more people crowd the beaches and head into the water.