Two injured in apparent shark attack at Gulf Shores, Alabama

GULF SHORES, Ala. - Two swimmers were attacked Friday morning in the Gulf of Mexico, apparently by a shark, and one man lost his right arm as a result.

Police closed a 30-mile stretch of public beaches to swimmers until further notice after Chuck Anderson, a vice principal and coach at Robertsdale High School, and Richard Whatley, a barber, were bitten around 6:45 a.m.

George Burgess of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida said that the attack was the first in the Gulf this year and the first unprovoked attack in Alabama waters in nearly 25 years.

The injured men, who apparently had gone swimming to train for a triathlon, were pulled to shore by nearby construction workers.

''Oh, my God, you should have seen it ... blood everywhere,'' said Bill Walters, one of the workers.

Anderson was in serious condition and Whatley was in stable condition at South Baldwin Regional Medical Center in Foley. Both men underwent surgery, spokeswoman Donna McFarland said.

Anderson lost his right arm above the elbow and Whatley was bitten on his hip and right arm, she said.

It's the height of the region's tourist season. Sunbathers flocked to the beaches, but none ventured into the choppy Gulf.

''This is as close to the water as I'm going to get,'' said Cindy Salter, 21, of Robertsdale, standing on the sidewalk.

It wasn't immediately known what kind of shark attacked the men. Bob Shipp, chairman of the marine science department at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, said it could have been a bull shark. The shark is known to frequent warm Gulf waters during summer months, he said.