Great White Attacks Swimmer Who Ignored Warnings

A reminder to those who like to buck authority: You should at least heed warnings related to great white sharks. A 42-year-old British expat had parts of both his legs bitten off in an attack in Cape Town today, after going for a swim though shark warning flags were flying, reports the Telegraph. Michael Cohen was about 150 feet from shore at Fish Hoek beach when the great white struck; he was apparently dragged out of the water by friends and airlifted to a hospital.

"It repeatedly bit at both of his legs and caused serious wounds on both the right and left side," said a National Sea Rescue Institute rep. "When medical teams arrived, they found the swimmer with his right leg bit off above the knee and the left leg bit off below the knee." Witnesses say three great whites had been been spotted nearby just 90 minutes before Cohen was attacked, and the beach was then closed. MSNBC reports that Cohen was the only swimmer in the water; a shark spotter reportedly tried to get him out, but didn't get to him in time. A video of a shark was taken in the area just after the attack. (More great white shark stories.)