Penny Palfrey was released from hospital Tuesday morning after being hospitalised for a day and a half from her epic 40 hour and 41 minute swim from Little Cayman to Grand Cayman. “The swelling is already gone and she’s starting to look like herself”, her husband Chris Palfrey said Monday evening. Turns out now afterwards that three Oceanic white tip shark were killed, because they were very aggressive and would have continued to threaten the swimmer.
Local sealife conservationist Guy Harvey said he thought the fact that the sharks were killed was a shame and excessive, but acknowledged that they were “a real threatâ€.
“People had to anticipate that fact that the Oceanic white tip shark are an integral part of the oceanic environment there. They should have thought about that,†he said. He said the white tips usually bump up against a swimmer again and again “to test and see and then take a biteâ€.
The swimmer had told her team that she had been bumped in the dark several times as she swam through Saturday night.
A kayak and inflatable power boat beside her each carried a Shark Shield that emits electrical pulses to repel sharks, but it appeared at least one of the sharks got closer than the 26 feet of protection it was meant to provide.
Read more here on compasscayman.com.