Surf Beach Shark Attack Details Disputed!

Our exclusive story breaking the news of surfer “Kyle” being attacked in Surf Beach, near Lompoc, California, generated a fairly significant amount of traffic for The Fear Beneath and was covered by both The Shark Research Committee and The International Shark Attack File.

In the last few days, the post has been viewed over 2,000 times and now has almost 30 comments. It was picked up by media outlets like the Surfer Magazine Forums, SurfPulse.com, and ConcreteDisciples.com.

Yet not all appears to be well with the state of our reporting on this story. An initially ‘anonymous’ commenter has come forward to claim ownership of the shark attack and of the ‘Kyle (Last Name Withheld)’ identity, criticizing the integrity of the facts that we published and demanding that we reveal our source. However, ‘anonymous’ also initially posted three comments without revealing himself as ‘Kyle.’

The email address provided for both ‘anonymous’ and ‘Kyle (Last Name Withheld)’ is traceable via social networks to a Santa Barbara, CA resident named Kyle (whose last name I am withholding,) lending some credence to his story but raising questions about his initial posts.

The Fear Beneath in no way intends to mislead our readers, so we responded in kind to “Kyle,” asking him for verification of his identity and, if he is in fact the victim of said shark attack, to please relate the actual circumstances surrounding that chomped-upon Channel Islands surfboard! We have no received no response to our email at the time of publication.

In the interest of clarification and accurate reporting, The Fear Beneath has decided to disclose all of the information it possesses related to the shark attack in Surf Beach, the commenters and their criticisms, with the hope that “Kyle” will come forward and clarify the situation, instead of continually harsh-ing on everyone without shedding any light on the matter.

We received the following email after it had been forwarded an additional number of times. The Fear Beneath has communicated with several other individuals who received the same email. In order to protect our sources as agreed upon, we have only released the name of the original individual responsible for sending this controversial email.

Now that we’ve come about as clean as we can possibly get, it’s up to you, Kyle. If you are disputing the facts of the Surf Beach Shark Attack, tell us what really happened so that we can educate the public and set the record straight.

Martin Brody