Kitemare Report - Taiba, Brazil

[daherkite]

KITEMARE REPORT - TAIBA - BRAZIL


Hi guys,
I´d like to alert other riders for the possibility of injury (even if it’s very rare) while riding at open sea areas where needle-fish are found.
Hope that this report could help the kitesurf community to investigate the causes of such rare (but high severity) accidents like the one here described:

“On 10th September 2021, I was just riding upwind at normal cruise speed and suddenly something hit me (or I hit something?) in the back foot, causing two moderate/severe deep cuts. This incident did not affect my ride course and instinctively I perceived the damage severity (and possible risk of life due to blood loss) and fortunately I could go straight forward to the sand coast/home.”
I am pretty convinced that this accident was due a needlefish.

I would like to ask for help at this forum in order to determine if the board color/details could anyway increase the probability of this kind of kitemare.

In the link bellow, you’ll find a complete report of this accident. (PDF file).

http://tarefas.eng.br/_REPORTS/KITEMARE ... 021_EN.pdf

Thanks in advance,
Sérgio

[marioparacuru]

I'm assuming you're brazillian as me. I ride in this coast for more than 10 years and never heard about something like that. As far I know the needle fish isn't that common in this area. It anyways was a big coincidence, rare accident.

[irwe]

I have also heard of a Windsurfer that was stung by a Stingray while riding (not in Brazil). Alot of creatures to choose from but I think it is a very rare event.

[Strekke]

There are also riders that have been attacked by a sailfish (yes, the massive ones with the sword/spear as a nose). One incident actually involved the sailfish coming back several times after the first strike, causing very severe injuries to the kiter with permanent leg injuries as a result. Something to keep in mind when cruising around - it's not only sharks you should worry about!

[jdb999]

pretty disturbing, especially since i just rented an apartment in taiba and like to kite in the ocean too.

its pretty hard to explain the position of the cuts, so i'm curious if perhaps the injury could have occurred earlier.  did you crash, and have to body drag back to the board earlier in the session?  if you were kicking your feet possibly you could smack into something and not notice until later.

anyway, i hope you are feeling better.

jon

[nherbold]

KITEMARE REPORT - TAIBA - BRAZIL


Hi guys,
I´d like to alert other riders for the possibility of injury (even if it’s very rare) while riding at open sea areas where needle-fish are found.
Hope that this report could help the kitesurf community to investigate the causes of such rare (but high severity) accidents like the one here described:

“On 10th September 2021, I was just riding upwind at normal cruise speed and suddenly something hit me (or I hit something?) in the back foot, causing two moderate/severe deep cuts. This incident did not affect my ride course and instinctively I perceived the damage severity (and possible risk of life due to blood loss) and fortunately I could go straight forward to the sand coast/home.”
I am pretty convinced that this accident was due a needlefish.

I would like to ask for help at this forum in order to determine if the board color/details could anyway increase the probability of this kind of kitemare.

In the link bellow, you’ll find a complete report of this accident. (PDF file).

http://tarefas.eng.br/_REPORTS/KITEMARE ... 021_EN.pdf

Thanks in advance,
Sérgio

Curiosity drove me to wikipedia and they list of reported encounters globally, kite-incidents and all. Kinda surprised me, but then again I like my chances...if I gotta worry about stuff like that going forward I would never get out of my house again

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Needlefish

[tautologies]

Wow glad to hear you are ok.
Regardless of species of fish, I think it is ultra rare and I am not sure if worrying about it at all is worth it. I do think it is a stretch to think the board color has anything to do with it. Most likely it was not intentional maybe it got scared and fought back? Maybe you hit it and it got pissed off? Maybe it was drunk on octopussy ink and just wanted to fight.

[daherkite]

Hi Jon!

Thanks for the message and please don´t worry about Taiba point. Every day many kitesufers ride around the same point
and in the last 6 years (the time I have been in contact with others kitesurfers) I never was told about any accidents with a fish!
Probably I am the first one! (at least with this severity).

When I wrote this report I was afraid about scaring people... but later I decided to publish it because I think that sharing this experience can
help us understand accidents and prevent them. In my case, hope I will not stop to ride in the same point, but I will not use anymore the board I used that day and
I will stop my session if I sight a needfish in the area.

Regard the circunstances, as I described in the report, the injuries were caused by this particular impact (I was only 2 ou 3 minutes in water, no jumps, no rocks, no bodydrag, no other possibility).Although I can not tell you what caused the accident for sure, there´s no doubt about the exact time and conditions.
I am 99,99% convinced that a needlefish or something like this was the cause. This is the only hypothesis that completely match the behavior of the injuries: size of cuts, deep of cuts and space between cuts fit with an open mouse of a needlefish.

Yesterday, I find a very similar report like mine:

https://www.thekiteboarder.com/2013/07/ ... g-problem/

I think we are talking about a probability similar to a airplane accident.

I also would say that Taiba is one of the safest place in the world you can ride (I am talking about open sea of course, not comparing it with a fresh water lake).

Now, after 5 days, I am getting better and starting slowly to put foot on ground again.

Kind regards,

Sergio

[daherkite]

Hi!
Thanks for the message!
I totally agree with you: extremally rare accident! This is why it was a quite a surprise for me also! And of course I would like to reduce even more the probability...

For me it´s too much coincidence....
first ride with that board... first accident.....
high probability of a high-speed fish collision... and a "bird drawing" in the board near the injured foot
neelde-fish is carnivorous... the cuts combine with a open-mouth of this fish...

I have to recognize that until the moment there is no votes in the hypothesis above. (only mine until now).

But as you said... these are just stretchs...
If there´s other worlwide reports with similar conditions... maybe we can learn a bit more on how to manage the risks.

Best regards,

Sergio

[windsuks]

Is this the fish that appears bright iluminous green?