Hearing of Michelle Casasola's severe injury while snorkeling is so sad and unusual.
Locals and visitors have snorkeled countless times - nearly all without incident.
So what happened?
The family claims that the crew was throwing food, namely bagels, in the water to attract fish. Allegedly as a result, a three-foot barracuda attacked the nine-year old's hand - likely mistaking it for a yellowtail snapper.
What's it look like when you throw food in the water at the reef?
Check out this family video posted on YouTube on December 24, 2009 showing a family snorkeling in Key West with Fury.
During the last 20 seconds of the video notice the large school of yellowtail snapper in a feeding frenzy at something repeatedly tossed into the water near snorkelers.
The point is this: snorkeling in Key West is safe, fun, and rewarding - so long as people aren't throwing food in the water to attract fish.
First off, you really just have to watch it for yourself. This video is so full of vague and strange statements, one has to wonder is he serious. Most of what he said/read sounded like it was produced by the tea party, Sarah Palin, and Glen Beck. Or maybe Tina Fey lampooning all three.
Declaring at an Upper Keys Republican Club that he was the candidate to take us "backwards", Morgan McPherson stiffly read from a prepared speech that often seemed foreign to him while frequently mispronouncing the text and often reading from it sentence by sentence.
There is little doubt that McPherson is sincere in his drive to take Florida backwards. His solution to the state's problems? Cut taxes, cut spending, remove state and federal regulations on business, and lower the corporate tax to the lowest level in the country. He thinks we are facing an abyss. He wants to "take scissors to Tallahassee" - the same scissors he states households have been using to trim their budgets.
Morgan wraps up his speech by going biblical, declaring "we need to take on that Philistine that sits in this seat", referring to Ron Saunders - the current state representative.
Philistine, huh?
According to Merriam Webster Dictionary:
Main Entry: Phi·lis·tine
Function: noun
Date: 14th century
1 : a native or inhabitant of ancient Philistia
2 often not capitalized a : a person who is guided by materialism and is usually disdainful of intellectual or artistic values b : one uninformed in a special area of knowledge
Hmmm. Ron Saunders was born in Key West. So definition #1 is out - he is not a native or inhabitant of ancient Philistia.
So Morgan must be referring to definition #2: a : a person who is guided by materialism and is usually disdainful of intellectual or artistic values b : one uninformed in a special area of knowledge.
Yet Saunders has consistently exhibited genuine concern for the Florida Keys above materialism, and supporting protecting the Florida Keys as a state area of critical concern, the arts community, and the diversity of Key West. He is especially informed about our issues and constantly fights on Key West's and the Florida Keys' behalf in Tallahassee.
Having been ousted by the electorate in the previous election, McPherson somehow feels its time to take losing to the next level.
