Alligator dragged 2 year old into 7 seas lagoon

[JimMIA]

Probably. But as a parent I would still be left with a small degree of doubt.

And hope against hope.

 

[scoutie]

I'm from the Midwest, and stayed at Caribbean Beach Resort, which also has the man-made lakes that Grand Floridian Resort has. I saw the "no swimming" signs, and assumed that meant "no swimming." Not "alligators may be nearby" or "don't dip a toe in the water". To me, it means, "don't swim". My kids played in the sand near the water, but it never once occurred to me that there would be an alligator threat in a man made lake. I just saw a YouTube video of an alligator at CBR and people were feeding it until it slipped back into the water. I feel absolutely horrified that this could have been my children. Alligators did not cross my mind. My heart breaks for that beautiful boy and his mother and father who will likely replay that moment over and over for the rest of their lives.

 

[JimMIA]

Why shouldn't it be released elsewhere? I really haven't been following the news all day, but there was lots of speculation on the morning news that the gator may have thought it was snatching another animal in the dark, as they rarely go for humans.

Not trying to be flip here, but the reason why the four alligators they caught couldn't be "relocated" is that they were dead.

The authorities were trying to find the child's body, or traces of the child. They know alligators, and they knew there was no way the child survived -- their mission was a recovery mission, not a rescue. So they caught whatever alligators they could find, killed them, and examined their stomach contents. Sorry, but this just isn't pretty stuff.

They were not trying to punish the guilty alligator, or absolve innocent alligators of blame -- all that was, and is, irrelevant. They were just trying to give the family whatever closure is possible in a situation like this. Finding the child's body does that, as heartbreaking as it is.

There are no words to describe the horror of this loss, but the authorities were trying to give the family whatever tiny bit of solace they could.

 

[bcla]

Exactly.

We're talking about going to Yosemite next summer (I know, I know!) and of course DW wants to take our Ice Princess (14) to do Mist Trail. And all I can think about is... one slipped, another went to help and got in trouble, a third jumped in to help, over the edge...and what was it, like 3 WEEKS before they eventually recovered the bodies?

Of course I was referring to the July 2011 Venal Fall incident. The bodies were found separately. The first was recovered in about a month, but the other two were found in late November and early December. Some bodies have taken even longer to find, if they get wedged under a rock or tree. I found it really odd that the families were insisting that it was a live search effort and not a recovery effort, but they eventually called it off when it got dark. And yeah I've heard of even odder things, such as the families of Malaysian 370 passengers who were screaming that they wanted their relatives back alive.

I took my kid there at the age of three. My kid wasn't petrified - probably even excited. However, my kid was also very cautious and didn't take any chances. Some people have slipped on the steps and fallen into the Merced River. It's a rushing torrent of water, but some have managed to survive falling in. However, it would take some serious risk taking to be in a position to go over the waterfall.

 

[Hootiss]

My thoughts go out to the family and I pray the child died instantly. My thoughts also go out to the recovery team for the horrific task they had to accomplish.

 

[runwad]

This tragedy bothered me all day at work. I was grieving as if it actually happened to me. We were there on that beach years ago. I was racking my mind wondering did my son every go down to the water? I couldn't remember it's been so long. I gave him a hug tonight and thank God he is still with me. So so sad. May that family find peace.

 

[Minnesota!]

I feel for those who had to face this thing head on and force themselves to do the grim task of finding this little one.

That has been on my.mind all day. Even.on my worst day at my job, it was nothing compared to.diving in murky, alligator water, looking for a baby's remains.....

Here now. So somber. No boats running at MK, security everywhere, everyone talking about the child. So heartbreaking..

 

[mummabear]

just pointing out the comments that walking in the water is different than swimming....yes they are and technically when I'm in the water up to my shoulders I am walking. Its not swimming. So the people that are saying walking is different than swimming are for whatever reason trying to justify the difference. And really, when sign says no swimming one doesn't to need to understand or like the rule, just follow it.
edit - this was supposed to have a quote added, not sure why it didn't go through
I'm not just randomly spouting off at no one lol

I think
Most of us can agree that once you are in a certain depth that you are in a recreational sense swimming no one is arguing that, many of us however don't consider ankle depth swimming depth.

Wouldn't that same logic then apply to any beach? There's nice clean sand and pretty beaches in the tropics - even in South Florida - but there are also sharks in the water, man-o-war, stingrays, etc. Just because it's a Disney beach doesn't mean that there aren't the same risks as any beach. We live in Northern WI. There are a ton of freshwater lakes - both man-made and natural. A lot of them are surrounded by woods. They're beautiful. They're also surrounded by the bears, wolves, foxes, badgers, and other dangerous wildlife in our woods. My dh, dd and ds go fishing on these lakes. They're vigilant. No matter how beautiful and inviting they look, there's always the chance encounter with any kind of wildlife.

Take Australia for example, because of the danger of sharks many of the beaches (like Bondi) have shark bets to allow for recreational swimming in the ocean. And all other beaches would have specific warning stating what is a danger (sharks, crocs, jellyfish etc)

 

[Magpie]

.Gators can't be relocated. I don't remember the name of the documentary, but I do remember it talked about how gators have a homing sense similar to birds. They will travel miles to return to their home territories.

There was a fellow in the documentary who was strapping magnets to problem gators head, while relocating them, in order to confuse their tracking sense. However, it's not really a practical (or proven) solution.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Yep. I can think of two horrors in Orlando just within the last 3 days that I'd change in a heartbeat if I had a magic wand! My God, what's next???

I can think of three.

 

[JimMIA]

Further on my comments above:

In these terrible moments, professionals have to do their jobs. Period. There is no "phoning it in."

The tragic discovery brought to a close a search that involved more than 50 law enforcement officials, including Marine units who relied on sonar equipment to scour the lake. Initially a search-and-rescue operation, Demings (Orange County FL Sheriff Jerry Demings) said at a noon press conference there was "no question" the boy was dead after so many hours underwater and that the hunt had turned into a recovery effort.

But he had vowed to continue searching until the boy's body was found.

"I just happen to have a 2-year-old grandson, so for me, this is a very human experience that we are talking about, where we are dealing with this family now who there's no question will lose a 2-year-old child..."

Joshua Corsa
10 hrs ·

These are my work shoes from Saturday night. They are brand new, not even a week old. I came to work this morning and saw these in the corner my call room, next to the pile of dirty scrubs.

I had forgotten about them until now. On these shoes, soaked between its fibers, is the blood of 54 innocent human beings. I don't know which were straight, which were gay, which were black, or which were hispanic. What I do know is that they came to us in wave upon wave of suffering, screaming, and death. And somehow, in that chaos, doctors, nurses, technicians, police, paramedics, and others, performed super human feats of compassion and care.

This blood, which poured out of those patients and soaked through my scrubs and shoes, will stain me forever. In these Rorschach patterns of red I will forever see their faces and the faces of those that gave everything they had in those dark hours.

There is still an enormous amount of work to be done. Some of that work will never end.

And while I work I will continue to wear these shoes.

And when the last patient leaves our hospital, I will take them off, and I will keep them in my office. I want to see them in front of me every time I go to work.

For on June 12, after the worst of humanity reared its evil head, I saw the best of humanity of come fighting right back. I never want to forget that night.

Dr. Joshua Corsa M.D, EMT-P
Orlando Regional Medical Center
Senior Resident, Department of Surgery

Orlando HealthPulse Orlando — at Orlando Regional Medical Center.

 

[minnie56]

There are pictures of the baby and his Mum ..beyond sad

 

[JoWilly]

.Gators can't be relocated. I don't remember the name of the documentary, but I do remember it talked about how gators have a homing sense similar to birds. They will travel miles to return to their home territories.

There was a fellow in the documentary who was strapping magnets to problem gators head, while relocating them, in order to confuse their tracking sense. However, it's not really a practical (or proven) solution.

Any animal, especially reptiles, can be relocated. Whether or not they survive is entirely up to their survival skills.

 

[minnie56]

Any animal, especially reptiles, can be relocated. Whether or not they survive is entirely up to their survival skills.

They've pulled 5 alligators from the water...if one doesn't match DNA they'll keep searching...

 

[georgina]

Not trying to be flip here, but the reason why the four alligators they caught couldn't be "relocated" is that they were dead.

The authorities were trying to find the child's body, or traces of the child. They know alligators, and they knew there was no way the child survived -- their mission was a recovery mission, not a rescue. So they caught whatever alligators they could find, killed them, and examined their stomach contents. Sorry, but this just isn't pretty stuff.

They were not trying to punish the guilty alligator, or absolve innocent alligators of blame -- all that was, and is, irrelevant. They were just trying to give the family whatever closure is possible in a situation like this. Finding the child's body does that, as heartbreaking as it is.

There are no words to describe the horror of this loss, but the authorities were trying to give the family whatever tiny bit of solace they could.

I was responding to a post that implied they had captured the alligator that killed the boy alive. I said nothing about the 4 they had already killed, are you saying killing the one that was responsible gives the family peace?

.Gators can't be relocated. I don't remember the name of the documentary, but I do remember it talked about how gators have a homing sense similar to birds. They will travel miles to return to their home territories.

There was a fellow in the documentary who was strapping magnets to problem gators head, while relocating them, in order to confuse their tracking sense. However, it's not really a practical (or proven) solution.

So are you saying every alligator they remove from someone's pool, yard, golf course, etc is killed?

 

[JoWilly]

I was responding to a post that implied they had captured the alligator that killed the boy alive. I said nothing about the 4 they had already killed.



So are you saying every alligator they remove from someone's pool, yard, golf course, etc is killed?

No and thank you for not putting words in my mouth. I am saying that they can be relocated. Whether they survive is entirely up to them. I don't see how I could have been any clearer.

 

[Magpie]

Any animal, especially reptiles, can be relocated. Whether or not they survive is entirely up to their survival skills.

Is it really "relocated" if it finds its way home?

 

[mummabear]

Well, as you and so many have stated, many don't equate Florida with alligators. I don't know but when I go on a cruise, I have never once seen a danger shark sign when I go snorkeling, swimming, or anywhere near the ocean. It should be a common sense issue. I've never seen a danger bear sign when I've gone off into the woods where bears live. Again, should be common sense but common sense isn't so common on here or many other places as so many posters have proven.

Really bear warnings are all over BC

 

[jevs]

I've been to WDW once and knew about alligators in the water, and snakes all over the place. However, I had never heard of the brain eating thing in the water

I think this is a horrible, tragic event and do not hold the poor parents or disney responsible. Poor, poor kid

 

[Magpie]

So are you saying every alligator they remove from someone's pool, yard, golf course, etc is killed?

I have no idea - just sharing what I saw on a Netflix documentary about gators. Perhaps a Florida resident could tell us.