Auburn man killed in shark attack

The body of an Auburn man, who apparently had been attacked by a great white shark, was recovered Monday off the coast of Mendocino.Friends and associates described Randall G. Fry, 50, of Auburn, as one of state?s top sport fishing and diving lobbyist and a well-liked man.?Randy was very well known, everybody liked him,? said James Martin, a close friend and board member of the Northern California Recreational Fishing Alliance. ?The entire West Coast fishing community is devastated.?Fry was a long-time advocate of conservation and recreational fishing and was the West Coast regional director for the Recreation Fishing Alliance, an organization formed to rally on behalf of recreational fishing.Fry had been abalone diving Sunday with two friends, Red Bartley and Cliff Zimmerman, in a 26-foot fishing boat near Kibesillah Rock, said Sgt. Dennis Bushnell of the Mendocino County Sheriff?s Department.Fry was in the water with Zimmerman, while Bartley remained in the boat keeping an eye out for sharks, Martin said. He said the three had a plan in place just in case a shark was spotted, even though they had been diving in the area for more than 30 years and had never seen a great white in the area.?They were very experienced divers and discussed, prior to their dive, what they would do in a situation where someone might be bitten and pulled out,? said Martin, who along with Barley identified Fry?s body Monday. Bushnell said Fry and Zimmerman were making a second dive, when tragedy struck.?(Zimmerman) said he saw a big fish surface between (him and Fry), there was blood in the water,? Bushnell said. ?He never saw his friend again.?Zimmerman swam back to the boat, uninjured, and attempted to look for his friend, to no avail. A Mayday call reportedly brought local anglers to the area where Fry went under. They searched for Fry while the Coast Guard and other official search agencies were notified,?We initiated a search Sunday evening, but had to call if off at dark fall,? Bushnell said. Fry?s body was recovered Monday afternoon. ?It was a massive hit, he was dead on impact,? Martin said. No information was available as to the condition of the body.?We lost a real warrior for our fishing rights,? Martin said. ?He was our main guy, our main spokesman of the West Coast as far as recreational fishing is concerned. Of all the people in the water that day, why him? He?s such a great guy.?Great white sharks are not uncommon in the area where the trio was diving, according to Carrie Wilson, a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game. ?The place where this incident occurred the sharks were particularly abundant,? Wilson said. ?Oftentimes they feed on seals and sea lions that are usually close to shore.?Since the early 1950s, there have been 106 shark attacks on humans off the West Coast, said Steve Martarano, spokesman for the Department of Fish and Game. He said Fry?s death brings the total number of fatalities to 11.?It?s been almost a year to the day of the last fatal shark attack,? Martarano said. In August 2003, a 15- to 18-foot long great white shark attacked and killed 50-year-old Deborah Franzman of Nipomo who had been swimming off Avila Beach, near San Luis Obispo. The Journal?s Penne Usher can be reached at penneu@goldcountrymedia.com.