State Rep. David Faulkner (R-Mountain Brook) explained Monday on Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show" why he is sponsoring a bill to create a shark alert system on Alabama's Gulf Coast.
House Bill 437 is gaining support in Montgomery, including from Gov. Kay Ivey, following the shark attack of Lulu Gribbin of Mountain Brook. Gribbin lost a leg and part of her arm last summer when she and a friend were attacked while vacationing in Florida.
While natives of Mobile and Baldwin Counties have criticized the bill and the need for a shark alert system, Faulkner said the effort is important to him, having grown up on the coast and having a house on the beach.
Faulkner said he understands concerns from those who think an alert system is unnecessary but Gribbin's attack shows there is a need.
"What happened to Lulu was in Florida, off the coast of Florida," Faulkner said. "But the fact that a shark attack, a severe shark attack, had occurred right off the beach, about three miles away in Florida from where Lulu was, and yet she had, she and others around her, including the other young girl from my district that was attacked, they had no notice that the shark attack had occurred an hour and a half before. And in this day and age, that is just unacceptable."
On a personal note, Faulkner said Gribbin and her family attend his church, which inspired him to champion the effort. Knowing Gribbin, Faulkner said he takes offense to those saying, "This is just the shark's habitat." He said with the technology available, authorities should have the tools to prevent similar attacks.
"She's a fighter, she was a very athletic young girl, she's smart, just, you know, somebody everybody wanted to be around, and frankly, her entire family, they're just great people," Faulkner said. "And so, she, being on my team at church, and then when this happened to her, I just got so upset, it just hurt me personally."
After consulting with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Faulkner amended the bill to include the involvement of experts in determining an imminent threat of danger.
"What I did is I amended the bill in committee last week so that the only time this can be used is if there has been an unprovoked shark attack in close proximity to our shoreline or coastline," Faulkner explained.
Local officials would determine when the alert is sent and how far the alert would extend.
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