- MIAMI (Reuters) - Law enforcement
officials in the Florida Keys are mystified by a bizarre new pastime --
young people dangling themselves from meat hooks on a popular sandbar.
-
- A U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman said on Sunday that the
Monroe County sheriff's office and Coast Guard were called on July 12 to
the sandbar off Whale Harbor in Islamorada where locals say wild behavior
is becoming a tradition.
-
- They found that five young people had erected a bamboo
tripod and hung meat hooks from it. A young woman, her feet brushing the
surface of the shallow water, dangled from the frame, hooks embedded firmly
in her shoulders.
-
- According to a Coast Guard video, she did not seem to
mind the hooks.
-
- Lt. Tom Brazil of the Coast Guard told the Key West Citizen
newspaper that a young man, who also had hooks embedded in his heavily
pierced and tattooed skin, assured him the group was "just enjoying
the afternoon."
-
- A Coast Guard spokeswoman in Miami said the group had
clearly done this before and intended to post photos of themselves on a
Web site dedicated to "body modification" -- the ritualistic
piercing of the body.
-
-
- "It looked like a daily routine for them,"
she said, adding that the hooks had been inserted in the skin in a professional
manner and had drawn very little blood."
-
- "As long as they weren't creating any kind of ruckus
or riot within a crowd they really weren't breaking any laws."
-
- The Coast Guard passed the video on to federal justice
authorities but no further action will be taken.
-
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