Shark kills Diver

[Nemrod]

It is amazing how docile sharks really are, though baiting them in to expect food with humans in the water sounds pretty stupid to me. I suppose though compared to having grizzly bear photo ops were you get down in the middle of them and start snapping away you might expect to get eaten, or say, maybe wild wolf feeds. Get a couple of dozen winter hungry wolves and have a photo op, might expect to get eaten huh. Jumping in the water with sharks that have begun to associate humans and food, not a good plan. Shark feeding and baiting for photo ops is a bad thing. Terriby sorry to hear this went badly for all parties. N

 

[ronscuba]

I don't blame the operator. The diver knew what he was getting into.

That being said, I think there are some people reading this thread that don't realize this is a specialized dive operator marketing shark feeds with tiger and bull sharks. 2 breeds of sharks recognized as being aggressive, dangerous and large.

I've watched several videos of trips with this operator where sharks are bumping divers, bumping cameras, cameras being used to fend off sharks, sharks biting and taking cameras away from divers. Not little 4-6 ft reef sharks, but big tigers and bull sharks.

Freedom is a great thing, and again, I don't blame the operator. I'm sure the diver was aware of the dangers. However, I am not at all surprised this accident happened. It think it was just a matter of time.

 

[Gombessa]

I don't blame the operator. The diver knew what he was getting into.

I haven't kept up with this thread from the beginning, and I agree that divers SHOULD know what they're getting into (as well as use some common sense) when it comes to sharks, but a vacation diver isn't a marine biologist, and can to some degree be expected to rely on the operator's claims of safety. I don't know how Abernethy sells this shark-feeding trip other than what others have posted here before, but if they're selling it as a safe dive suitable for anybody, they should be under an obligation to deliver that.

 

[The Surly Mermaid]

just what the sport/industry needs some more negative press let's blame someone ! the shark ,the operator, the divers ,my ex mother in law.....QUOTE]


Hey Sluggo.....Are you implying that there might be a way we COULD pin this on your ex mother in law? Or was that just wishful thinking ?

 

[Rudebob]

Chumming or feeding of any kind is unethical in diving. It creates an artificial situation for the animals, often creates a dependency on the feeding, and usually fouls the waters.

This is not limited to the animal world. Government entitlement programs have proven to produce the same result.

Oh yeah! I can't believe this thread acutally went 18 posts before a shark/lawyer joke surfaced. Is this group that sensitive or that slow?

'bob

 

[Chaseh]

I was in the water in the Blue Hole near the end of my dive when someone from another boat started throwing chum in. I can tell you it was pretty frightening, and I was furious with them when I surfaced. They just thought it was funny. The main problem with "common sense" is that it isn't that common.

Peter, you should stroll down the beach and speak to the boys at Amigos Del Mar.

It's been a few years since I took a day trip with them from AC to the Blue Hole and the Outer Atolls, but they did chum for sharks there.

Actually they chummed to keep their guests (including myself) entertained while making a deco stop in the sand. They also hung a spare bottle, which would have been tough to get at through the feed. More disconcerting was that there were completely newly certified divers as part of this group. Max depth for all was over 150 ft, and the day was full of perhaps high risk behavior. It was also some of the best and most memorable diving I've done.

Lesson for this and also the incident this week in Florida? Keep your own boundaries, as the operators cannot be blindly trusted to ensure your safety. They have lapses in judgment like all folks, they also may have conflicts of interest.

As Upton Sinclair said, It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.

 

[Doc Harry]

BTW, the man who died from the shark attack was a lawyer..

I didn't think sharks attacked lawyers. (Something about professional courtesy.) Maybe he filed one too many frivolous lawsuits....

Sorry, I don't have much sympathy when a shark attacks a lawyer. Maybe we need to get more lawyers involved in shark feeds.

 

[Papa_Bear]

It would be a good start!

Why would anyone do a trust me dive beyond their limit or ability and then blame it on the operator? PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY!

BTW The shark doesn't know it's chum! They think it's an opportunity!

 

[2Tours N Iraq`]

I have to agree with the personal responsibility group on this one. I don't feel that it is the operator's responsibility to babysit divers. We also don't know if the individual involved followed the guidance issued in the pre-dive briefing. Did he make a mistake that cost him his life or was he simply bitten because of mistaken identity? We just don't know and therefore we shouldn't assume he wasn't at fault just because the CNN article didn't include that information.

Most of us on here know that the news media seldom gets their story right when dealing with scuba accidents, why should this one be any different? It has been my personal experience that CNN is the least accurate major news network (that is still taken seriously) and I am very skeptical about the accuracy of their article on this incident. I also think it would be very foolish for the dive operator to say anything at this point as there will most definitely be a court case involved. Why run the risk of incriminating yourself to an inaccurate and biased news agency?!? It just doesn't make sense.

Lastly, I think we are living in a society with an "it can't happen to me" attitude and when something does happen it must be someone else's fault so I will sue them. What a load of crap. Would anyone jump off a tall building and expect to live because "it can't happen to me?" Can any reasonable person expect to voluntarily enter into chummed water (regardless of whether it was done on the bottom or by the captain on the boat) and not expect the possibility of being bitten? That's the equivalent of getting into a car and expecting to never get into an accident! More people are killed by cars every year than any other cause of death but no one is screaming that we should make driving illegal. Although I disagree with the practice of chumming for sharks to please divers, it isn't the government's nor the dive operator's responsibility to protect you; it is your responsibility to protect yourself. With that being said, please act accordingly.

 

[peterbj7]

Peter, you should stroll down the beach and speak to the boys at Amigos Del Mar

It was they who chummed, while I was down by the lip and there were still 5 or 6 divers in the water. I regarded it as wholly irresponsible.