Snorkeler Killed by Sharks in the Bahamas

[itsmeok]

So what they are saying is; 120 nautical miles is not far and a shark that has been acclimated to human divers at a Bahamian feeding station could turn up pretty much anywhere on the US coast. And, they have actually no idea if this a problem or not.

The numbers of attacks where a diver or bather are bitten is very small. How many interactions where a diver or bather encounter a shark but the shark chooses not to strike or steals the divers catch with no injury to the diver are impossible to count.

So, typical human behaviour... in the absence of knowledge, destructive behaviors will continue until overwhelming evidence is in escapably been presented and then we will continue the practice for decades.....

To quote the video - " Rather than rushing to make conclusions based on fear lets do the science and make our policies based on fact"
- typical human behaviour seems to me to make baseless claims and react...e.g. we nearly exterminated grey nurse sharks in the 60's because, without any proof, they were considered man-eaters. The video clearly calls out no evidence of changes in shark behaviour - some people won't like that...everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

The pigs have been there for years. Every day boats show up and they swim out to get treats. I do not think they venture more than maybe 50 -70 feet from the shoreline. Some people will get in the water and will be standing where the pigs are swimming. Yesterday they were there all day...today they were there.......
If the pigs were the issues there would be daily shark frenzies on these beaches and there would not be any pigs left (they are not great or agile swimmers)

Thanks - so from all these posts my conclusion is that this was just bad luck. The young lady snorkelling was enough to attract the shark. It is a tragedy. My thoughts go out to her and her family.

 

[johndiver999]

I have not heard anywhere near enough site specific information about this particular attack to make any type of conclusion; other than to reinforce my existing understanding that Tiger Sharks are quite dangerous and do eat people when they feel like it.

I heard rumor that there was another attack in the Bahamas (Abacos) yesterday or today?

 

[Dan]

This one?

 

[itsmeok]

This one?

I find this laughable. Someone doing spearfishing blaming shark feeding for a shark attacking them - you have got to be kidding. These two attacks have almost nothing in common except they were both in the ocean...

 

[The Chairman]

I find this laughable. Someone doing spearfishing blaming shark feeding for a shark attacking them - you have got to be kidding.

It's so ludicrous as to be meme worthy.

 

[johndiver999]

This one?

No that was last week? The one I heard about was since then.

 

[Dan]

This one?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cb...acked-by-shark-in-the-bahamas-jordan-lindsey/

“An American tourist was injured in a shark attack in the Bahamas Thursday (4th of July), according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force. The attack comes just a week after a 21-year-old woman died after she was attacked by three sharks on another Bahamas island.

Police said that they were alerted to the attack on the 32-year-old man, who was visiting from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at around 5:30 p.m. local time. The man was riding on a 41 ft. Bahama Craft with two other Americans and snorkeling off Nippers Beach in Guana Cay when he was bitten.

The man, whose name was not released, was brought to the Marsh Harbour clinic, where he was treated for his injuries. He was flown to New Providence for further medical treatment later that night. His current condition is unknown.

Unprovoked shark attacks are rare. In a ten-year period ending in 2016, the Bahamas saw just four shark attacks, and only one was deadly. But this is the second shark attack in recent weeks: On June 26, Jordan Lindsey was killed when she was attacked by three sharks off the coast of Rose Island.

The Torrance, California college student was snorkeling with her family when she was fatally bitten on her arms, legs and buttocks. Lindsey's family reportedly saw the t approaching and tried to yell out a warning, but she didn't hear them in time.

The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation expressed condolences and "deepest sympathies" to the Lindsey's family in a statement, and said officials were still investigating the incident. Scientists are also investigating the three-shark attack, which they described as unusual.”

 

[HalcyonDaze]

So what they are saying is; 120 nautical miles is not far and a shark that has been acclimated to human divers at a Bahamian feeding station could turn up pretty much anywhere on the US coast. And, they have actually no idea if this a problem or not.

The numbers of attacks where a diver or bather are bitten is very small. How many interactions where a diver or bather encounter a shark but the shark chooses not to strike or steals the divers catch with no injury to the diver are impossible to count.

So, typical human behavior... in the absence of knowledge, destructive behaviors will continue until overwhelming evidence is in escapably been presented and then we will continue the practice for decades.....

So if a shark is acclimated to getting fed regularly at a particular spot, why would it bother to swim 120 nmi away from it to maybe encounter another human and rascal them for food? The point that paper was trying to make (and something that myself and a few others have been trying to point out regarding operations off Palm Beach in FL) is that the sharks we get on the feeds were already hanging out at those locations and despite the regular freebies, are generally still packing up and moving out when they normally would. Off Jupiter we've actually seen a drop in tiger shark appearances from three years ago. We don't think it's from fishing because we still see at least three of our regulars; they're just not hanging out as often or as consistently, or in some cases skip an entire year or two. If I had to guess why, I'd say it's either because they're getting older and thus shifting their movement patterns to account for things like dietary changes or mating, or maybe because we've had some odd years with water temp.

From talking to a few folks, I picked up another couple possibilities regarding the Rose Island attack. At present I have not confirmed them, so like most of what we've heard so far I would flag it as hearsay unless official confirmation is available:

• Large numbers of turtles were reportedly present at that location.
• The victim may have been wearing a snorkel/life vest.
• The "three sharks" report may have been two reef sharks coming in after the tiger had released the victim.

 

[CT-Rich]

So if a shark is acclimated to getting fed regularly at a particular spot, why would it bother to swim 120 nmi away from it to maybe encounter another human and rascal them for food? The point that paper was trying to make (and something that myself and a few others have been trying to point out regarding operations off Palm Beach in FL) is that the sharks we get on the feeds were already hanging out at those locations and despite the regular freebies, are generally still packing up and moving out when they normally would. Off Jupiter we've actually seen a drop in tiger shark appearances from three years ago. We don't think it's from fishing because we still see at least three of our regulars; they're just not hanging out as often or as consistently, or in some cases skip an entire year or two. If I had to guess why, I'd say it's either because they're getting older and thus shifting their movement patterns to account for things like dietary changes or mating, or maybe because we've had some odd years with water temp.

From talking to a few folks, I picked up another couple possibilities regarding the Rose Island attack. At present I have not confirmed them, so like most of what we've heard so far I would flag it as hearsay unless official confirmation is available:

• Large numbers of turtles were reportedly present at that location.
• The victim may have been wearing a snorkel/life vest.
• The "three sharks" report may have been two reef sharks coming in after the tiger had released the victim.

I wasn’t really trying to make a definitive statement, but we tend to look at animal behavior in very black and white terms. A shark (or a polar bear or moose for that matter) will feed opportunistically while otherwise maintaining migrations or other behaviors. a bear that raids a poorly managed campsite might not go seeking more campsites, but he is certainly going to take advantage of the next one comes across. A shark previously fed by humans may well look for a meal when it encounters a the next human. If that person is a spear fisherman or a snorkeler, there is virtually no way to tell, especially if the encounters are days and hundreds of miles apart. There are a lot of blanks in our understanding of shark migrations and behavior. Even when provided with ample scientific evidence, people are often unwilling to change behavior because it would go against their perceived interests.

 

[johndiver999]

I wasn’t really trying to make a definitive statement, but we tend to look at animal behavior in very black and white terms. A shark (or a polar bear or moose for that matter) will feed opportunistically while otherwise maintaining migrations or other behaviors. a bear that raids a poorly managed campsite might not go seeking more campsites, but he is certainly going to take advantage of the next one comes across. A shark previously fed by humans may well look for a meal when it encounters a the next human. If that person is a spear fisherman or a snorkeler, there is virtually no way to tell, especially if the encounters are days and hundreds of miles apart. There are a lot of blanks in our understanding of shark migrations and behavior. Even when provided with ample scientific evidence, people are often unwilling to change behavior because it would go against their perceived interests.

Agree!

Most spearfisherman have a significant aversion to allowing a shark to take their catch, not just because they lose their catch, but there is a very strong sentiment in that group of divers who feel that sharks are intelligent and can learn and therefore allowing a shark to take your fish is just making the shark much more dangerous for the next diver that the shark encounters.

I think some time in the future we will look back at all the hand feeding shark circuses as similar to this:

Old Yellowstone: Bear Feeding