Shark attack in Egypt

[WS007]

A shark attacks a German tourist and infects her at Marsa Alam .. Details

Does someone have information about his incident?

Wolfgang

 

[Miyaru]

infects her?? Probably a very poor translation.

 

[WS007]

infects her?? Probably a very poor translation.

The article also says that she was attacked by two "piasters". I assume this is egyptian slang for a special species of shark...

 

[Miyaru]

Shark incident at Elphinstone

Unfortunately during the dive this morning, for reasons we are still trying to find out, one of our guests was lightly bitten by an Oceanic White Tip at the back of the left arm. Our dive guide immediately went to assist her and she and her buddy ascended to the speedboat which was already waiting directly above the divers. Our dive guide then brought the rest of the divers together to ascend to the boat to safely exit the water. The diver was given first aid treatment on a nearby Safari boat. She was brought immediately back to Marsa Shagra where the waiting car took her to our on-site medical clinic to be treated for two wounds with stitches. The guest is now back in Marsa Shagra and the authorities are investigating the cause of the incident.

 

[dirtfarmer]

Red Sea sharks are sure bitey. I see more bite reports there then anywhere else.

 

[BrackaFish]

Red Sea sharks are sure bitey. I see more bite reports there then anywhere else.

Ponce Inlet, FL is the bitey capital of the world, but they are mostly nips with just stitches. Bad combination of swimmers, surfers, baitfish, low visibility and lots of small sharks

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Ponce Inlet, FL is the bitey capital of the world, but they are mostly nips with just stitches. Bad combination of swimmers, surfers, baitfish, low visibility and lots of small sharks

There's a big difference between mixing surfers, baitfish, low viz, and ankle biters and areas where you have a shark species that "doesn't miss meals" and can inflict serious damage. Oceanic whitetips are pelagic sharks that live in a relative desert with scarce feeding opportunities. They should always be regarded as sizing up divers for potential prey; I wouldn't turn my back on one. My only (to date) encounter with an oceanic whitetip between Tahiti and Moorea left me very impressed with how persistent a ~1.5 meter juvenile was at making multiple approaches on a group of five snorkelers who were all a) larger than it was and b) fully alerted and bunched up in a defensive formation. A few weeks later a tourist on a whale snorkel got badly mauled by one about that size.

I'd still like to dive more with them (Cat Island in the Bahamas is on my to-do list), but they demand a lot of healthy respect. Put large numbers of inexperienced divers around them - and in the Red Sea you probably have a lot of vacationers maybe getting in their only dives of the year - and accidents will happen.

 

[drrich2]

My only (to date) encounter with an oceanic whitetip between Tahiti and Moorea left me very impressed with how persistent a ~1.5 meter juvenile was at making multiple approaches on a group of five snorkelers

The Red Sea attack on that diver in the shorty (I think it was at 'The Brothers?') surprised me. I'm not a good subjective judge of length; from online video, it looked like an oceanic white-tip around 5 to 6 feet long went up, curved around and grabbed a diver in a short by the leg, and thrashed for moments; it's my understanding it basically removed his calf.

I wouldn't have thought a shark would attack something so large relative to its own size (note: there are exceptions, like great whites hitting the rear of large elephant seals so they drown...and of course the cookie cutter shark...), especially something its instincts wouldn't recognize as prey, and while surrounded by a large group of the 'aliens.' But it did, and now that guy's maimed for life. While this doesn't look quite like I remembered, I think it's a video from that 2018 attack.

Richard.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

The Red Sea attack on that diver in the shorty (I think it was at 'The Brothers?') surprised me. I'm not a good subjective judge of length; from online video, it looked like an oceanic white-tip around 5 to 6 feet long went up, curved around and grabbed a diver in a short by the leg, and thrashed for moments; it's my understanding it basically removed his calf.

I wouldn't have thought a shark would attack something so large relative to its own size (note: there are exceptions, like great whites hitting the rear of large elephant seals so they drown...and of course the cookie cutter shark...), especially something its instincts wouldn't recognize as prey, and while surrounded by a large group of the 'aliens.' But it did, and now that guy's maimed for life. While this doesn't look quite like I remembered, I think it's a video from that 2018 attack.

Richard.

Remember that "shark" includes a very wide variety of animals, from docile bottom feeders about the size of a human arm to apex predators the size of a pickup truck. Taxonomically speaking sharks consist of multiple orders (for example, Order Carcharhiniformes which contains both the oceanic whitetip shark and the leopard sharks common to the Pacific coast of North America). For comparison on land, Order Carnivora encompasses everything from grizzly bears and big cats to raccoons and minks. That's a very broad diversity of different animals that are physically and behaviorally suited to different environments and lifestyles.

Oceanic whitetips are open-water predators; they live in areas of the ocean where feeding opportunities are few and far between. They're specialized for efficient long-range cruising and when they come across something that might be food, they are going to investigate. That's not to say they are going to make reckless attacks on anything they encounter, but anything that isn't putting up a vigilant guard might be fair game.

 

[Raphus]

There is a video online of the incident aswell.
The woman did not watchnthe shark, but was doing something with her buddy(dm?).
And moving her arms to hold position in the water.

The shark had his fins stretched and looked irritated.
The seconds before the bite was cut out.

If a 2m+ oceanic is in the water with me i wont turn my back on him and move my arms like she did.
Cant find the video anymore. It was on the german diving board taucher.net facebook page.