Bull shark kills Pennsylvania woman -

[The Chairman]

Sharks have always been opportunistic a-holes. In 72(?) a buddy and I were just inside of Ponce Inlet Florida gigging flounder and most anything else that moved. We're in 10 foot of water, close to shore and Brian hits a big one, but doesn't kill it outright. Mr Sharky came out of nowhere, took the fish and left Brian with a cut wrist where the gig's loop was, and was gone. No one was feeding sharks back then, so it was just instinct. We walked back to the beach.

 

[mcohen1021]

I've been on 2 cruise snorkeling excursions, Barbados and Roatan, and neither entailed any instruction about mitigating shark attack risk.

~50 dives on 2 different trips in Roatan and the only dive we saw sharks of any kind was at their feeding dive @ Caea a Cara.

I was told once (no idea if true and I can't find info on it) that the reason you dont see sharks in Roatan is bc the Honduran govt had an agreement with the Chinese to allow fishing and they've decimated the population, for finning them.

 

[lowwall]

But it happens such a tiny % of the time relative to the people in the water over time, that there's no reasonable expectation of significant risk for the average participant.

Yep. From the BBC article on this attack Shark attack kills US cruise passenger in Bahamas

"In total, statistics from the Florida-based International Shark Attack File show that only about 32 shark attacks have been reported in the Bahamas since 1749..."

So 32 attacks in 273 years.

 

[scubadada]

This is nowhere near the usual Tiger Shark or Hammerhead Shark feeding areas. Perhaps it's near the feeding areas for Stuart Cove and others, I don't know.

In southeast Florida, Jupiter, I dive at least one of the areas where shark feeding occurs, but with an operator that does not feed, Deep Ledge. I have been with at least a dozen Bull Sharks without any aggressive moves at all. In fact, they are often a bit skittish. I have been near spearos in Boynton Beach where the Bull Sharks have seemed more aggressive. My takeaway is that Bull Sharks do not pose a serious problem for divers that are not with hunters. Even then, it is likely manageable. See posts and comments by my good friend @Johnoly for more details.

 

[EdC]

I looked it up and Rose Island, along with snorkeling has swimming pigs as an attraction, it also is where another young lady was killed by sharks while snorkeling in 2019.

I don't know if the floating bacon angle has anything to do with it but I would think twice.

 

[Protondecay123]

My condolences to the family. The article about the attack from USA Today mentioned that the shark in question was a bull shark. They are aggressive and can be found in freshwater. 14 Brilliant Bull Shark Facts - Fact Animal

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I looked it up and Rose Island, along with snorkeling has swimming pigs as an attraction, it also is where another young lady was killed by sharks while snorkeling in 2019.

I don't know if the floating bacon angle has anything to do with it but I would think twice.

Shark Week on Discover did an episode this year on whether the swimming pigs could be attracting tigers & bulls. It was a bit of an odd, tongue in cheek sort of episode that are becoming too prevalent on Shark Week, but it’s an interesting question.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

Most of the sharks you see in the Bahamas are Caribbean reef sharks. I don't think I ever saw a bull shark, tiger, or hammerhead during my time in the Bahamas.

Conversely, I've encountered every dangerous species but a great white in south Florida. I had 3 bulls circle me off Key Largo on the Duane. There is a video of a great white on that wreck as well, and it's also where I saw the biggest tiger I could even imagine.

This was just a case of wrong place, wrong time, wrong day, and wrong shark.

I never felt at risk on any dive. Whether freediving, freediving with sharks, or shark diving. I swam laps in the sea quite often near my girlfriend's condo on Grand Bahama and had no worries. I would do run-swim-runs for fitness a couple of times a week. As a famous shark expert, my ex-girlfriend has no fear of them but fears our impact on sharks.

 

[arew+4]

Nevermind.

 

[ScubaSamScubaStevesFather]

Sorry to read this. Condolences.