Death in Cocos from shark attack

[John the Pom]

Curious - what did the divers do that made the attacks their own fault?

One idiot grabbed a medium-sized carpet shark by its tail and tried to pull it out from the hole in the wreck where it was lying. Even though he was a lot heavier than the shark, it grabbed him and flung him around like a terrier shaking a rat. It was sheer luck that the shark bit onto his gear rather than an arm or a leg. Even then at 35m+ it could have turned quite serious.

The other time was just an inexperienced diver over-excited at finding a large nurse shark on a shallow coral reef in very poor viz, and accidentally backed it into a corner, causing it to charge. It was funny - afterwards!

 

[DanBMW]

I would think that most experienced divers would agree that you don't have to really worry about the sharks that you see. We have been around lots and they are either just swimming by or you only see the tail. It is the shark that you don't see that will be the problem and by that time, you can only react.

 

[Satrekker]

I would think that most experienced divers would agree that you don't have to really worry about the sharks that you see. We have been around lots and they are either just swimming by or you only see the tail. It is the shark that you don't see that will be the problem and by that time, you can only react.

Agree. It's amazing what a pair of eyes on a shark and a posture oriented towards them will do as far as impacting their behavior.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

In the spirit of responding to this accident with an eye toward preventing future ones, and given that at least some years back it was said there were 5 tiger sharks in the area (so presumably they recognized individuals), I have these questions:

If, with a decent confidence level, the shark that killed her is identified, and thought to be one that hangs around the region (not a migrant passing through), what approach should be taken? Should someone (e.g.: volunteer boat staff, outside shark experts, diving rangers, whatever) try to...

a.) Do nothing. Let the shark randomly encounter future divers and hope nothing bad happens.
b.) Warn regional live-aboard op.s, teach staff to recognize this particular shark and 'keep an eye on it' if it shows up.
c.) Have armed divers enter the water nearby and watch to see how it reacts. If it approaches in a manner judged concerning, kill it. If not, back to a.) or b.).
d.) Kill it.

Richard.

I haven't consulted my friend who works in Cocos for numbers, but if they're seeing tigers frequently ... there are a lot more than just five of them around there. As an example, the baited ops here in Jupiter have five or six named regulars; researchers doing shark and grouper tagging have gone out in that general area and gotten 14-16 individuals in the span of a weekend (and I'm pretty sure that the one time they went and got 14, none of them were our "usual suspects").

As far as recognizing the shark, I'm surprised the DM was able to note the gender of the individual given the circumstances, and I'm not sure I trust even that observation. Without a photographic record there's no way to tell exactly which shark it might have been. In Florida and at Tiger Beach we use marking patterns to identify individual sharks; as the person who keeps the ID files on the Jupiter tigers I can tell you that's often not a instant positive ID. Depending on how distinctive the individual is and the quality/angle of the photos or video I'm looking at, it can take me a while to figure out who's who and I have made errors in the past.

The difficulties of obtaining a positive ID aside, killing the animal is not a solution, especially if they don't know which shark it is. I can vouch that, for lack of a better word, tiger sharks do have "personalities;" some are more of a handful than others. There was already a mention of "Buttface" from Tiger Beach (so named because at some point something left a divot in the middle of her snout) and when "DJenny" shows up on a dive in Jupiter I go to red alert. That does not mean they are "mad" animals; they are bolder individuals that will push the boundaries in certain circumstances and demand added vigilance on the diver's part.

 

[Miguel Mantas]

So no one has heard any more details about this shocking tragedy?


Someone elsewhere heard the tiger was spotted coming up and she shot for the surface by herself, away from the group safety stop. It's the first thing I've heard that makes any sense in terms of why her, even though it is just hearsay. Still doesn't explain the DM also being bit unless he just got in the way.

I agree with you...This sounds to me like a most likely cause... This and possibly frightned thrashing fighting for her life, although the very first bite to the legs of a large tiger may have provoked already enough laceration for lethal bleeding ...The DM may have been as surprised and had to react/follow, then getting injured trying to help...I have been looking evrywhere to see if there are any eye witness accounts, but cannot find any. There should be some in a dive group of 18...if you know of any, I would appreciate to know where

Why am I interested ...I taught the victim--- a very dear friend back then--- to dive, 20 years ago, when we both lived in the Philippines...was always her dive buddy in those times...I was the experienced diver, she was an absolute beginner then...we have not had regular contact since years, nor dived together of course, so I dont really know how her skills evolved,...she was recreational and surely not diving "all the time" like some commentators here, although I know she did a number of live-aboard trips...but when something like this happens to someone you have been so very close to, ...you just cannot get it off your head...especially having been the one who introduced her and encoutraged her in her first underwater adventures...

she really loved it, you know,...a bold and wonderful woman... but here I am now, unbelievably sad and taunting myself whether I shouldnt have scared her off instead...although diving is my passion...

 

[HalcyonDaze]

I noticed in the lengthy Tiger video off FL early in this thread, they were using a bag with some sort of noise maker and the shark was staying close. Squeezing an empty plastic water bottle will attract sharks, so I debate the natural curiosity of the shark in that video. Good shots, but...

At least in our area, I've found the whole noisemaker approach to be hit or miss. One of the wrecks we use as a feed site has a rail stanchion on the stern which must be in proximity to a structural beam; if you hit that with a dive knife the entire fantail reverberates like a steel drum. I've had days when we've been drumming, clinking, and rattling down there loud enough that the Navy's ASW training range around Andros could probably hear us and not gotten squat. Great hammerheads might be a little more receptive to it; one of the tricks the DMs try to get their attention is dragging the bait box through the sand. Not sure how well that works, though. Generally, the best way to get sharks is with a lot of fresh, oily fish like bonita or barracuda in a strong current.

I hesitate to try and extrapolate what's going through their minds, but I've heard a number of assessments that put certain shark species in about that same brain/body size ratio as birds and between personal observations and anecdotal accounts I can believe they will sometimes investigate things out of pure curiosity. At Tiger Beach they'll pick up cameras, unattended dive gear, and one poster on this thread and then drop them a short distance away; they have to have done that enough times to realize those things aren't food. A fanciful interpretation might be like a dog who grabs a toy and runs off with it to see if you'll chase it. The one time I saw it happen to a tank and BC, the rig was grabbed three times by a 14-ft tiger without any damage to the BC or hoses - on the second and third occasions it was while a freediver was taking a hit off of it.

The most tense tiger shark encounter I ever had was in poor viz (30-40 ft) where we had three tigers and the largest one (a 10-ft female) would come up vertically off the bottom at an ascending diver, break off just short, swim through the group, and go down again for another pass. Granted, I was staying close on her because I didn't trust her intentions, but if she was hellbent on taking someone she could have. I'm not sure what she was up to. Was she really trying to grab a diver? Was she practicing her stalking techniques? Was she trying to figure out who had the bait box in the murk? Was it because the Food Guy was relatively new on the job and she was trying to find the usual Food Guy in the crowd? Or was she just screwing with us?

 

[dmaziuk]

One idiot grabbed a medium-sized carpet shark by its tail and tried to pull it out from the hole in the wreck where it was lying.

A story told by a DM in Costa Rica: they were on a dive where a DM was a small-ish lady marine science graduate. At one point they saw a shark tail sticking out of the hole in the wall and "I'll never forget the sight: this little girl grabs this shark by the tail and just yanks it out of the hole!"

I wonder if the idiot heard that or similar story and missed the bit where the marine scientist later explained she identified the shark as one of the species that have to keep swimming and realised it was suffocating stuck in the hole. (And yes: in that story the shark, once freed, bolted away happily.)

 

[John Bantin]

Judging by Ms Fisher's looks, she even wasn't born yet when this alleged attack happened

About 5 years ago. They all look young when you get to your age!

 

[drrich2]

As far as recognizing the shark, I'm surprised the DM was able to note the gender of the individual given the circumstances, and I'm not sure I trust even that observation. Without a photographic record there's no way to tell exactly which shark it might have been. In Florida and at Tiger Beach we use marking patterns to identify individual sharks; as the person who keeps the ID files on the Jupiter tigers I can tell you that's often not a instant positive ID. Depending on how distinctive the individual is and the quality/angle of the photos or video I'm looking at, it can take me a while to figure out who's who and I have made errors in the past.

Thanks for the added insights. If that tiger was photographed by others on the dive, and the only one present (2 big 'ifs,') perhaps some photos can be posted online at some point in which case it'll be interesting to see if that specific individual is identifiable.

I'm not calling for its death, just exploring the thinking. There are some animals, like bears, where an individual prone to attack humans is an anomaly, so at least in theory, one can make a logical argument for culling that individual while tolerating the species. All the more so because the animal can easily invade areas with humans who aren't hunting or otherwise seeking interaction (e.g.: show up in somebody's backyard), and there's a concern it'll learn humans are easy prey and is at risk to become a 'serial killer,' of sorts.

And there are some animals, like large male Nile crocodiles and Australian salt water crocodiles, where if you put a human in the water in their near vicinity, I at least guess an attack is likely, so dangerousness is an aspect of the species; while individual temperament varies, they're all presumed highly dangerous.

Neither model for interpreting man-killing animals seems to fit the tiger sharks.

Richard.

 

[tarponchik]

About 5 years ago. They all look young when you get to your age!

You got it!