How government respond to shark attacks

[fisherdvm]

Mexico Navy hunts for sharks after attacks
Mon May 26, 2008 4:44pm EDT

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The Mexican Navy searched for sharks in the ocean near Pacific surfing beaches on Monday, after two bathers were killed and another maimed in a rare spate of shark attacks.

Three boats and a helicopter patrolled the sea while Navy and rescue officials scanned the horizon with binoculars from popular beaches around the southwestern Mexican resort of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo. They warned surfers not to go far out.

"We've been monitoring the beaches; we've done reconnaissance flights," Rear Adm. Arturo Bernal said, adding that no big shark had been detected yet in the area.

Surfer Bruce Grimes from Texas was bitten on the arm on Saturday off nearby Playa Linda beach, making him the third target of a shark attack in the area in a month.

Two attacks in April and May killed a Mexican and an American -- the first shark deaths off Mexico's Pacific coast in 30 years, according to official records.

Grimes, 49, said he paddled madly toward shore on his board after feeling the unmistakable sandy skin of a shark glide across the bottom of his feet as he straddled his surfboard.

"Then it bumped me really hard. I thought, 'That's definitely a big shark.' I took about three more strokes and he grabbed my arm," said Grimes, who pulled himself free and made it to the beach. He managed to drive himself to a hospital, where he received 100 stitches.

On Friday, Mexican surfer Osvaldo Mata, 21, died after a 6-foot-long (2-m-long) shark seized him, bit off one of his hands and chomped on his thigh. That followed the death in late April of a 24-year-old American who was mauled while surfing nearby.

The Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo government is consulting with experts to determine what could be causing the attacks.

(Editing by Catherine Bremer and Cynthia Osterman)

 

[fisherdvm]

I fear that to improve tourism, many government would allow or encourage the fishing of sharks to alleviate tourist's fears. My guess is that most tourists only understand shark attacks from watching Jaws and other movies. From an economic stand point, it probably make sense. But in reality, it likely will not change the incidence of shark attacks.

The title of the story is misleading, as they are really not "hunting", just simply searching. But really, can you see a 6 ft shark from a helicopter or plane that well?

 

[Walter]

can you see a 6 ft shark from a helicopter or plane that well?

Yes .

 

[lock_washer]

Kind of gives you the impression that the Mexican Navy is not good for military purposes if they are spending their time looking for sharks.

Lock Washer

 

[DavidPT40]

As a kid watching "Jaws", I always thought to myself- Why didn't they use a Coast Guard Cutter or a Destroyer to hunt the shark? Looks like the Mexican Navy thought the same thing.

 

[Gregordo]

It's all about tourism. When the shark attacks sped up in Florida our Coast Guard and Navy did nothing and Tourist dollars dried up. The Mexican Navy knows where it gets it's bread and butter. They aren't out shooting sharks. They are making the tourist feel better.