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Phish-phood:
Well I do have quite a big bag, but unfortunately I have already promised the space to a friend of mine :p

That would be me, right?
I am your friend :happywave
 
Some quotes from the BBC News web site and from the Camel Dive Centre's forum. Camel is one the most well known and respected dive centres in Sharm and an outfit that I've dived with twice.


mania:
First of all as I wrote I'm not sure whether the big shark I saw is exactly called whale shark - I'm not a specialist on sharks so I could be mistaken.

What did the guide or instructor say it was? I'm sure they'd know.


mania:
Second - the plane itself is at the depth of around 400 meters - not 1000 meters as you wrote (this is a probable depth of the recorders - black box).

Mixed reports, it seems.

Camel: "The crash occurred more than 5 KM offshore and left very little debris. The fuselage of the plane is in about 800 Meters of water."

BBC News: "An Egyptian official told French news agency AFP that investigators had "just about" located the major part of the wreckage in about 400 metres (1,300 feet) of water. Other parts of the sea floor in the crash area are up to 1,000 metres (3,281 feet) deep."'


mania:
Third - the debris that was already found - I mean body parts - have significant signs of being bitten by animals - including sharks - this is why on saturday evening all divers were stoped from diving.

I can't find any reputable news agency saying there were shark marks found on the debris but I'm sure a dismembered body looks like something from Jaws to a uninformed hack looking for a sensationalised story. It's normal practice to close off a crash site to recover debris and bodies so I'd see no other ulterior motive. There'd be no logic in closing the waters as sharks are not as depraved, cunning or that interested in eating divers as the press would like to make us believe. I would have thought that divers knew that more than anybody. Have you ever seen a shark? Did it attack you or run away?

Camel: "To suggest that this will affect shark behaviour in any noticeable way is simply not borne out by what we know about sharks, or by common sense ... We also need to bear in mind that the sharks in Tiran at the moment are REEF SHARKS. I have heard no reports of any pelagics spotted there in the last three weeks. Reef sharks do not venture 5 km offshore. There is in any case no evidence to suggest that even pelagic sharks were scavenging the debris. No sightings, nothing. The sharks didn't "suddenly arrive" they are reef sharks, they are territorial, they are always around the Tiran reefs in large numbers."

Sources

BBC News - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3368535.stm
Camel Dive Centre Forums - http://www.cameldive.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=218&whichpage=1
 
Paulus Magnus:
I can't find any reputable news agency saying there were shark marks found on the debris but I'm sure a dismembered body looks like something from Jaws to a uninformed hack looking for a sensationalised story. It's normal practice to close off a crash site to recover debris and bodies so I'd see no other ulterior motive. There'd be no logic in closing the waters as sharks are not as depraved, cunning or that interested in eating divers as the press would like to make us believe. I would have thought that divers knew that more than anybody.
So would I. This tragedy has already hit Sharm pretty bad, I agree with Paulus Magnus that there is no need to further hit the tourism industry there by sensationalist and unfounded speculation on aggressive sharks.

There have been only two (2) confirmed fatalities to shark attacks in the Red Sea in the last hundred years. And the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is completely harmless, as has already been stated. You've got to be more careful of triggerfish ...
 
Well I really don't want to argue and continue this discussion becuse it doesn't make sense. I'm the last one to make people believe that sharks or any other water animals are really dangerous to humans - I still believe that anyway we are guests at their home and not the other way around. As for the rest of the topics - let's make it this way - I was there. Were you there? And I speak a little bit of arabic - at least I can understand it more or less, so I watched Egyptian TV. Can u do that?
And the help of divers seems to be still needed because that's the letter recieved by my diving centre in Sharm from the Director of National Park Ras Mohammed (not only mine - most of the diving centres got this letter on 9th or 10th Jan):

Dear Dive Center Owner/Manager,


We would like to thank all of you who contributed and helped during the last
days in the salvage efforts for the devastating airplane crash.

Dear All, as you all know, the remains from the wreckage are still floating.
The National Park and the authorities need boats to participate in daily
search and salvage.

Please inform us immediately if you can spare a boat during the coming few
days. Please call Mrs. Amal El Fekky, the SSDM Office manager at 660418,
664623.

Your contribution will be highly appreciated,


Secretary General
Vice President
Zeyad El Bassel

Best regards
Mania
PS. As a former journalist I could tell you long stories about what can and what shouldn't be written or broadcasted. So I always rather believe in what I see than in what I read.
And for the end - I hope that at least we can agree on the fact that this was a horrible tragedy, first of all for the families of the victims as well as for the Sharm itself.
 
mania:
I was there. Were you there? And I speak a little bit of arabic - at least I can understand it more or less, so I watched Egyptian TV. Can u do that?

I have been there, very often but wasn't there at the time of the accident. I'd left just before Christmas and was in California for the festivities but yes I can speak Arabic as can my dive buddy that was born in Egypt and raised in the UK.
 
As you may know lately in sharm they opened deliphinarium (I'm not sure if that's a porper name - I mean a pool with dolphins). It's called Dolphinella and it's placed in Hadaba (close to Regency hotel). Diving with the dolphins costs 100 US$ (for half an hour) while snorkling - 60 US$. These dolphins were born in the pool (they don't know the real freedom) and are under everyday vet supervision. So if any of you wouldn't have a chance to dive with wild dolphins - still there is a place to go - I heard that these dolphins are realy eager to play.
Have fun.
Mania
 
DanDiver:
I am going to Hilton Shark Bay Januar 29. Please tell me about your holliday there.

DanDiver

Hey Dan

How long are you there for? I'm staying at the Hilton from the 8th Feb...
 
[Hallo Chippy

I did read the date of your hollyday wrong, I read it for Januar, not Februar, that why I ask`d for your opinion about Hilton .............
We are to couple that stays at the hotel from Jan. 29. - Feb 6.
I am the only diver of the four of us. I vill do 2 or 3 dives, the rest of the tim I am going to snorkel with my whife.

I will whrite to you when im am back in Denmark
DanDiver
 

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