Russian citizen mauled to death by tiger shark off Egypt's Red Sea coast in rare attack

[Dan]

Egg laying season??
View attachment 787104

May be they meant mating season.

 

[rmorgan]

When a claim is made that authorities have taken 'the' specific individual animal that killed someone, whether a shark or crocodile, I wish they'd explain why we should be convinced the one they caught is the one that killed.

Or, as to sharks, what the purpose is in the first place. We are sharing their space, and the usual victim is looking like prey (a swimming on the surface or boogie boarding/surfing) or doing something related to food (fishing, collecting mollusks, etc.). Is there reason to think that sharks which have attacked humans are likely to develop a penchant? (I know that there are reports of the same animal attacking more than once, but that goes to your initial point.)

 

[Dan]

Video of "Tiger Shark in Hurghada, Egypt Before Fatal Attack on Russian Tourist June 8th, 2023"

 

[drrich2]

Is there reason to think that sharks which have attacked humans are likely to develop a penchant?

Oddly enough, conservation politics might impact how to approach that perspective. For years it's been common practice to tell the public even 'man-eating' species of shark don't have humans as a natural prey item and aren't prone to attack us. Hence videos of a free diver interacting with great whites, etc... Barring poor visibility or similar mitigating circumstances, the theory goes that such species will observe the human, not recognize it as prey, might even find it alarming, and will go their own way.

That's usually what happens. There's drone footage on YouTube of great whites at the surface near humans and nothing bad happening (it probably helped that the humans often don't know about it and thus don't freak out).

But when a great white or tiger shark does attack and kill somebody, absent any obvious compelling mitigating circumstances, if we then turn around and say there's no point in killing it because 'they're all like that,' then the general public may turn back to thinking shark culls sound like a good idea.

We are sharing their space

I understand the point of view, but many people tend to regard the Earth (at least the land and beach and shore areas used by people) as being to humanity, and animals presenting a clear and present danger as something to be removed. Telling them they're wrong and to stay out of the water or accept occasional predation (i.e.: welcome to the food chain!) will not go over well.

 

[rmorgan]

As always, good points, although I tend to balk at rough justice …

 

[Dan]

Egypt: shark attacks and kills a tourist in Hurghada - video

Egypt: shark attacks and kills a tourist in Hurghada - video Read the news on Nova agency

www.agenzianova.com

I found another version (longer & taken by different person, IDO SAN) of that video in YouTube, below:

 

[RobPNW]

The "thrashing around" language caught my attention.

 

[Dan]

The "thrashing around" language caught my attention.

That is what I was told not to do when Tiger Shark is around. Just keep eyes on the Shark and push it away.

 

[azstinger11]

I doubt that the shark examination will show anything. Tiger sharks occasionally take people. I suspect a tourism ploy.

The Washington Post had a paywall that is blocked on 12 foot ladder, but several other sites have the story. Here is Reuter's: Russian citizen killed in shark attack in Egypt

Here ya go https://archive.is/I7sZw

 

[MB NZ]

Is there reason to think that sharks which have attacked humans are likely to develop a penchant? (I know that there are reports of the same animal attacking more than once, but that goes to your initial point.)

I don't know and I'm not a marine biologist. However, here in NZ, anecdotally there is a clear relationship between spearfishing and shark activity. In some spots, bronze whalers turn up as soon as spearguns are fired, regardless of whether a fish has been shot. It's especially a problem in summer and the sharks can reach over 3 metres in length. They a big, bulky animals and can be quite intimidating. Fortunately, they have no interest in spearfisherman, but accidents do happen. My point? These sharks have learned how to get food with minimal effort. It's not a huge leap to consider that an animal that has identified the swimming monkey as an easy meal might be more likely to bite the next swimming monkey it comes across. That said, attempts to catch and kill individual sharks are misguided to my mind. I suspect it's more about appeasing the public and media.