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

[scubayinzer412]

We are currently in Soma Bay, around 50kms south of Hurghada, and the whole coast down to here has been shut off to divers for 48 hours. Considering the statistics I feel as though it is a little bit overboard to condemn 50 miles of coast. There are many sharks here, and the incident per tourist/diver capita rate is extremely low. It's far better to be a diver than a snorkeler though, that's for sure.
We were at Breakers/Orca Diving to collect our gear this afternoon and there were not too many smiles to be seen. It's a huge upset for the Dive centers who have no business for 48 hours and I am quite confident that the government will offer no subsidies.. This is their high season and 48 hours must feel like an eternity for them, especially when there is no guarantee that the Govt will re-open the coast after the 48 hours, they are praying that no-one finds a 2nd Tiger Shark in the area..

We are fortunate as we're heading of on a LOB for a week.... we only lose a single diving day.. It's a lot less fun for those who only have 4 or 5 days shore diving.

As divers we are strongly advised not to float/splash around on the surface, but to get up the ladder, or bac in the Zodiac without making a fuss, it's good advice.

A thought must go out to the unfortunate Russian snorkeler, outside of the political arena, no one merits such a terrible demise.

the coral garden safaga is open and you could go diving there

 

[berndo]

I am not going to watch the video, too distressing.

I'm not watching stuff like that either. I don't know why you would wanna a watch video of someone getting killed. It's sick. The person who uploaded his footage must be a real POS.

 

[morecowbells]

I am curious about two things: 1) Anybody know the water depth where the attack took place? 2) When the shark was spotted near the pier, did anybody notify neighboring resorts/beaches of sighting? Terrible tragedy.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

I have been attending the MENA Oceans Summit in Dubai over the past two days and this incident was discussed today during the coffee breaks and networking meetings.

Eid Al Adha is in a couple of weeks and prior to this there are many sheep transport ships sailing up the Red Sea to deposit their cargo in Saudi and Egypt.

It's a well known fact that sick animals on these vessels are dumped overboard and attract various marine life looking for an easy meal. I'm not sure that the authorities in Egypt are keen to advertise this fact or even do anything about it!

This was one of the hypotheses regarding the 2010 Sharm El Sheikh attacks (4 in a single day and 1 four days later), which was also around Eid al-Adha. The culprits in that case were oceanic whitetip and mako sharks, which are usually not seen close to shore. I get the impression tigers are more usually seen offshore in the Red Sea rather than around beaches. It would also explain why a large area was closed.

I'm not sure whether sea turtles mate and nest in that part of the Red Sea, but in Florida at least that seems to be high season (relatively speaking) for tiger sharks.

While I agree with your point, to be fair, the cocos incident did actually start at depth. It was a known aggressive tiger, and during the ascent and safety stop the tiger came after the woman. The DM intervened and they were both attacked. That shark is still there and this story is the reason they no long allow night diving in cocos. But yes, attacks on divers are rare.

Also it’s worth noting that despite how easy the pros make it look to deflect and turn away sharks, if you are on the surface with no mask to see, deflecting would be a whole other, nearly impossible, ball game.

The Cocos incident did start at depth; however I'm not sure it was a "known aggressive" tiger. I have heard a few accounts that the victim was an inexperienced diver and ran low on gas; the DM ascended with her and once they left the group the tiger showed up and started trying to get at the diver (the DM's injuries were from him kicking at it). From talking to a friend who's done filming out there, breaking off from the group will bring them in (he was also of the opinion beforehand that the night whitetip reef shark dives were not a good idea; close calls with tigers sneaking up on divers in the dark were not unheard of).

Short form, they are ambush predators. I will dive with them when I can see them coming. I would not want to be swimming blind on the surface around one, especially not in an area where offal might have been dumped.

 

[Fuzzmex]

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

This is not the same incident.

 

[Dan]

This is not the same incident.

You’re right. Sorry about that. I posted a wrong link (older one back in July 2022) by IDO SAN. Here’s a new one posted on 9 June 2023 by him, which is the same video from the link sent by @BlueTrin

 

[Dan]

Duplicate message- deleted

 

[Dan]

More info about the accident from @channel 48.

It’s age restricted, so you need to watch it directly from the YouTube by tapping the “Watch on YouTube” link provided on the thumbnail. The video description is below.

 

[BoltSnap]

I am curious about two things: 1) Anybody know the water depth where the attack took place? 2) When the shark was spotted near the pier, did anybody notify neighboring resorts/beaches of sighting? Terrible tragedy.

This happened in front of the "old Sheraton" beach. I am sure the news spread like wild fire.

 

[Dan]

This happened in front of the "old Sheraton" beach. I am sure the news spread like wild fire.

Is the "old Sheraton" beach the same hotel as the Dream Beach hotel, mentioned in the post # 75, above?