Marine Life Shark attack at Egyptian Red Sea resort

[dcvf2]

Hi
Some additional details and testimonies from
Pictured: EU official mauled to death by shark at an Egyptian resort )

1)Father and son ?
No, the two Italians, friends and colleges, don’t have the same family name.
Gianluca Di Gioia, 48 year old the victim killed by the shark
Guiseppe Fappani 69 year old, tried and failed to rescue his friend from the jaws of a tiger shark. Fappani was bitten on the arms and legs say his wife

2) The attack occurred in deep waters, the ministry said, outside the designated swimming area of Marsa Alam.
No, … they swam just 50 m from the beach in an area where the resort's jetty allows tourists to access beyond the coral reef.

The jetty of the “Sataya resort” with its swimming area marked out on the surface

 

[iamhereonetime]

I was in Sataya last week. I'm not diver, maybe recreational snorkeler. My wife is diver and I came to do kitesurfing.
This is how jetty looks like:

This is the 'recommended' swimming area and zodiac's parked:

Hotel didn't tell anything to the guest. So anything I know is just from other guests who supposedly witnessed the attack
1st guest was also snorkeling at the same time and he saw the shark/the incident
He shouted to the younger guy but was afraid to help him. The older guy also saw that and went to help the younger guy
2nd guest told me that the older guy tried to help the younger one, punched the shark, got bitten (in case of shark that is understatement). Then he got rescued because the lifeguard only saw him. In the meantime the younger guy was hanging to the bouy before he got rescued. He stated that they were close or within the designated swimming area.
Lifeguard told me the the accident happened outside the area but not more then 20-30m (but his English was bare minimum)
This is screenshot from rescue action, so they were inside the 'swimming' area:

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNew41kbB/

..............
This is an inherent risk for snorkellers when snorkelling on reefs that have a significant drop off and are facing the open sea. Unfortunately, very few are aware of this...

From my small experience around Marsa Alam region, most reef which I visited have around ~5-10m drop off.

The shark was approximately a 5-meter-long tiger shark. The two victims were a father and son, aged 45-50 and 70 years old. The son died instantly from a wound to his leg, while the father sustained serious injuries to his hands and thigh. (They didn’t share the pictures, saying nobody would want to see them.)

almasryalyoum article
it was Mako Shark (google translate)

Sataya hotel doesn't have any other hotel nearby and I'd say this increases the chance to encounter large marine life.

None of those hotels in that area have any hotel nearby in terms of side by side.

 

[Jai Bar]

Is that area one of those shark feeding locations for tourist dollars?

Nope, and as far as I know it is not common practice in Egypt.

 

[Jai Bar]

Not for the shark...
This is an inherent risk for snorkellers when snorkelling on reefs that have a significant drop off and are facing the open sea. Unfortunately, very few are aware of this...

Many of the shark attacks in Egypt happened at shallow water, some victims were standing not even snorkeling .

These are not the type of attacks people see on tv National Geographic Wild chanel's "shark week" where they show GWS speeding from the depths hunting seals from below. Many sharks prowl the shallows for food, sometimes at very shallow water.

 

[The Chairman]

Hi, Basic Open Water Diver here (13 dives) heading out to Sharm this week. Still undecided about whether to dive.

Unless hand fed, most sharks avoid critters that fart out of their mouths. Diving should be fine.

 

[touny71]

@rjk75 No, there are no shark feedings in Egypt.
@pakno1 Unfortunately the press is always keen having shark stories, usually very dramtatic and illustrated with the common picture of a White Shark, regarless of what it really was. Looking at stats will tell you that the most dangerous part of your holiday will not be a shark encounter but the journey from your home the airport.
Furthermore, while learning about this new environment and the life in it, you will realise that sharks are your least concerns. Just thinking of moray eels with their 2 jaws or the Titan Triggerfishs and so on and so on.
As a diver you are not on the menu and they may be curious and come closer but most of the time, they will ignore you.

There's definitly shark feeding at brothers. They not chum the water like in the Bahamas, but if you're throwing fish guts and sardines of keep the OW's around, then that's shark feeding in my book

 

[Adr1an]

None of those hotels in that area have any hotel nearby in terms of side by side.

Well, it depends how you define the area. Closer to Marsa Mubarak there are 3 hotels pretty close to each other (a Fayrouz, Costa Mares and Jaz Amara). Also the Hilton Nubian and some other hotel (cannot remember the name) are very close left and right to the Abu Dabab bay. On the other hand South to Sataya there's nothing whatsoever for quite a few kilometers. And North to it there's just another hotel halfway to Abu Dabab.

Anyway, regarding the shark feeding thing, in Egypt is definitely forbidden for hotels to allow tourists to feed any fish from the pontoons. In practice, if someone takes some bread to the pontoon it may take a while before the lifeguard notices. A Czech (if memory serves) tourist died a few years ago when he took some fish cooked at the restaurant, made a paste with some oil etc, threw it in the water then jumped in to the feeding frenzy below. Apparently a shark was lurking nearby waiting for a medium sized predator to attack the small fish...

 

[JustSurfaceInterval]

"Committee reveals surprising reason behind shark attack in Marsa Alam"
and
"The Reasons For The Increase In Shark Incidents In The Red Sea"
...
When you see it...

 

[dcvf2]

Hi everyone

Sataya Resort !
I should have been there from November 3 to 10, 2024 ... if I hadn't broken 2 ribs falling off my bike.
I had planned 2 circuits along the reef (from north to south to take advantage of the current

But when I think about it in retrospect !!
I used to snorkel/freedive from the north toward te south along the reef : Abu Dabbab —> El Nabaa, Brayka Bay —> Oriental Bay, Cataract —> Brayka Bay.
For example (from 2010):
I also remember this other risky exploration
For my first stay at El Nabaa (Equinox Resort in 2004).
After seeing 20 green turtles in one hour, I went out to sea in search of the dugong I had seen the day before…
I was so far out, that the resort was tiny at more than 1 km…more ?
3 dolphins approached me quickly and disappeared.
I took 3 photos forgetting ... in the emotion of the moment to adjust the aperture, speed and distance on my Nikonos (Argentinean entirely manual)
I'm sure I wouldn't repeat that kind of adventure these days.

@iamhereonetime
#28 very interesting testimonies
« From my small experience around Marsa Alam region, most reef which I visited have around ~5-10m drop off. »
Not for: Mangrove Bay, EL Nabaa, Abu Dabbab, Sentido, Shams Alam, Brayka Bay, Gorgonia (before the jetty), Utopia.
Note for the bays, to reach the drop-off, you have to go out of the bay, Sentido is the only site where I could not reach the drop-off because of the fringing reefs… and this for 12 stays in the Marsa Alam region. (and 9 stays in the Sharm El Sheik area where the drop-offs are close to the beaches

« None of those hotels in that area have any hotel nearby in terms of side by side «
El Nabaa ~ 2 km north


This is also a good article Pictured: EU official mauled to death by shark at an Egyptian resort

Reminder : They are not father and son
Gianluca Di Gioia, 48 years old, is the deceased victim.
Guiseppe Fappani, 69, tried to rescue him, he was bitten on the arms and legs but did not die.

@Adr1an #23
Abu Dabbab : Hilton Nubiani and Malikia