Shark Attack At Ushaka

[Reku]

I have a healthy respect for anything that I cannot control or get away from if I need to - I love to see large pelagics, the same as large land predators in the wild, but am always very conscious of how small and vulnerable I am beside them. I don't have a fear of them as such - P

Same here - I make sure to keep my arms and fins tucked in while they are really close.

 

[Storker]

I have a healthy respect for anything that I cannot control or get away from if I need to - I love to see large pelagics, the same as large land predators in the wild, but am always very conscious of how small and vulnerable I am beside them. I don't have a fear of them as such - P

I have a checklist for dealing with wild animals:

1. Is it half my size or larger?
2. Does it have sharp teeth, claws, barbs, sting etc?

If the answer to at least one of those questions is "yes", I try to keep outside its range and otherwise treat it with respect. Nature isn't a petting zoo.

 

[clownfishsydney]

Karma is a bitch! Saw a bit of this on the TV news a few weeks ago, interesting to see the whole bit. Serves him right, very unprofessional way to capture a grey nurse shark (sand tiger).

 

[Reku]

I have a checklist for dealing with wild animals:

1. Is it half my size or larger?
2. Does it have sharp teeth, claws, barbs, sting etc?

If the answer to at least one of those questions is "yes", I try to keep outside its range and otherwise treat it with respect. Nature isn't a petting zoo.

Good checklist! Unfortunately the sharks in my area are ... uh ... curious lol. There is no staying out of the zone, I try every time and they just stroll on over. haha.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Karma is a bitch! Saw a bit of this on the TV news a few weeks ago, interesting to see the whole bit. Serves him right, very unprofessional way to capture a grey nurse shark (sand tiger).

What's the professional way?

 

[iamrushman]

i don't wish this on anyone...looks like a occupational job hazard.

 

[drrich2]

It looks like someone acting as part of a staff group in a planned intervention to partially tranquilize and move the shark. They say no plan survives contact with he enemy, so I imagine some improvisation is necessary. Easier to arm chair quarterback than manage such a thing on-the-fly. I'm inclined to give this guy the benefit of the doubt. He cared enough to put himself at risk to help provide care for the animal.

Richard.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Interesting. Was that actually a tranq dart? If so it's the first time I've seen one used on a shark. Fish tranquilizers (MS-222 being the most common) typically come in a powdered format that has to be mixed into the water and flushed over the gills. In a large recirculating tank with other animals, or out in open water, this is not an option. I had a shark researcher tell me once that his university's animal welfare board tried to get him to tranquilize sharks before tagging them (or have an option ready to euthanize them should they get badly injured) and he had to explain how freaking impossible it was to put out a 1200-lb tiger shark with MS-222 when it's tied up alongside a boat in open water. You'd need to either get it into an enclosure to concentrate the stuff or dump a barrel of it over the side. Putting any animal under is also a tetchy business - even under controlled circumstances it might not work or it may put the animal all the way down.

Typically, you get a shark restrained in a cradle or sling; that's how researchers do tagging and other procedures in the wild. I've never heard of darting a shark in captivity or in the wild.

 

[USdiver1]

While hindsight is 20/20, this does seem like a particularly idiotic move on the diver's part, the equivalent of a redneck gesture following a cry of "Hey y'all, watch this!" There are just so many wrong moves, at least no one died.

"Doh moments":
One large sand tiger shark, an animal tranquilizer of dubious value, an improperly equipped diver (no chain mail suit) using wooden shark billies, no apparent plan of where to "guide" a semi-comatose elasmobranch, ill equipped medical response team

What could possibly go wrong?

Sorry that somebody was seriously injured, but they should have seen it coming.