Shark attack, Egypt, Brothers islands

[WS007]

About Sharks feeding on South Red Sea:
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Who they are? And when?
Nov 24, 2018

looks like Amelia Discovery
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Here https://www.facebook.com/pg/discoverydiversliveaboards/posts/?ref=page_internal
and here Бразерсы - риск или нет ? - Страница 2 - Форум Тетис

I am normally not a friend of sneaking - but please register this foto and date an Egyptian autority (or maybe IntheDrink wants to do this - you seem to be aguide in Egypt)
=> othwerwise nothing will happen, except some posters mourning here. Someone must register this...
=> I know it is hard, but I hope the owner will be punished substantially (Think about the poor diver that has been attacked and other victims, please do'nt care about idiots bringing others in danger!!).
=> For shure a registration with subsequent punishment will change the situation and make diving even safer at Egyptian offshore reefs!

Wolfgang

 

[Neilwood]

I am normally not a friend of sneaking - but please register this foto and date an Egyptian autority (or maybe IntheDrink wants to do this - you seem to be aguide in Egypt)
=> othwerwise nothing will happen, except some posters mourning here. Someone must register this...
=> I know it is hard, but I hope the owner will be punished substantially (Think about the poor diver that has been attacked and other victims, please do'nt care about idiots bringing others in danger!!).
=> For shure a registration with subsequent punishment will change the situation and make diving even safer at Egyptian offshore reefs!

Wolfgang

The Egyptian authorities have already started to take action against the boat involved (the authorities haven't stated that it was this boat or not but a number of sources are saying that it is). Until legal proceedings are complete, I would guess they will not confirm it.

The sanctions mentioned that may be implimented so far include financial penalties removing their permissions to run trips to the reserved areas (such as Brothers, Daedalus etc) and even rescinding their water sports licenses completely.

 

[johndiver999]

Wow in the US, shark feeding is totally legal and is supported by many recreational divers. It is a big thing in the Jupiter Florida area as well as the Bahamas, even though these feeds often involve large tiger sharks and multiple deaths and very serious bites have occured. Florida prohibits it in the State waters.

 

[InTheDrink]

Wow in the US, shark feeding is totally legal and is supported by many recreational divers. It is a big thing in the Jupiter Florida area as well as the Bahamas, even though these feeds often involve large tiger sharks and multiple deaths and very serious bites have occured. Florida prohibits it in the State waters.

It’s totally illegal in Egyptian marine parks altho it clearly does happen. Boats (liveaboards) tend to be pretty strict about this - clearly with some exceptions - and serve as the most effective way of protecting illegal shark fishing.

One boat was caught a few years ago with a guest holding a dead hammerhead that turned up on FB with boat recognizable. They got a decent fine, were kept out of the water for a while and had to do some volunteer work.

Egypt may be a basket case in many ways but it manages the marine parks relatively well altho could probably look at limiting the number of boats at certain sites. Was pretty crowded at Daedalus the other week - 24 boats from my count, maybe more.

The other thing they could and should do is increase the experience requirements for these sites. Obviously they all want and need to make money but some of these sights and some of the fauna aren’t the ideal place for people with 10 dives.

However the marine parks remain among my favorite dives on the planet and I would encourage anyone to go there. No chumming (unless accidental), just experiencing natural in all her beauty. Never know what you’re going to get. Generally tho, a lot

 

[Scott from LongIsland]

It’s totally illegal in Egyptian marine parks altho it clearly does happen. Boats (liveaboards) tend to be pretty strict about this - clearly with some exceptions - and serve as the most effective way of protecting illegal shark fishing.

The other thing they could and should do is increase the experience requirements for these sites. Obviously they all want and need to make money but some of these sights and some of the fauna aren’t the ideal place for people with 10 dives.

I did a BDE trip last May and it was quite disconcerting to see many divers that should probably not have been in the water. At Brothers there was an entire group of 6 divers that were literally hugging the wall vertically with their hands holding on the to coral and their fins digging into the coral wherever they could get a grip. I tried to get a picture of this group and sort of did but the current was pretty hard to swim against. I did manage to get a shot though.The current was pretty strong that day and we did a negative entry. It looks like this group did not and they immediately got separated upon descending. When we returned to Marsa Alam after the week of diving, we later hear that a group of 5 divers was lost for 8 hours that day at Big Brother and that a helicopter found them that night some 8 hours later. Rumour said that they were 24km from the dive site. I can't believe that they found them at all, especially at night. I wonder if the lost divers were those that i saw hanging on to the wall for dear life

 

[InTheDrink]

I did a BDE trip last May and it was quite disconcerting to see many divers that should probably not have been in the water. At Brothers there was an entire group of 6 divers that were literally hugging the wall vertically with their hands holding on the to coral and their fins digging into the coral wherever they could get a grip. I tried to get a picture of this group and sort of did but the current was pretty hard to swim against. I did manage to get a shot though.The current was pretty strong that day and we did a negative entry. It looks like this group did not and they immediately got separated upon descending. When we returned to Marsa Alam after the week of diving, we later hear that a group of 5 divers was lost for 8 hours that day at Big Brother and that a helicopter found them that night some 8 hours later. Rumour said that they were 24km from the dive site. I can't believe that they found them at all, especially at night. I wonder if the lost divers were those that i saw hanging on to the wall for dear life

Sadly doesn’t surprise me. Currents can be strong on these sites. The currents rather than the sharks are the main hazard. And new divers just aren’t safe there. They generally get lucky but lucky isn’t really good enough. Wish they would bring in minimum standards (although I’ve seen *experienced* divers there’s that I wouldn’t let loose in a play ground).

And I’ve made my own share of mistakes and current can take you a long long way in a few minutes.

It’s arbitrary but I think a min of 50 dives to go there. Shark behavior understanding should also be mandatory altho every boat I’ve been on they’ve been really good on that.

But these aren’t reefs for newbies. Quite often they say their favorite dives were the check dives, near shore, no sharks or current, 12m. Not their fault. Just too task loaded out in the blue.

 

[Dan]

I did a BDE trip last May and it was quite disconcerting to see many divers that should probably not have been in the water. At Brothers there was an entire group of 6 divers that were literally hugging the wall vertically with their hands holding on the to coral and their fins digging into the coral wherever they could get a grip. I tried to get a picture of this group and sort of did but the current was pretty hard to swim against. I did manage to get a shot though.The current was pretty strong that day and we did a negative entry. It looks like this group did not and they immediately got separated upon descending. When we returned to Marsa Alam after the week of diving, we later hear that a group of 5 divers was lost for 8 hours that day at Big Brother and that a helicopter found them that night some 8 hours later. Rumour said that they were 24km from the dive site. I can't believe that they found them at all, especially at night. I wonder if the lost divers were those that i saw hanging on to the wall for dear life

Are divers allowed to use reef hook there?

 

[divinh]

When we returned to Marsa Alam after the week of diving, we later hear that a group of 5 divers was lost for 8 hours that day at Big Brother and that a helicopter found them that night some 8 hours later. Rumour said that they were 24km from the dive site. I can't believe that they found them at all, especially at night. I wonder if the lost divers were those that i saw hanging on to the wall for dear life

I would expect they would be easier to find at night if they had a light to light up an SMB...

 

[Dan]

I would expect they would be easier to find at night if they had a light to light up an SMB...

That’s why I carry strobe that I can strap it on top of DSMB, like this, below.

With the rest of signaling devices

 

[InTheDrink]

Are divers allowed to use reef hook there?

No