Shark attack, Egypt, Brothers islands

[wgw04024]

People want to see sharks in their natural environment, well you just saw it. Why is this such a surprise? You want to swim with them, this is going to happen from time to time. That's life.

 

[BlueTrin]

People want to see sharks in their natural environment, well you just saw it. Why is this such a surprise? You want to swim with them, this is going to happen from time to time. That's life.

I don’t think it is such a surprise but rather people are showing empathy with the poor diver.

 

[scubadada]

I can't find any follow up regarding how the diver is doing. Brothers is a long way from medical care

 

[АлександрД]

I'll post this old story for posterity for anyone who hasn't read it.
Shark Attack! – Divers' Blogs
Be forewarned. ...

there is also many comments, and one of them from Bret:

Also, it seems you don’t have much experience with pelagic oceanic whitetip sharks. They will attack anything, unprovoked. And they do so without warning. About six months after this incident I was hired for a project with the Cousteau’s on Calypso filming whales in the open ocean miles offshore. Phillippe Cousteau told me then he thought oceanic whitetips were the most dangerous animal in the water and he freaked out about the numbers of them we had to work with. He knew about my attack survival and thought it was a miracle. By the way, the Cousteau team then didn’t even wear BCs… much less extra second stages or other such gear. That was standard practice 40 years ago.

Oceanic whitetips are responsible for some of the most massive attacks in history including killing nearly 900 sailors that drifted on the surface following the sinking of the navy ship Indianapolis in 1945. They are also the ones that get most passengers in aircraft that do down in the ocean. Jump in sometime with a few oceanics in blue water and then get back to me about your “experience” when they get aggressive.

The bottom line is that working professional divers in that era did not follow sport diving protocols and any attempt to apply sport procedures in the 21st century to pros in 1972 just doesn’t have any relevance.

Be careful out there. And regardless of how much gear you might like to layer on, you better bring a healthy amount of pure survival skills and the ability to physically overcome contingencies at times.

Bret Gilliam

I had found more infromation on FB:
Mohamad Shamala

Shark Education

Let's end the rumors, here are the facts:

Last Saturday a diver was bitten on the left calf by an oceanic whitetip shark.
The victim has been operated twice and is currently recovering.
The existing video allowed me to analyze several facts that may explain the incident. It does not only testify to the accident itself but the cause-and-effect relationships that led to the bite.

Sharks have no sense of deduction, they do not choose, do not reason. They have a binary brain that analyzes information conveyed by their senses. From this will result a panel of reactions / responses dictated by the information received. Add to that the primary instincts genetically transmitted for thousands of years and you have a popularized view of the interpretation of sharks under water facing all types of events.
To put it simply, when a computer calculates the commands dictated by a program, it puts them directly into application according to always the same form. For sharks it's pretty much the same. The ability to adapt is very variable, and in cases of rapid analysis, some answers will prevail and induce this or that reaction.

Here, in this case, the distress attitude of the diver alone in shorty activates several senses of the shark. These senses apply the shark's investigation to the area of movement of the fins that releases frequencies similar to that of a potential prey. Cautiously but energetically, the shark is looking to complete his assessment. He then takes a step back to better understand and analyze. Throughout the scene the divers are spaced apart, alone, and in a horizontal position (while the vertical position is recommended).
A new factor comes into the analysis when the quiet sidemount diver comes into the picture.

Since sharks do not have a hand, sometimes the best way to complete an assessment is through touch or an "exploratory" bite. The new diver of the stage being much less active than the first allows the shark to complete his approach by the contact which then leads to the next step which is the bite.

The decision to bite is the result of false accumulated information that led to this incident. Like the bug or crash system of a computer that accumulates false calculations on a program.
At no time during this interaction did the shark show signs of direct aggression even though sometimes the distances were close or the swimming was faster or slower. The axes of approach were well directed towards the divers and not in the will of bite, but to complete his investigation in relation to "movements of prey" released by the diver in shorty.

Science has shown that it takes a predator between 1000 and 35000 years to assimilate new prey into its genetic code in order to understand how to hunt it ...

Once a computer turns off, the RAM of your machine disappears and at the next start, all new commands will allow the application of new tasks without remembering those performed the old.
It will be the same for sharks, who from day to day will learn the interaction with divers. As a testimonial, all the guides who have been at the Brothers for 2 months live next to the same animals who systematically adopt day after day the same codes of approach towards the divers that they see all the time.

If the sharks had the opportunity to remember through a medium-term memory by conditioning, there would be significantly more incidents each year if only with the divers. This oceanic shark has already forgotten that he bit a diver.

Being at the Brothers for more than 2 months now, I doubt that the "feeding" could lead to such a result because I have not seen. On the other hand, the bad attitude constantly observed of the divers is in my opinion the reason which incites these pelagic sharks to answer the bad information transmitted in the water by the men.

It may be that I am wrong in my interpretation, but remember that your conduct systematically induces an answer in animals.

The right attitude with sharks can not be improvised! Learn the right things and listen to your guides. If no briefing is done to you, follow the recommendations dictated below.

Let's not let human stupidity destroy the reputation of this critically endangered species.

and some more details from Egyptian, who was at this dive:
Sherif Al gaaly
I was in water at same time same dive and i saw it was mistake from that diver! Never move carelessly near shark whatever they are dangerous or not, always keep an eye contact and respect their territory that we all as divers are all visitors and ig guest can not do it then dont dive on such places for safety, there are a lot of other scuba sites dives can be done there with a lot of Clowen fishes and colorful slugs and its a scuba diving too! .. may more attention underwater ... best wishes with quick emergncy medical support.

So i see it as a diver mistake and not a shark attack! That day was really a lot of divers underwater with a lot of sharks around ' fox shark, oceanic whitetip shark, whitetip shark and nothing happened before or after.

-Did any boat start feeding sharks?
Sherif Al gaaly - Sure not

I can't find any follow up regarding how the diver is doing. Brothers is a long way from medical care

Diana Endsor The diver was repatriated to their home country for further treatment after being treated by a doctor from Big Brother.

here is a photo of eaten leg.
please, do not open it, if you are pregnant, young, or affraid of blood view
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2213822598893241&set=p.2213822598893241​

 

[UFOrb]

Continued...

Our plan called for Rod to be the last guy up. I rendezvoused with
Robbie at about 175 just over a ledge and we both rested on the coral
to wait for him to join us. He was late and Robbie fidgeted pointing
to his pressure gauge not wanting to run low on air. I shrugged and
gave him a “What am I supposed to do?” look and we continued to wait.
Suddenly Robbie dropped his extra gear and catapulted himself toward
the wall pointing at a mass of bubble exhaust coming from the deeper
water.

We both figured that Rod had some sort of air failure either at the
manifold of his doubles or a regulator. Since my air consumption was
markedly less, I decided to send Robbie up and I would go see if Rod
needed help. As I descended in the bubble cloud, Robbie gave me an
anxious OK sign and started up.

But when I reached Rod things were about as bad as they could get.
One of the sharks had bitten him on the left thigh without
provocation and blood was gushing in green clouds from the wound. I
was horrified and couldn’t believe my eyes. He was desperately trying
to beat the 12-foot animal off his leg and keep from sinking deeper.
I had no idea where the second shark was and lunged to grab his right
shoulder harness strap to pull him up.

Almost simultaneously the second shark hit Rod in the same leg and
bit him savagely. I could see Rod desperately gouging at the shark’s
eyes and gills as he grimly fought to beat off his attackers. With my
free hand I blindly punched at the writhing torsos of the animals as
they tore great hunks of flesh from my friend in flashes of open jaws
and vicious teeth. Locked in mortal combat, we both beat at the
sharks in frantic panic.

And then they suddenly let go. I dragged Rod up the sand chute… half
walking and half swimming. Once clear of the silt I could see Robbie
about 100 feet above us looking on in horror. He started down to us
as I lifted Rod off the bottom and kicked with all my might toward
the surface.

But in less than fifteen seconds the first shark returned and hit him
again and began towing us both over the drop off. The attack had
probably only lasted a minute at this point but Rod had lost a huge
amount of blood and tissue and had gone limp in my grasp. I was still
behind him clutching his right harness strap as the second larger
shark hit him again on the opposite side down around the left calf.
Like the other, this shark bit and hung on as we tumbled down the
wall face.

We were dropping rapidly now completely out of control. My efforts to
kick up were fruitless as the sharks continued to bite and tear at
their victim, all the while dragging us deeper. I felt Rod move again
to fend off another attack and my hopes soared upon realizing that he
was still alive. I clung briefly to the edge of the drop off wall to
arrest our rapid descent. The coral outcropping gave us some slight
protection and for a moment the attacks stopped.

Both sharks retreated into the blue and I watched them circle our
position from about ten feet away. To my horror I saw one shark
swallow the remains of Rod’s lower left leg right before my eyes. The
other gulped a mouthful of flesh it had torn off. I tried to push Rod
into the coral in an effort to shield him from another attack but
there was nothing to afford any real shelter. As I turned away from
the waiting predators, Rod and I came face to face for the first time
during the attack. He shook his head weakly and tried to push me
away. I grabbed for his waist harness for a new grip and felt my hand
sink into his mutilated torso. There was no harness left to reach
for. He had been partially disemboweled.

Shrieking into my mouthpiece in fury, I pulled him from the coral and
took off pumping for the surface with him clutched to my chest.
Immediately the sharks were on us again. I felt the larger one
actually force me to one side as it savagely sought to return to the
wounds that gushed billows of dark blood into the ocean around us.
Rod screamed for the last time as the second shark seized him by the
mid-section and shook him. The blue water turned horribly turbid with
bits of human tissue and blood. Once we were turned completely over
and I felt Rod torn away from me.

I watched his lifeless body drift into the abyss with the sharks
still hitting him. The attack had started around 200 feet. My depth
gauge was pegged at 325 feet now but I knew we were far deeper than
that. The grimness of my own situation forced itself on me through a
fog of narcosis and exertion.

That’s when I ran out of air. I think that subconsciously I almost
decided to stay there and die. It seemed so totally hopeless and my
strength was completely sapped. But I put my head back and put all my
muscle and effort into a wide steady power kick for the surface. I
forced all thoughts to maintaining that kick cycle and willed myself
upward.

After what seemed like an eternity I sneaked a look at my depth
gauge: it was still pegged at 325 feet. I sucked hard on the
regulator and got a bit of a breath. Not much, but it fueled my
oxygen starved brain a bit longer and I prayed my legs would get me
up shallow enough to get another breath before the effects of hypoxia
shut my systems down forever.

There’s really no way to describe what it’s like to slowly starve the
brain of oxygen in combination with adrenaline-induced survival
instincts. But I remember thinking if I could just concentrate on
kicking I could make it. After a while the sense of urgency faded and
I remember looking for the surface through a red haze that gradually
closed down into a tunnel before I passed out. The panic was gone and
I went to sleep thinking “Damn, I almost made it.”

I woke up on the surface retching and expelling huge belches of
expanding air. Apparently the small volume of air in the vintage
safety vest I wore had been enough to float me the final distance and
save my life. But I still had to deal with an unknown amount of
omitted decompression and the certainty that I was severely bent.

Swimming to shore as fast I could, I felt my legs going numb. By the
time I reached the beach I could barely stand. A couple on their
honeymoon waded out and dragged me up on the sand. I gasped out
instructions to get the oxygen unit from our van and collapsed. In an
incredible burst of good fortune, it turned out the wife was an ER
nurse from Florida and understood the pathology of decompression
sickness. They got a steady flow of oxygen into me and ran to call
the diving emergency numbers that I directed her to on the dive
clipboard.

I drifted away again into unconsciousness and was revived at the
airport where a med-evac flight was waiting to fly me to Puerto Rico.
But the Navy chamber at the base on the island’s west end was down
and it was decided to take me to the only other functional facility
up on the island’s northwest corner nearly 200 miles farther away.
But the flight crew was afraid I wouldn’t make it when we ran low on
oxygen shortly after passing San Juan. So they had the police stop
traffic on the main divided highway and landed on the road where a
waiting Coast Guard helicopter snatched me away to the hospital roof.

Two days later I was released but with residual numbness in my arms
and legs, substantial hearing loss, and legal blindness in my right
eye that persisted until corrected by modern laser surgery in 1997.

Robbie’s last view of Rod and me was as we were dragged over the wall
in a cloud of blood by the sharks. He never saw my free ascent and so
reported us both killed when he got to shore. It was not until I
called my dad from the hospital a day later that he knew I had survived.

A week later we had Rob’s memorial service at the beach. I resumed
diving the next day. His body was never recovered.​

What a terrifying and tragic story. Thanks for sharing.

As awesome and spectacular as they are, all this has helped solidify my intention to try to avoid the longimanus. I also find tigers, lions, crocs, hippos etc fascinating but don't want to end up too close to them in their natural territories.

 

[flyboy08]

Why were not allowed, or don’t, carry a sufficient deterant device is beyond me....I think I’m going to buy that foldable spear gun and hide it in my BC....if I never have to use it, that’s just fine by me....if I do, I’ll be glad I have it on me.

I like seeing sharks while diving, but they do spook me...especially when I’m diving with my family.

 

[Rollin Bonz]

Why were not allowed, or don’t, carry a sufficient deterant device is betond me....I think I’m going to buy that foldable ̶s̶p̶e̶a̶r̶ ̶g̶u̶n̶ long non lethal pointer thingy and hide it in my BC....if I never have to use it, that’s just fine by me....if I do, I’ll be glad I have it on me.

I like seeing sharks while diving, but the do spook me...especially when I’m diving with my family.

I don't see a problem with this...

 

[scubadada]

Why were not allowed, or don’t, carry a sufficient deterant device is betond me....I think I’m going to buy that foldable spear gun and hide it in my BC....if I never have to use it, that’s just fine by me....if I do, I’ll be glad I have it on me.

I like seeing sharks while diving, but the do spook me...especially when I’m diving with my family.

What are going to do, take it on any dive where you might encounter a shark, whip it out whenever a shark is around? Boy, would that make it difficult on any of the Deep Ledge dives off Jupiter with the Bulls around, or the Lemon Shark dives at Lemon Drop during season. To say nothing about the baited/fed dives done by Emerald. Have you been to Cocos or Galapagos, sharks everywhere, including Tigers at Cocos. Of course, that's a whole other topic.

 

[Dan]

Agree with the comment about some divers continuing get to swim close (and apparently film with action cams) to a shark that is a known problem species with attitude. I give all sharks their space but I also have a small pouch on the right side of my BP that contains a 6ft folding spear (minus barb), in the event that any tootsie critter takes interest I can deploy that in seconds to keep them at bay, In the six years it has been there I have never taken it out once for any reason- but its still there just in case.

Argo’s DMs use a meter long rod with pointy end to fend off Cocos’ Tiger Shark. You can see in the picture, below. He carries it on his back the bayonet handle rod with tennis ball top (as thrust absorber when the rod bounces back to him from the shark forward momentum), inside a white PVC pipe.

 

[scubadada]

Does Aggressor take similar precautions?