Shark kills French diver in Marsa Alam

[Jeff Toorish]

I agree, I don't see data that shark attacks are on the rise. And if shark feeding were somehow causing sharks to equate humans and food, there would be a lot more shark/human incidents.

The bulk of incidents seem to be in places where there are no organized feeds. If memory serves, and this should be easily verified, most shark incidents happen in shallow water and are mistaken identity, just as they have pretty much always been.

I would l ike to see some empirical data that shows sharks react to human or mammal blood and byproducts. With the exception of the sharks that feed primarily on mammals, such as seals, I can't believe that our blood and flesh is at all appealing most sharks, especially when encased in an oh-so-appetizing noeprene taco shell.

Again, this isn't meant to offend or incite, but I think there are really a lot of simple misconceptons about sharks that even divers hold. I'm sure we have all been on a dive boat where someone was worried that a cut would attract sharks.

Can shark behavior be altered by humans --of course. Just as human attitudes about sharks were altered by a 1970s movie. But that is a far cry from sharks suddenly ignoring hundreds of millions of years of evolution and viewing divers as food.

Jeff

 

[samui13]

you might want to pop over to WP for an account of what had happend out at St Johns from someone who was there.

Sad News in Egypt - Wetpixel :: Underwater Photography Forums

Dive safe, Stew

 

[InTheDrink]

Been meaning to post but been too busy. Whilst I wasn't at St John I was last week at Elphinstone, The Brothers and Daedalus. No idea whether the talk is true or not but the guides are saying that the sharks are behaving differently. Longimanus is getting very curious. Hammerheads swimming at 5m close to the reef. Our main guide got bumped by three OWT together and said it was the first time in 12 years that she was properly spooked and needed to exit the water.

We had lots of wonderful encounters and a couple that were a little too close for comfort. I'd do it again tomorrow, it was all amazing but it was also clear how things could go wrong quickly. A Russian lady had her calf bitten, witnessed by one of our guides, a week or two before we went out. She was swimming and paniced and flapped when the longimanus was approaching. I'd still maintain that if you keep calm the risk is minimal but I am no expert on this topic, this is just from what I observed.

The other thing I observed was that diving in pure black is a good thing. Divers with white or strangely shaped fins or other contrasting colours got lots more attention. SMBs were also not something you wanted to be hanging around. The OWTs seemed to love them.

Last thing - our Egyptian guide, who was a star, seemed very set on the premise that 'something is wrong in our waters'. The sharks are behaving differently, who knows why, but it seems like something is changing. Granted it may be just that with the death reporting is causing an increase in conciousness but from what the guides were saying they seemed to think something more sinister was afoot.

I'd like to stress however that diving with OWTs is completely fine and you'd need to be very unlucky to get bitten. I know one of our guests did his damndest and still didn't.

Cheers,
J

 

[saramiller]

not sure to dive now

 

[Crowley]

Hiya - I haven't read through the whole post so forgive me if I repeat already available information. I work in the Red Sea (Sharm el Sheikh) and today, I was shown a photograph of the victim being pulled aboard the boat. This was clearly a proper attack. Most shark attacks are one bite (which may be fatal, of course) but without going in to details, this looked like a reactionary attack - aggressive and/or defensive. It has been confirmed that the shark was indeed an oceanic white tip; but I can't get confirmation as to exactly what happened. The first account I was given was that the deceased actually actively jumped into the water with the intent of snorkelling with the shark. If you jump in through my apartment window, I may well bite you too.

Other topics that have cropped up:
Shark feeding: I have mixed feelings about this. I have participated in such a dive in Australia and it was one of the most amazing underwater experiences of my life. It was also very well organised and controlled. All divers should see these magnificent animals doing what they do best. Do they associate humans/divers with feeding? One might ask the same of dolphins, or cats, or cows. Yes, the circumstance might be artificial, but one might argue that it does little overall harm (compared to say, fishing) and these things happen by the hundreds, worldwide, every day.

Sharks are not stupid. They were there before we were, they had no interest in us, although a few did pass by very closely to say hello. Although the sharks were being deliberatley fed, the pickings were, to be fair, very slim. Three tuna heads hardly constitutes breakfast for 60 reef sharks.

Saramiller do not be afraid to dive because these creatures are in the water. If you ever see them you should count yourself privelage and not only will you survive but it will be one of the most amazing experiences of your life

It is tragic that anybody should die in this fashion - of course on behalf of the family, but now the scaremongering starts. These are not regular occurences and they can hardly be 'covered up' given the coprophagic tendancies of the media these days.

Please do not let this incident discourage you either from diving or diving with sharks. Occaisonally, bad things will happen but don't forget, you are more likely to be hit by lightning that be attacked by a shark.

Safe diving,

C.

 

[InTheDrink]

From the guides on my boat the information was much as Samaka has indicated. The lady was snorkelling. She ducked dived down to get nearer to the shark. Shark followed her up and bit her. I saw the photo too whilst on my trip and it was gruesome.

These sharks are incredibly amazing and I would happily spend months jumping in with them every day if I could. Crowley is right - the odds of getting injured by a shark are extremely low and any time you see one count your lucky stars.

I haven't had lots of exposure to sharks however the Oceanics definitely seem a lot more curious than other types of shark I've encountered. But that is what made it so fun. And it rarely felt threatening (altho on a couple of occasions it did but I am a total pussy ).

In terms of scaremongering, hmmm, dunno. It does sound like there are perhaps more frequent accidents than are reported. In the last month there have been a few - maybe this was just an exceptional month? The guides seemed to think it was a 'funny' year...sharks acting bit strange. Maybe there's not enough food around anymore? Maybe they're getting more used to divers/snorkellers? One thing is a worry is that if any or many more 'accidents/fatalities' happen in this location it could well be removed as a diving location by the authorities, from what I'm told. That would be a tragic overreaction in my view. But the diving industry appears pretty important to Egypt and I imagine they would be worried about people going elsewhere if there were too many stories about shark attacks.

Cheers,
J

 

[Crowley]

update - I have it from a diver on board (same girl who sent my customer the photo I saw) the boat tied up alongside that the boat crew were deliberately chumming the water to attract sharks. This is illegal in Egyptian waters and I hope they get everything they deserve. The lady decided to freedive down to see the shark and was attacked. As I'm sure we all know from watching shark week on discovery channel - when they get the feeding frenzy on, they'll bite anything - even each other.

Sharks also have individual personalities - some are big bad bullies, just like humans.

In terms of the frequency of shark attacks - I don't think they are on the increase (yet - it's just good news when one country isn't bombing the crap out of another) but we are relentlessly removing the top predator from the oceans so their fins can be put into a rather bland (apparently, I would never eat the stuff) soup. Removing a predator may increase or decrease populations on the rank below - think of rabbits and myxamatosis, for example. If shark attacks are on the increase we have only ourselves as a race to blame.

These are magnificent animals that have existed for longer than the dinosaurs and we should not only respect them but cherish them before they are gone.

Safe diving,

C.

 

[InTheDrink]

Agreed, dive with sharks now - while stocks last. The Chinese appetite for sharks (and other endangered species) is a disaster. I've not heard of any plan that's going to fix that part.

Crowley, I'd be interested to learn what they were chumming with and what the rationale for
it was? Where I was (Brothers, Daedalus, Elphinstone) there was definitely no need to chum. There were OWTs around the boat most of the time.

I know an immediate response would be to think that the reason they were around the boats is cos they are getting food from the boats but there are equally plausible explanations, which it might be worth mentioning here:

The boats form something of a shelter/reef and lots of smaller or normal fish (as our guide called them) congregate around the boat, typically on one side. This in turn attracts slightly larger fish (to eat the smaller ones) which in turn attracts slightly bigger fish (like Barracuda/Tuna) which in turn attracts the OWTs. During the day we would see one, maybe two OWTs around the boat. But at night time (after midnight) sometimes as many as 5 or 6, all hunting). This makes me think that the OWTs hang around the boat not for the 'human hand outs' - which I never witnessed at all - but because it's a fertile hunting ground.

I'm still really puzzled though why someone would resort to chumming when it was rarely more than 15 minutes between visits from the OWTs. I can't imagine that St John is any less populated with OWTs. If anything, I would have thought even more.

Cheers,
John

 

[Crowley]

Hi InTheDrink -

I will do my best to find out - I have a friend in Marsa Alam but am seemingly unable to contact her. Knowing the boats here, if they were 'chumming' it would have been whatever was left over from supper the night before. I've been told that food was put into the water. I have no idea if this was even deliberate.

I actually didn't know this but I also understand that the Oceanic White Tip is a more frequent visitor to the reefs that I thought - especially the Brothers, apparently.

Dive boats - particularly liveaboards attract all sorts of attention - either as shelter or as a reliable food source - there's always a truck load of fish under a dive boat - I refer to them as 'toilet fish'!

Feeding, dumping, spearfishing, (even line fishing) - all that stuff is illegal in the protected parts of the Red Sea. Hopefully somebody somewhere will be able to give us a definitive report. Regulations in the area are becoming more tightly enforced and if there was any malpractice on the part of the operator, hopefully appropriate action will be taken.

Cheers

C.

 

[InTheDrink]

Think you've hit the nail on the head. We all poo and little fish love it. Plus a ready made shleter/reef. It creates its own micro-environment.

I have heard though too of chickens etc. being held out to attract some action. I was there for only one week, saw nothing like this, so couldn't comment apart from what I already said - it would seem pretty pointless. The sharks were around already. If the sharks weren't around clappping two weights together would ensure that they'd be around 30 seconds later.

One thing I think worth mentioning though is that, from what I could observe, regulation is follwed to the letter in the Red Sea. Definitely the most conscientious place I've come across. They are very focussed on the wellbeing of their sea and I commend them for this. It is of slight concern that night dives and snorkelling are not allowed now (but please note these bans are well observed) at reefs where Longimanus is or may be present. But the fear must be that they close it off to divers too. That would be a major loss. I plan to do southern Egypt every year so wonderful was the experience.

Cheers,
J