Shark kills French diver in Marsa Alam

[Tigerman]

There is also another issue related to where shark fin soup is being served. If, for example, shark fin soup is being served in the USA, who is to say that the whole shark wasnÃÕ caught and used and not just the fins?

This consideration is an important one, IÃÅ say, because the soup is then the product of a much more reasonable fishing practice....
...

It matters f-all for anything but animal cruelty aspects.
A dead shark is as incapable of reproduction if it died slowly with its fins chopped of as if it was hit in the head and killed "instantly".

As far as the incident goes, its a tragic one for the victim and the ones that knew her, but thats the risk we take when we intrude on their domain.
If we have been getting them accustomed to people as well by feeding them, its a risk we have actively increased ourselves

 

[ScubaSteve]

I may be wrong but I was under the impression that this was one of those supervised shark feeds.

Did you get this from the Reuters article posted by the OP?

 

[KaitsuK]

Yes, welcome to ScubaBoard. I'd like to see the video too. I am sure nobody would mind if you just posted four times using at least 5 characters, like this:
.....

and then the video.

They'd be about as useful as the average ScubaBoard post anyway.

Thank you. I'll do three more mails (this is #2) and then share the link...

 

[KaitsuK]

Welcome to SB, Kai!
I'd be very interested in that video if the time comes when you can post it.
Cheers!

....
On topic: Id love to see that video, its not the first time i ever heard of longimanus acting like this, don't forget it is indeed a opportunistic shark. You should have gotten out of the water asap it started to be too curious
Good thing all went well.

Thanks. Please find the videoclip here:
Netti-tv | Iltalehti.fi

Cheers!

/Kai

 

[alewar]

I was one week before diving at the same site with our Finnish team, which was doing our fourth liveboard trip to Red Sea, with Emperor. During one of our dives we faced also Oceanic White Tip (which had followed us ca 15 kilometers from other reef) "very closely". We identified this shark to be same in these two reefs, as it had "defected" left side fin.

Nevertheless, that shark was really interested in to get contact to one of our team members. I succeeded to take the situation to video (!).

Later on I'll put available the complete video in Full HD, but now there is ca 2-minute clip which can be watched from one of the Finnish evening papers website called Iltalehti. (unfortunately it seems, that as I'm new member here, I'm not allowed to send web link ?!! I would be happy to share my video...)

In this case our teammate hit three times the shark to head with camera housing, and kicked once. Then the shark went ca 60 meters away, but started to came again... Luckily, our zodiac came "Just on time" and our friend was able to go there. We others waited until the shark went away (after patrolling some time around the zodiac), and then rised to surface and to zodiac... heart beating quite fast... ;-)

Kai

What is the best thing to do if you see your buddy or a member of your teem in a similar situation? Try to approach the diver in danger and see if the number frightens the shark, or stay away filming how the dude is potentially eaten?

 

[lemon]

Thanks. Please find the videoclip here:
Netti-tv | Iltalehti.fi

Cheers!

/Kai

wow! that shark was way too interested. glad your buddy is OK. tell him to carry a bigger camera next time! :shocked2:

 

[Dadvocate]

It matters f-all for anything but animal cruelty aspects.
A dead shark is as incapable of reproduction if it died slowly with its fins chopped of as if it was hit in the head and killed "instantly".

What exactly are you disagreeing with in my post? I’ve not suggested any of the things you are implying in this quote above. If someone fishes sharks and uses the whole shark then that means it isn’t being tossed back into the sea to die in this fashion. There are also other considerations, such as the fact that the meat being kept shows that the whole animal is seen as being valuable, this as opposed to just the fins. This is a huge difference that changes the dynamic in how sharks are seen as a commodity. I’m sorry if that sounds callous, but sharks have been hunted reasonably as a food source before the onset of this catastrophic finning business kicked in.

I agree that a dead shark can’t reproduce, but that argument can be made for any animal in the sea as well. Do you eat any of these marine products yourself? I understand that we need to work to stop the finning practices that are taking place, but it isn’t going to help matters if we assume that shark fishing will be completely banned if finning ultimately is. Some compromise will need to be struck in certain places somewhere down the line. And to be fair, some people do legitimately fish these animals in a way that is not detrimental to the marine environment because they are actually using the meat and not just the fins.

Perhaps this is a personal choice for you not to eat any shark products at all. I can respect that since I don’t either for my personal reasons. My fiancée doesn’t eat beef or chicken for her personal reasons. However, it isn’t going to help anything if we don’t look at all angles to this problem in order to find practical solutions. There is a good chance that the reasonable fishermen out there on the high seas may well be excellent allies in the future fight to stop those who are wasteful opportunists within the larger finning industry. The more allies the better in my opinion because a solution to save sharks that doesn’t take these considerations seriously will be fraught with many problems.

More than likely you and I agree on the main issues, but I accept that we may differ on this point.

Cheers!

 

[Dadvocate]

Thanks, Kai Suk!

That is a very interesting video. It turned straight around and headed back for the diver after getting nudged with the camera. That is worrisome behavior.

He also only seemed interested in the diver on the surface.

Cheers!

 

[KaitsuK]

What is the best thing to do if you see your buddy or a member of your teem in a similar situation? Try to approach the diver in danger and see if the number frightens the shark, or stay away filming how the dude is potentially eaten?

Absolutely the second option (filming)... :cool2:

 

[Tigerman]

[/COLOR]

What exactly are you disagreeing with in my post?
...

I disagree that fishing sharks at the rate we are is reasonable, full stop.
It doesnt matter if you use the whole animal or just a part of it as long as the killing is not sustainable.
Yes, I do eat seafood, but not the kind that is about to be hunted to extinction..