Shark takes leg, life - Sonora Mexico

[CuzzA]

I've never done surface supply diving. I'm trying to imagine how a shark takes out the hose and leg/abdomen. Are hoses routed down to the waist and back to the mouth?

Yes, generally the hose would be captured by some sort of harness, belt. This way your body is pulling the hose and not your jaw. A mature white could cut a man in half so it's plausible that's basically what happen.

 

[kekomixtle]

Locally, they are saying it was the propeller.

Just dived today in San Carlos and dive shop crew also support this hypothesis. Perhaps it's just a negligence/accident cover up.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Just dived today in San Carlos and dive shop crew also support this hypothesis. Perhaps it's just a negligence/accident cover up.

I would be curious to know if there's an actual investigation; it should be pretty easy to determine whether it was a prop or a shark. The reports that he was hit about a minute after entering the water would seem to make a prop strike more likely; he would have had to almost jump in on top of a big shark and it would have had to make a swift decision to attack (there have been a couple cases of people falling overboard and landing right on top of a great white in a baited situation; they got away unscathed). A shark bite under those circumstances isn't impossible, but that's some insanely bad luck - like skydiving and landing right next to a grizzly bear.

 

[NAUI Wowie]

Just dived today in San Carlos and dive shop crew also support this hypothesis. Perhaps it's just a negligence/accident cover up.

They also have a very vested interest in not letting tourists know about a large shark biting someone almost in half. I dont believe anything anyone tells me in mexico and im down there all the time.
Not that it wasnt a prop strike but just that its very plausible they will not tell the truth either

 

[Laurie S.]

They wouldn't know here in San Carlos what happened in Rocky Point.

 

[NAUI Wowie]

They wouldn't know here in San Carlos what happened in Rocky Point.

As I suspected. They dont want stories of shark attacks floating about

 

[Dan]

Both articles mention he was fishing or after mollusks. I found the police report that suggests he was compressor diving (not scuba). Here's my translation:

"He jumped into the water and in less than a minute he surfaced, he (perhaps a fellow fisherman) saw the hose was cut. When he was pulled up they realized he was missing a leg and part of his lower belly, so they took him to Puerto Peñasco.
Police experts and Santa Cecilia funerary services arrived (met them at the Port?) and the boat Lidia Isabel was taken into custody by the Ministerial Agency of Criminal Investigation. "​

Here's the link to the article in Spanish.

The last paragraph "...and the boat Lidia Isabel was taken into custody by the Ministerial Agency of Criminal Investigation." sounds like there is an indication of foul play.

 

[CT-Rich]

I am going to skip the pictures. The boat crew wanting to avoid liability would have a motive to blame a shark and the tour operators would much rather blame something other than a shark. If they impounded the boat, they may be looking to see if the operators did something that contributed to the death (like running him over), were improperly equipped or were poaching.

The description of the wounds sound prett horrific for either a shark or a boat propeller. Going to wait for the cops to call this one.

 

[DandyDon]

The last paragraph "...and the boat Lidia Isabel was taken into custody by the Ministerial Agency of Criminal Investigation." sounds like there is an indication of foul play.

Oh, I think they would call that for any fatal accident investigation. My guess is it would be very brief and mostly for show.

Going to wait for the cops to call this one.

I tend to go with the "never believe anything you hear there" travelers.

We always strive to learn from these incidents, even tho we seldom get all of the facts.