Snorkeler attacked and killed by Bull Shark at Seychelles while on honeymoon.

[danvolker]

Also, as I see a much larger number of "guests" than posters in this thread, that typically would mean media is reading this, given the other factors associated...
If you are a reporter, you have a great opportunity to do what you went into journalism for......

• You can report on REAL News....Indicate the attack occurred, AND that there is NO reason for attacks like this to continue---it is a clear issue of ignorance in the Resort world, that causes needless deaths like this....and you can cover the solution....You can take my suggestion, you can email Jim Abernethy for his take on this-- he IS one of the top shark experts in the world, and has had tens of thousands of sharks swimming with him in the ocean over the last 10 years...He is on a shark expedition with his Liveaboard in the Bahamas right now, but if you want to reach him, PM me for his email address. WATCH the treilers of his film I posted earlier.
• Or, you can ignore the reality of what is happening, and allow ignorance of the issue to KILL more tourists--needless deaths that YOU could have prevented....YOU the media, by not just covering the yellow journalism side of this incident, could "make the difference" between a man like this being killed, or just having a great time....It is YOU, the Media, that has the power to end the ignorance, which is causing the deaths.... . Do you get paid enough for you to feel good about NOT offering the solutions, and just going with the cheap JAWS angle ?

 

[mntlblok]

British Man Killed in Shark Attack During Honeymoon - FoxNews.com

 

[Thezeker]

I can show ( post a link) to countless videos of Jimmy abernethy and many of his guests from his boat, snorkeling with tiger sharks and bulls, with no problems whatsoever




From the shark dives Abernethy does, in which all free swimming encounters..the clear knowledge exists that sharks can get curious, and often like to gently bump divers.....this is MUCH better if the diver has something in their hands, that they can allow the shark to "bump" into. You don't HIT the shark, you let it bump the camera or blunt pvc pipe, or whatever.

But sometimes sharks don't just bump and have other things on their mind besides curiosity.Abernathy was bitten last year. Now if a shark expert can make a mistake and be bitten what chance does a tourist have with a piece of pipe with a go pro on the end have? Really. You want me to drag out the fact that one of Abernathy's clients was killed 4 years ago on one of his Bahama shark dives? All that expertise and somebody wound up dead.

I have watched all the videos of free diving with sharks. Fine, they chose to try that and are comfortable around sharks. But at any time one of those sharks could decide not to play for any number of reasons.

But keep blaming the humans for not knowing how to act around sharks. I doubt most victims ever saw them coming. I'll even spend the time to document that. Comparing how humans react to being chased by a dog to how humans react to sharks is a non sequitur. The former is a domesticated animal the latter an apex predator.

 

[Tigerman]

No, you cant guarantee that a shark wont bite you. In the same way as you cant guarantee your dog wont.
Hell you cant guarantee your aircraft dont fall out of the sky killing you on your way there either.

Yes, accidents do happen but youre not actually suggesting we blame the wildlife for it and hunt them to extinction because of it??

Btw, dogs might be domesticated, but they are still predators as well. Some breeds more so than others..

 

[Roko]

We're already killing something on the order of ten million sharks for every person killed by a shark.....

With eight* people killed by sharks so far this year, I think there are other things to be more concerned about.

Sent from my Android


*Edit: Looked up a source, and modified my post from 6 to 8 deaths this year. From this source:
How to search GSAF data
I counted 8 fatal attacks so far this year. Other sources are more than welcome if you have something that disagrees (or can count better than me).

The estimate for 1:10 Million order of magnitude was based on 6 deaths and the estimate of anywhere from 50-100 million sharks killed every year.

 

[danvolker]

But sometimes sharks don't just bump and have other things on their mind besides curiosity.Abernathy was bitten last year. Now if a shark expert can make a mistake and be bitten what chance does a tourist have with a piece of pipe with a go pro on the end have? Really. You want me to drag out the fact that one of Abernathy's clients was killed 4 years ago on one of his Bahama shark dives? All that expertise and somebody wound up dead.

I have watched all the videos of free diving with sharks. Fine, they chose to try that and are comfortable around sharks. But at any time one of those sharks could decide not to play for any number of reasons.

But keep blaming the humans for not knowing how to act around sharks. I doubt most victims ever saw them coming. I'll even spend the time to document that. Comparing how humans react to being chased by a dog to how humans react to sharks is a non sequitur. The former is a domesticated animal the latter an apex predator.

The death was due to the diver getting next to the bait box, where no one was supposed to be...It was a mistake in what I diver was doing, where he let himself be, and this is one instance in thousands, so the safety rate is still good.

Jimmy's own bite was a nip, that had more to do with diving in huge storm conditions, and bottom surges that were not consistent with Jim being able to stay wher he needed to, when moving the bait box....You don't know enough about this, to have any conclusions....other than abernethy has had more divers in the water, free swimming with Bulls and Tigers, large and lots at the same time, then anyone else. No one except his cage diving or chain mail suit shark feeding competitors, would argue Jim has an excellent safety record....

And still, this ENTIRELY MISSES THE POINT....

The only thing we should be discussing, is how to make Resort guests snorkeling at an area like in this incident, much safer than they are now.... How you can start changing this for your own agenda, is kind of disconcerting.

So are you saying you think it would be better to tell guests that there are no sharks, and not to think about them, or how to act if they see them???
Or do you agree that the snorkelers "could" be made to be safer, if they were educated on a behavior set that has worked for tens of thousands of shark interactions ( again, versus the zero awareness of correct behavior the snorkeler has), and if they were given a camera and bump protection tool as I described?


Equestrians are injured more often by horses stepping on thier feet accidentlally, orn falling on them, than divers have been by sharks. I would hope we would not have some moron calling for horses to be shot, because of a rider being killed by a horse buckng them off.

Back to the main point, there is no education, whatsoever. There is no tool offered, to enhance safety. There is no good advice....I think we should change that.
I do not think having some moron calling for the capture and killing of the shark in question, is the solution to the problem.
And this guy who called for this, IS a moron!!!!

 

[james croft]

The dog analogy is a good one. Some breeds seem to be involved in more killing and maimings. Whether it is a shark or a dog, if it has the word bull attached to it's name I prefer not to be around them.

 

[Tigerman]

Do keep in mind that the dogs that KILL most people isnt neccessarilly the ones that BITE most people though. Bigger dogs generally bite less, but is far worse WHEN they do due to their size..

 

[Big fish63]

where is it possible to get a copy of the full documentary this is your ocean:sharks ? is it available on dvd?

 

[boulderjohn]

A Seychelles tourism source said: "The latest bite marks are consistent with that of a Bull shark. It is probably the same rogue maneater."

Ah, the dreaded rogue maneater.

The Discovery Channel's recent Shark Week series included a new examination of the rogue shark theory. It was quite interesting.

The theory of the "rogue maneater," a shark that stops eating its normal prey and intentionally targets humans, was first devised by an Australian doctor in the 1950s, at a time when very little was really known about sharks. Since then a lot of research has told us much more about shark behavior. The show examined every supposed example of rogue shark behavior in history, exploding the supposed rogue nature of each. They concluded the show with the one that was probably the best case of all, the killings by what was almost certainly the same oceanic white tip in the Red Sea last December. This shark had a distinctive wound on its tale that made identification possible. In their investigation, they found video (which they showed) of this same shark being fed fish by a divemaster. The divemaster would reach in a pouch kept on his behind, pull out a piece of fish, and then feed the shark by hand. And where did this shark bite his human victims? On the hands and the behind, of course. (As I understand it, feeding sharks in that area is illegal because it teaches sharks to associate humans with free food.)

The show concluded that there is no evidence that there has ever been any single case of a "rogue maneater" as described by the late Australian doctor.