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

[boulderjohn]

johnny, is there's ANYONE here who will say scuba diving is NOT a dangerous sport?????....OF COURSE it is a dangerous sport. no doubt. i never said that it is an "insanely" dangerous sport.,there is big difference when you say the word insanely.... pls don't put words into my mouth, i am a valid member of this site, although i am not into diving YET, i am considering the possibility of entering into this hobby....i don't want to be discriminated because of the nature of my post...i would highly recommend that you mind your own business and quit sneaking on my account., stop being nosy...

I think pretty much all scuba divers (you should try it) believe that scuba is not a dangerous sport when compared with other sports in general. All sports involve some danger--many golfers are killed by lightning every year. Almost all divers would agree that scuba is pretty far down the list of dangerous sports.

I find it interesting that someone who has absolutely no personal experience in an activity can regularly go into a forum dedicated to that activity and tell the people who are experts in it that they don't know what they are talking about.

As for "Sneaking" into your account, there is not sneaking involved. If you click on a person's name in a post, you get an option to see what other posts he or she has made. No sneaking involved. Go ahead and do it for me and see what I have been up to. I have nothing to hide.

 

[danvolker]

This may become a real "entertainment thread"....

 

[Poised]

This shouldn't even be here...should not have even made it past the moderator.

 

[Ilari]

Clearly the two deaths in Seychelles are tragic, but the planned response of hunting down the "guilty shark" is ridiculous. To start with, how would they even know which shark it was (indeed even wether it was a single shark?). Moreover, sharks live in the ocean, eat in the ocean and go about their lives. If we humans enter the ocean, we need to appreciate and understand that it is an ocean we share with many different creatures, some of which are prey, some of which are predators.

I got my OWD and AOWD certification in 2009 and so far have only 27 logged dives, so it is fair to say my experience is limited when it comes to diving. I dive regularly in Koh Tao, Thailand and some of the dive sites I've been to such as Chumphon have regular shark sightings. I have also been to Seychelles and snorkelled on the very beach these incidents took place at as well as having seen sharks while snorkelling in Maldives. I am not ashamed to say I am somewhat afraid of sharks, as I feel I know far too little about their behaviour and indeed don't really have a clue on what do to if I ever had to react to something the sharks are doing. With this in mind, I would like to suggest that not only should resorts come up with a strategy to better inform tourists/snorkellers, but also divers should be better instructed on to the behaviour of sharks and how to interact with them. While I fully appreciate the PADI guide books suggestion "If you see a shark, enjoy the experience" (which I have enjoyed!), I would also like to know what to do and what NOT to do if it ever came to that.

Someone said something about a cowboy being around horses... I happen to be an active rider and spend most of my days around several horses. Our horses are all competing dressage horses, and as such they are what some might describe as somewhat "lively". They are certainly not "mean", but they are most certainly dangerous if we ever allowed them to be handled by in-experienced people. The analogy with sharks is surely obvious, as was pointed out. Animals are animals, and we can never rule out the possibility of accidents - even fatal ones. We can however, greatly reduce the risks and be better prepared to handle whatever situation arises, if we understand the way the animals behave and how to interact with them.

 

[tyesai]

Snorkelers are like giant jitterbugs without the treble hooks.

Shark attacks happen, it sucks, they are scary, nothing more morbid than being eaten alive. That and the ocean has a sexy mystery to it, combine these two together and you've got what passes as news / a good horror story.

 

[Tricia]

This is from the Daily Mail (a bit tabloidy, but better than the Sun):

Was the honeymoon shark victim killed by a cover-up? Three other attacks, fishermen's bait lured sharks to the bay but still this couple were told there was no danger | Mail Online

So it sounds like local fisherman have put out bait at the entrance to the harbour in an attempt to trap the shark, while people were unknowingly still swimming in the bay..

 

[drrich2]

While I fully appreciate the PADI guide books suggestion "If you see a shark, enjoy the experience" (which I have enjoyed!), I would also like to know what to do and what NOT to do if it ever came to that.

I'm not just responding to your post, so please don't think I'm going overboard. I'm also responding to the idea that the proper response to this situation is a strong campaign to broadly educate the ocean-going public about how to handle shark encounters. That might do some good (such as is done with tourists visiting & camping in bear-inhabited woodlands), but there are potential drawbacks.

Sounds great in theory but hard to do in practice. Some points:

1.) A lot of effort goes into a P.R. campaign to convince the public that the vast majority of sharks will not harm a human being and that we do not need to be afraid of them outside very unusual circumstances (e.g.: don't chum the water to draw in big sharks & jump in to swim with them (at least not amateurs; I'm not attacking shark dive operators) or try to pet one, and spear fishing is a different situation).

2.) If you start a campaign that every diver, snorkeler and swimmer in the ocean needs pre-water counseling on how to reduce the risk of being eaten by a shark, that could be some bad P.R. (granted, they do this with tourists to 'bear country' on land).

3.) Conduct varies with species. A 3 feet reef shark most people wouldn't worry about. From what I understand, you can dive wrecks off coastal North Carolina and see lots of sand tiger sharks; if you don't charge one or get in its space you will probably be okay. I wouldn't want to be in the water with a large tiger shark without Jim Abernathy conducting a professional shark dive and handling the situation, and I wouldn't want to be in the water outside a cage with a great white.

Imagine if our beaches post a lot of signs explaining how to reduce your risk if a great white swims up to you, worried people start clamoring for more shark nets around beaches and killing big sharks becomes even more of a 'macho' thing to do for sport fishermen.

Right now, my main dive buddy has a lady he'll probably marry, I think, who won't pursue an OW certification at least in part because she's scared of sharks. Despite him explaining the minimal risk of the situation (we like to dive the Caribbean, don't spear fish & haven't been to the Bahamas; mainly go to Bonaire).

Imagine PADI adding a 'how not to get eaten' chapter to the basic OW course book.

Richard.

 

[Searcaigh]

It is regrettable that two people have died as a result of shark attacks in the same area, and my condolences to their families.

I am curious to know if these snorkelers were perhaps feeding fish or doing something that would attract the curiosity of a shark in the first place, not sure if it has been mentioned in this thread, I may have missed it during my quick read of the posts.

Sadly the knee jerk reaction by local government is going to result in more innocent shark deaths

 

[Tricia]

Searcaigh, based on what I've read in the press (and yes, I know we have to view that with a grain of salt...), these 2 men were snorkelling alone at the time of each attack and weren't feeding any fish.

 

[Bali Diver]

SHOCKING ! all round,shame on the Seychelles and they have blood on their hands and trying to protect their multi millon pound tourism