Snorkeler Killed by Sharks in the Bahamas

[itsmeok]

Lack of conclusive indisputable evidence that shark feeding causes attacks doesn't mean shark feeding is a good idea, or even justifiable.
And shark nets apparently work quite well by simply thinning the population of large sharks.

"In the years from 1900 to 1937, 13 people were killed off New South Wales surf beaches by sharks; over the next 72 years, the death rate fell to eight, only one of which was at a meshed beach. This in a period when the New South Wales human population rose from 1.4 million to seven million — and when more people began going to the beach."
Shark net - Wikipedia

Read the research paper - it calls out pros and cons of shark feeding.

"The past two decades have exhibited an increase in attacks, up to 3.5 attacks per million people per decade (1990–1999) and 5.4 attacks per million people per decade 2000–2009 (Fig. 3)."

Changing patterns of shark attacks in Australian waters

 

[itsmeok]

Also in New South Wales (and as far as I'm aware Queensland and Victoria - please correct me if I'm wrong) there is no shark feeding...

 

[Dan]

She could be there snorkeling at the wrong time, when the tiger shark happened to wonder, haven't got a meal for days, hungry and looking for easy prey. Then there she was, floating on the surface, swimming like wounded animal.

Divers usually are on the alert looking around. Occasional bubbles and Darth Vader sound of regulator breathing are clear indications of unfamiliar characteristic that the shark would not want to mess with. We usually tend to go vertical in water column when we see shark coming so we can be seen bigger to the shark.

The diver that got attack by the Tiger shark in Cocos, I thought was floating on the surface waiting for the skiff to pick her up, Shark kills US tourist off remote Costa Rican island
"The dive master told officials that the shark attacked when his group was surfacing after a dive. A boater and divers tried to drive the animal away." So having her head above water, she didn't see the Tiger shark was sneaking behind her and did a test bite on her leg and then proceeding with the attack.

 

[Dan]

Another interesting comments about Tiger shark by @mmmbelows from Death in Cocos from shark attack

I've never seen any research about sharks having any eating habits attached to hunger either, Tiger sharks are indiscriminate eaters they seem to 'eat' all the time, don't think there is any hunger attached to them, they are nicknamed 'trash cans of the oceans' in their stomachs they have found tires, other sharks, a porcupine, a bag of money, rocks, license plates, cameras...

 

[FullThrottle]

Read the research paper - it calls out pros and cons of shark feeding.

"The past two decades have exhibited an increase in attacks, up to 3.5 attacks per million people per decade (1990–1999) and 5.4 attacks per million people per decade 2000–2009 (Fig. 3)."

Changing patterns of shark attacks in Australian waters

The "pros" are pretty weak, and remind me of the rationale for zoos.
As for the effectiveness of shark nets the "changing patterns" link says:

"Comparison of attacks per capita indicated that the number of incidents was highest in the 1930s, at 10 attacks per million people per decade, decreasing to an average of 3.3 attacks per million people per decade until the 1990s. The past two decades have exhibited an increase in attacks, up to 3.5 attacks per million people per decade (1990–1999) and 5.4 attacks per million people per decade 2000–2009."

So the 10/million/decade attack rate pre-net dropped to 3.3/million/decade post-net, and has increased in the last decade to only 5.4/million/decade, half the maximum pre-net rate, in spite of increased ocean recreation and probable increased shark population thanks to conservation efforts.

 

[itsmeok]

The "pros" are pretty weak, and remind me of the rationale for zoos.
As for the effectiveness of shark nets the "changing patterns" link says:

"Comparison of attacks per capita indicated that the number of incidents was highest in the 1930s, at 10 attacks per million people per decade, decreasing to an average of 3.3 attacks per million people per decade until the 1990s. The past two decades have exhibited an increase in attacks, up to 3.5 attacks per million people per decade (1990–1999) and 5.4 attacks per million people per decade 2000–2009."

So the 10/million/decade attack rate pre-net dropped to 3.3/million/decade post-net, and has increased in the last decade to only 5.4/million/decade, half the maximum pre-net rate, in spite of increased ocean recreation and probable increased shark population thanks to conservation efforts.

My last post on this as your post seems to lose sight that we are trying to understand what happened and how to prevent it. If you don't want shark feeding - good - I personally have no strong feelings either way. My point is that I don't think getting rid of shark feeding would have made a difference in this case.

I also agree that killing a shark that was going to attack a human will stop shark attacks. Or just as effective, don't allow anyone in the ocean or rivers.

Anyway, I'm moving on to my next project- exterminating all bees to prevent bee stings. I'm sure you agree that those pro-bee peoples arguments are pretty weak.

 

[CT-Rich]

That two attacks occurred and both victims were women is way too small a population to draw any conclusions. If most of the people in the water at the time of the attack were women, then it would be more likely to be awomam.

That the sharks ignored the other divers after the first hit makes complete sense. A predator will often strike a prey item with the intent of incapacitating it and coming back after it is dead. The prey will bleed out and be much less likely to cause injury to the shark. Biting a second diver won’t improve the likelihood of the shark getting a meal

 

[HalcyonDaze]

As someone who works with sharks and with shark experts daily, I will say that there is a lot of misinformation in this thread that is presented as fact. Please take the time to research information that you encounter before accepting it as fact.

YMMV,

Jackie

Agreed. I was monitoring this thread while I was locked out of my account (laptop went down and of course clever boy me couldn't recall the password and hadn't reset the defunct email). The mansplaining the menstrual cycle bit was worth some popcorn and an honorable mention goes to these:

Pretty unusual to hear about three tiger sharks attacking someone. Of course right around the corner of the island is Tiger Beach, where divers condition sharks to not fear humans and associate them with food.

Student, 21, killed by THREE tiger sharks while snorkelling with iconic wild pigs in the Bahamas in front of her screaming parents

Where she was attacked is close to Tiger Beach where tigers are fed.

Sure, if by "right around the corner" or "close" you mean "roughly 145 nautical miles, assuming the shark swims the shortest possible path." Bimini, where they do tiger and great hammerhead dives (more the latter than the former), is about 120 nmi away. Stuart Cove does have a feed operation off Nassau, which is in the neighborhood, but as I recall that's pretty much a Caribbean reef and nurse shark show. Unless you're suggesting they swim up to the tigers afterward and whisper that humans are snack dispensers, the Nassau ops are not a factor here. It's like suggesting the guy feeding bobcats off his porch is responsible for the hiker who got mauled by a mountain lion that never went near said porch.

A few other critiques so far (presented in order of appearance):

and shark population, which crashed in the 70's and 80's. Regardless, the comment that shark attacks are down is not accurate

And we're now in 2019. The U.S. started managing the commercial shark fishery back in the mid/late-90s and the Bahamians banned longline fishing and protected 40 shark species back in 1993. There's definitely been an upswing in most shark populations in Florida and the Bahamas in the last decade or so; whether that's getting anywhere near what it was in the 50s and 60s is another question. More people in the water + more sharks = more chances for interaction. That the number of attacks hasn't skyrocketed is a pretty good indication shark attacks are more of an accidental occurrence.

I'd like to think I am keeping an open mind hence the request - one link I found below. Be good if you could respond with whatever it is that is backing your viewpoint. Note that this report comes across as balanced to me and calls out the pros and cons - e,g, it calls out the risk to divers involved with shark feedings, increased risk of inbreeding in the shark population etc.. It call out "risks" of shark feeding to attacks but offers no empirical evidence (under "Potentially Negative Effects") - e.g. more attacks. I'm keen to learn so if you have evidence please share it...

from the report....

"Humans are soon associated
with food and otherwise wary, distant sharks no longer
hesitate in approaching humans and even entering into
close contact with them. This significantly heightens the
risk of accidental biting (e.g. a shark biting a diver’s limb
that it mistakes for food) or intentional biting out of
domination or territorial instincts"

- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266318997_Pros_and_Cons_of_shark_feeding

I looked over that paper a number of years ago when the debate about feeding ops in Florida was hot. One important note to make is that their primary study species is Negaprion acutidens, the sicklefin lemon shark, which they note is normally a more solitary, antisocial species. I've seen a couple relatively minor conspecific wounds on their N. brevirostris congeners at feed sites in the Atlantic, but overall N. brevirostris are pretty social with one another. Caribbean reef sharks, likewise. Tigers, maybe - I know for a while it seemed like we had a few subadults that typically showed up and left together, and when we've had multiple ones at feed sites they generally haven't been pushy with each other (with the lemons and goliath groupers, they break out the Glasgow kisses). It's also worth noting the paper cites the potential elevated risk to divers participating in feeding dives rather than humans in the general vicinity.

A quote:

"Hernandez blames the recent attacks in the Bahamas on popular local shark-feeding businesses that let tourists have close encounters with sharks.

"They're associating humans with getting food, and it's making it very dangerous to be in the water, whether you're spearing or you just happen to be snorkeling near where they're feeding them,'' he said.

I love how some spearos think that before shark feeds, their brass cojones generated an impervious electrical field that sent sharks fleeing before them. I've gotten mugged by reefies both at shark feeding sites and at places where it's been banned since well before the little runts were born, and I've picked off lionfish in feeding areas without significant trouble. Base rule of thumb - if you're attached to a bleeding, struggling fish, expect extra attention. Period.

None, but curious Lemon sharks came over closely to see if I have some snacks for them when I dove with the guys who were catching lobsters and lion fish, as shown below (around 2:17-2:30). I was ready to shove my camera to it, but it veered away.

And the Caribbean reef sharks came about as close, and I can tell you they are very rare guests at the shark feeds in Jupiter; we don't see them much outside of the reef lines within state waters where feeding is banned. I've had little 3-4 ft Caribbean reef sharks (as well as goliath grouper) follow me on places like Juno Ledge; whether it's because they've learned humans occasionally shoot fish or natural instinct to follow a bigger animal and look for scraps I can't say. I've also had bonnetheads follow me around wading on seagrass flats, probably because they expect me to flush prey out into the open as I clomp along.

She could be there snorkeling at the wrong time, when the tiger shark happened to wonder, haven't got a meal for days, hungry and looking for easy prey. Then there she was, floating on the surface, swimming like wounded animal.

The diver that got attack by the Tiger shark in Cocos, I thought was floating on the surface waiting for the skiff to pick her up, Shark kills US tourist off remote Costa Rican island
"The dive master told officials that the shark attacked when his group was surfacing after a dive. A boater and divers tried to drive the animal away." So having her head above water, she didn't see the Tiger shark was sneaking behind her and did a test bite on her leg and then proceeding with the attack.

Having some inside information about that incident, I can say that last sentence was not how it happened.

Another interesting comments about Tiger shark by @mmmbelows from Death in Cocos from shark attack

Those "interesting comments" were completely uninformed fearmongering. A shark that's satiated doesn't bother expending the effort to hunt, and tigers are a lot pickier than their reputation indicates. One of our seasonal regulars in Jupiter is infamous for hating barracuda, which is pretty much the fan favorite otherwise. Feed him a chunk and he'll spit it out. Jacques Cousteau made a note during one of his expeditions that when the freezer on Calypso went bad the divers had to dispose of an entire side of beef that was spoiling; after several days one extremely skinny tiger finally ate it. Generally speaking my experience with tigers is that they don't want to expend more energy than they have to in order to get by; their hunting strategy is mostly close-range ambush and they're good at it.

All that said, what we're left with is the publicly available facts - which are at present that a young woman was snorkeling and a tiger shark attacked her, inflicting fatal injuries. I can only imagine what kind of sickening blow this has been to her family. That said the ocean is a wilderness environment with large predators and other hazards. We are not immune to them and there does not need to be a single unusual factor that causes an attack; neither is the ocean something that should be sanitized for our protection. Maintaining awareness of your surroundings and making yourself look like more trouble than you're worth (including by staying in a tight group) is often the best precaution.

 

[itsmeok]

It's also worth noting the paper cites the potential elevated risk to divers participating in feeding dives rather than humans in the general vicinity.
.

Thanks for the honorable mention - not sure if you meant my post was BS - from my previous post...

"I posted the research paper. It referenced studies that sharks are intelligent animals and I'd agree that its reasonable to assume that feeding will change their behaviour. BUT there is NO evidence that I can find (and apparently anyone else) that outside of the feeding situation the sharks are more likely to attack. "

Anyway - back to those pesky bees...

 

[nippurmagnum]

All that said, what we're left with is the publicly available facts - which are at present that a young woman was snorkeling and a tiger shark attacked her, inflicting fatal injuries. I can only imagine what kind of sickening blow this has been to her family. That said the ocean is a wilderness environment with large predators and other hazards. We are not immune to them and there does not need to be a single unusual factor that causes an attack; neither is the ocean something that should be sanitized for our protection. Maintaining awareness of your surroundings and making yourself look like more trouble than you're worth (including by staying in a tight group) is often the best precaution.

Good post. But you didn’t address one of the publicly available facts, which is that this was snorkeling that featured pigs in the water. I find it remarkable that much of the debate on this thread went right to pretty baseless speculation about shark feeding and menstruation, but glossed over the possibility that maybe the presence of pigs could have been a factor. I’ve done many dives with sharks (chummed and non-chummed), and i think those involved a reasonable level of risk, but I would think twice before hanging out in the ocean surface with a pig thrashing around me. Any thoughts on the pig factor?