Suspension of all diving and watersports activities in Sharm el Sheikh

[Red Sea Shadow]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Just received this:

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CDWS has received instruction from the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) today at 1pm (1 December) that ALL diving and watersports activities in the Sharm el Sheikh area are to be suspended immediately, following reports of three shark attacks in the area.

The MoT announced that all beaches will be closed to the public and all watersports activities will be suspended until the end of the day tomorrow (2 December) across the whole of the Sharm el Sheikh coast. Diving boats already on sites at this present time are not required to return early from activities today (1 December). However, no more boats are allowed to leave from any of the jetties.

It has been reported that three Russian tourists have been attacked in three separate incidents in the last 24 hours in an area north of Naama Bay. The victims, one male and two females, are currently being treated in hospital.One of the injured is reported to be in a critical condition.

Officials from the South Sinai National Park have tracked down the shark in question - confirmed to be an adult oceanic white tip shark. The South Sinai National Park, led by head marine biologist Mohammed Salem, is currently attempting to capture the shark with the aim of releasing it back into the wild in a remote area in the Gulf of Suez. The chosen location will be in a safe distance from any tourist resorts in the Red Sea.
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[=C=]

wow this is big news! What about liveaboards?

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

As far as I'm aware, boats already on dive sites won't be asked to get back to the jetty earlier than planned. On the other hand, boats still on the jetty won't be allowed to sail (until the end of daylight of December 2nd).

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Sounds like a real kneejerk overreaction. What were the tourists doing when they got hit? And if they were all Russians it sounds like the shark is choosy. So everyone else should be ok.

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

They were swimming (not diving) as far as I know.

 

[Crowley]

Sounds like a real kneejerk overreaction. What were the tourists doing when they got hit? And if they were all Russians it sounds like the shark is choosy. So everyone else should be ok.

Not for this region it isn't... I am also aware of a Longimanus attack last month on a young girl a few kilometres south of Na'ama bay. One big fish has been sighted in recent months just outside the bay, and last week at Shark and Yolanda Reef and Shark Observatory.

They are, of course, pelagic fish but they do like to hang around the coastline here. This time in December last year a relative juvenile, 1.5 metres in length, was hanging around the Gardens for at least a week; sightings were almost guaranteed.

I am not going to speculate but Russian visitors are renowned for harassing and feeding the marine life; not exclusively them, of course, but they do have a reputation.

If the Longimanus has "gone rogue", as it were, then closing the area is not such a bad idea - it is a relatively small stretch of coastline. It is a pain in the backside, because it's quiet season, and we need the work!

Cheers

C.

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Yet another letter from CDWS:

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Press release
1 December 2010

CDWS statement on shark incident in Sharm el Sheikh

Egypt's Chamber of Diving and Watersports (CDWS) has today (1 December) been instructed by the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) that all diving and watersports activities are to be suspended in Sharm el Sheikh, with the exception of the Ras Mohammed National Park, following reports of three shark attacks.

Authorities informed the CDWS that three Russian tourists have been attacked in three separate incidents in the last 24 hours in an area north of Naama Bay. The victims, one male and two females, are currently being treated in hospital. One of the injured is reported to be in a critical condition. All were snorkelling at different times of the day on local reefs when the attacks happened. No names have been officially released.

The MoT has instructed all beaches to be closed to the public and all diving and watersports activities to be suspended until the end of the day tomorrow (2 December) across the whole of the Sharm el Sheikh coast, with the exception of the Ras Mohammed National Park.

Officials from the South Sinai National Park have tracked down the shark in question - confirmed to be an adult oceanic white tip shark. The South Sinai National Park, led by head marine biologist Mohammed Salem, is currently attempting to capture the shark with the aim of releasing it back into the wild in a remote area in the Gulf of Suez. The chosen location will be a safe distance from any tourist resorts in the Red Sea.

CDWS is working together with officials and shark experts to determine the causes behind such unusual behaviour, including possible indications of illegal fishing or feeding in the area.

Appealing for calm, CDWS chairman Hesham Gabr underlined the extreme rarity of such an incident, particularly in the Red Sea where around three million people each year enjoy water activities without incident.

Mr Gabr said: 'We are monitoring the situation very closely and working together with all authorities to ensure the safety of all members and visitors in the Red Sea. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families.

'This is an extremely unusual incident. However, with such a frequency of attacks in the last 24 hours, measures have been taken by the MoT to close the sea to give teams working the sufficient time to track down and capture the shark safely.'

Richard Peirce, the chairman of the Shark Trust in the UK, confirmed that such behaviour is extremely unusual and said it was highly likely this may have been provoked by possible illegal fishing in the area.

Mr Pierce said: 'The Shark Trust understands that the animal thought to be responsible for the attack in Sharm el Sheikh is an oceanic white tip shark. It is probable that the tragic attacks were triggered by a specific activity or event, and the Trust further understands that the Egyptian authorities are carrying out investigations. Attacks on humans by sharks are extremely rare and this species would normally not be found close to shore on bathing beaches. The Trust has been informed that a single animal is thought to be responsible for all three incidents and that attempts are being made to catch the shark.'

Figures from the International Shark File, which has a global database dating back to 1580, show that there have only been nine reports of attacks by oceanic white tip sharks on humans since records began. Of these attacks, five were registered as 'unprovoked', three 'provoked' and only one fatal.
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[Crowley]

Thanks for That Asser - and just as I was reading it I got a call from work because Ras Mohamed is where I am guiding tomorrow and despite big nasty sharks on the loose, I am indeed working once more - yay!

Illegal fishing is a problem here and I have mentioned previously, many tourists do feed the fish (which is also illegal here) although not quite as literally as our unfortunate Russian visitors.

I've read varying statistics on Longimanus incidents which I know are difficult to verify - because actually if we count these three attacks as separate, that makes a total of 5 attacks by Longimanus in the Red Sea alone, in the last 18 months, that I am personally aware of - the Liveaboard fatality in Marsa Alam last year (definitely provoked), the "love bite" at Tower, and three Russians today... I know that shark attack statistics are difficult to collect in the first place and I love these creatures, I think Oceanics are beautiful animals; but 9 attacks in 500 years? I think not.

Also - for those not familiar with the region - whilst the sharks may not commonly be found near bathing beaches, a number of the hotels on the coastline outside of the bays here have snorkelling and swimming areas which drop-off into the blue without any kind of shallow water in which to paddle. Oceanics in Sharm are sighted close to the reef plate and not far from snorkelling areas. It's been quiet this year on the Longimanus front, but they were regular visitors last year...

Cheers

C.

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

I believe the same shark has been reported on Beacon Rock on November 27 (all were divers, no attacks).

 

[Crowley]

it's possibly the same one that was sighted at Shark and Yolanda, Shark Obs and Near Garden... although I am told the one at tower was smaller... you know what divers are like though - "We saw a 3 metre long shark and it circled us for 30 minutes!" = you saw a big tuna and it swam past in the blue!

Also - Ras Mohamed may be open but if they lose track of it tonight it could be anywhere by morning - 25 kms for an Oceanic is a short stroll. I will be keeping my eyes peeled, and might brief that safety stops should be done with all divers in a circle around their guide... so that they can get a better view, of course!

Cheers

C.