Suspension of all diving and watersports activities in Sharm el Sheikh

[Red Sea Shadow]

You're stretching the limits of pausibility in an attempt to absolve the shark of being a predator. Longimanus has quite a history of eating humans, so there's no reason to think it needs to mistake one for a dolphin and there's no reason to think it has to be frightened (do sharks get "frightened"?) and on the defensive to attack.

I think I saw this in a movie somewhere. Any license plates in the stomach? I guess they can drop the charade of capturing the shark and relocating him to "safe" waters, as reported earlier. Let's hope they find a suitable scapegoat before they kill too many. I guess stopping the Russian fish feeds is out of the question.

I'm neither stretching not compressing anything

The parts you quoted are copied as is from CDWS official correspondence.

 

[vladimir]

Sorry, Asser, my mistake. I was trying to quote Crowley's post.

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

No worries my dear.

 

[Crowley]

To answer points made above:
Why are they close to the shore? Oceanics - by definition, are pelagic fish, however the Red Sea is a deep body of water - 2.5 km at its deepest, and the coastline of Sharm has a fringe reef that for the most part, has a narrow "shallow" area (5 - 30 metres) then drops off to a depth of up to a kilometre in places - only a few hundred metres from shore. Apart from the bays, there is no gentle sandy slope into the abyss, only the abyss. Food waste is regularly dumped into the ocean - I'm sure DiveBunnie and other long timers here will have heard of the Travco Tigers - and know that night diving outside the main harbour in sharm is not recommended.

Vladimir - I am not trying to excuse Longimanus - they are magnificent predators, beautiful fish, but this is uncharacteristic behaviour for the animal. They are permanent residents here (we even see them in the winter) and if the behaviour was common, there would be hundreds of incidents every year. Like most sharks, unprovoked attacks on humans are infrequent and it is commonly accepted that many are most likely to be a case of mistaken identity. I don't think it is stretching the realms of possibility to suggest that a swimmer surrounded by lots of little fish presents a similar silhouette to a large dead fish (or dolphin) which is being picked at by scavengers. Do sharks get scared? From personal experience, I would say yes - they do - or at least they do not wish to entangle themselves with possible competition.

Many unprovoked shark attacks appear to involve a "taster" - but a 3 metre long fish with a bite pressure measured in metric tons often causes enough damage to be fatal. These incidents, rather like the death in Marsa Alam last year (of which I have seen photographs) suggest that the victims were properly savaged - and yet they were not eaten - the three victims are still alive - this is aggressive defensive behaviour, not feeding.

Some dive operators - particularly liveaboards - persist in trying to attract sharks by throwing food into the water - this is the likely explanation for the death in Marsa Alam last year. Spear fishing is illegal here, but I know it happens, because just a few months ago I spent an entire dive trying to save a metre long grouper that had been harpooned on our house reef. Fish feeding is endemic.

I do however, agree that the charade of relocating the shark is exposed, as DiveBunnie already already predicted. The sad thing is that now they are looking for another shark as well... there are few enough of them already...

Why is Ras Mohamed open? No idea. Apparently this shark has been frequenting the area north of Naama bay up to Tiran - but it could swim to Ras Mohamed in a matter of hours, without even trying. As I said earlier, park fees have been waived so there is no financial incentive to direct people there. I am trying to find some photos of the Longimanus that was spotted in Ras Mo a couple of weeks ago.

Will keep you posted.

Cheers

C.

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Here are some photos (all from Samuel Samir):

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...575755533_100001770732450_61629_1097283_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...982422159_100001770732450_61643_7327869_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...1705755520_100001770732450_61632_880842_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...1805755510_100001770732450_61635_384441_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...885755502_100001770732450_61638_1036830_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...942422163_100001770732450_61641_1043275_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...262422131_100001770732450_61649_7136041_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...369088787_100001770732450_61652_3854379_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...439088780_100001770732450_61654_5850851_n.jpg

 

[Crowley]

I will try and find some pics of the shark that attacked - apparently there is a video of one of the attacks which will be hard to get hold of. As per my previous post - the shark has been described as adult but with a chunk taken out of either the upper lobe of the caudal fin or the dorsal. Those photos do not show that - if it is the same fish that would lend weight to the argument that the fish that attacked the swimmers was recently injured.... will see what I can do.

Cheers

C.

 

[paddyp]

If anyone has pictures please forward them to longimanus@elke-bojanowski.de
Elke has been running the longimanus project in the Red Sea for years and is probably the best placed person to identify the animal.

Thanks
Paul

 

[peterbj7]

Sounds like a real kneejerk overreaction

I'm sorry, I still think this was an absurd statement to make. I don't give a toss what provoked the attacks, the fact that they happened means that those waters are currently unsafe and the correct thing to do is to close them to humans. I don't disagree with the thoughts that Jim clearly had running through his mind, but I do strongly disagree with what he actually said.

As regards people feeding and teasing sharks, I agree it is reprehensible but happens all the time. I never saw it in my numerous trips to that area, but I would have avoided such activity if I had known it was happening, and it is quite possible that ten years ago (when I last visited that area) the custom hadn't yet developed.

Here in Belize most of the large pelagics have been caught and eaten, or just killed "for sport", so a shark sighting is rare (other than of nurse sharks, which are still quite plentiful in a number of areas). Yet in places where "real" sharks still exist, such as the Blue Hole, it is common for dive crew to "chum" the water after divers have exited - and sometimes before they have exited. I was coming up from a technical teaching dive a while ago and saw a feeding frenzy above us, because another dive boat was chumming the water. I had no desire to try to surface through that, so we swam away and surfaced 100ft away. Caused a long and tiresome surface swim, which we didn't commence until the feeding had stopped and (presumably) the sharks had dissipated. Yet even that wasn't safe - these idiots chum for sharks exactly where the boats moor, and given the local topography there is nowhere else for the boats to stop. Divers HAVE to come up through those waters, the very ones that sharks are becoming accustomed to being fed in.

I'd be interested to revisit the Sharm area after all these years, to see just how much it has degraded. I first dived off the beach at Na'ama Bay (now the main part of Sharm, but then separate from the town) back in the mid-80s, and in those days the diving there was superb. It steadily degraded with diver pressure, until 10 or so years ago I decided enough was enough. I gather that Dahab has largely gone the same way - I haven't been there in almost a decade. I remember my first "technical" dive there, through the arch in the Blue Hole. A long time ago now.

But, and this is a key point, this area is now extremely popular with beginner and inexperienced divers. It is incumbent on dive professionals to create a safe environment for them, and not to do things that are likely to make the water dangerous. Shark feeding, which I agree is almost certainly at the root of the recent tragedy, is something that no dive professional should ever engage in.

 

[Lord Melch]

Personally I don't go in the countryside any more since the last fatal cow attacks..

Farmers issue warning after fatal cow attacks

LONDON (Reuters) - The deaths of no fewer than four people after being trampled by cows in the past two months has prompted Britain's main farming union to issue a warning about the dangers of provoking the normally docile animals. Cows can become aggressive and charge, especially when calves are present and walkers are accompanied by dogs, said the National Farmers Union (NFU).

Farmers issue warning after fatal cow attacks | UK | STV News

 

[pimbo]

Update:
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Latest member update: suspension of diving and watersports activities

Sharm el Sheikh, 2 December 2010 12.30pm

CDWS would like to communicate to its members that the Ministry of Tourism has given instruction that the same restrictions on diving and watersports activities will continue tomorrow, 3 December 2010. All beaches are closed to the public and all diving and watersports activities in the Sharm el Sheikh area are suspended with the exception of the Ras Mohamed area.

The National Park has also confirmed that tomorrow (3 December) no fees would be charged to all licensed CDWS member diving and snorkelling boats entering the Ras Mohammed Marine Park area.
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CDWS statement update (2 December 18:00): MoT lifts ban on diving and watersports and confirms capture of a shark off Sharm el Sheikh

Egypt’s Chamber of Diving and Watersports (CDWS) has been informed by the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) that the restriction on diving, watersports and swimming activities in Sharm el Sheikh has been lifted. This announcement follows confirmation from the South Sinai National Park that the shark responsible for three attacks on tourists over the last 48 hours has been captured today (2 December).

All beaches will be reopened and diving and watersports activities by licensed operations will once again be able to continue as normal. No restrictions will be in place as from tomorrow (3 December) and Ras Mohammed National Marine Park fees will once again apply

source: Chamber News