Marine Life Teen diver bitten by shark, loses leg in Belize

[ImpotentSeaSnake]

An approximately-identical incident happened in the Bahamas within the past year. Who hasn't heard "The pool is open" after divers are back on a boat, followed by divers down to their bathing suits jumping in. The evidence is clear, to me anyway, that sharks mistake swimmers for fish a lot more than they pose a risk to divers--and then the risk is quite small. My devotion to peeing at depth is validated.

I happened across this paragraph in a recent magazine article:

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"When you go to the ocean this summer, you are not going to be eaten by a shark. We kill a hundred million sharks annually. They kill, in unprovoked attacks (those in which the victim was not attempting to feed or touch the shark), between five and ten of us globally. There are a further sixty-odd nonfatal unprovoked attacks reported each year. You are significantly more likely to be bitten by a person in Manhattan than you are to be bitten by a shark anywhere off the North American coast. In the same way that you are not going to win the lottery or become globally famous for your good looks and charm, you are not going to be attacked by a shark. They are not especially attracted to human blood and do not crave human flesh. Sharks—unlike, for instance, crows—never develop vendettas. In comparison, very conservatively, snakes kill eighty thousand people a year, crocodiles a thousand, hippopotamuses five hundred, and lions two hundred. You are more likely to die from constipation, tornadoes, or lawnmowers. Yet no frisson of terror goes through us when we walk past the lawn-care section at Home Depot."​

I was recently scuba lion fishing in the Bahamas and the sharks were pretty bad. We were at a site called Pumpkin Patch and the DM had to abandon the Zookeeper until the sharks dissipated. Short while later when we resumed, they returned, were aggressive, and attempting to eat them off the spear. We dropped the fish and aborted the hunt.
Later I learned that people do this:

 

[chillyinCanada]

This poor girl had incredible bad luck.

I've been diving out there more times than I can recall. I have been approached by a big shark in the Blue Hole but it was merely curiosity because I'd been shining my flashlight on it at depth.

There were often a couple of sharks cruising around us at Lighthouse Reef/Halfmoon Caye.

30 years ago, the boats would chum after the divers were back aboard. I'd gone into the water for a "refresh" swim and as I was paddling about, could hear a bunch of ews and aws, squeals etc. I came back up the ladder and everyone was leaning over the gunwales on the opposite side of the boat. Not understanding, I looked over to see what was up and damn near had a heart attack! Just like in the movies, the sharks' eyes were rolled back and mouths wide open, all teeth.

To this day, I can't believe that the OP was shark chumming with a client (me!) in the water.

A year or two later, the chumming had been completely stopped. The ops had wised up.

 

[CT-Rich]

When diving In Belize, the DMs would bring a Hawaiian sling along and they would collect as many lionfish as possible, snip off the spines and take them home for dinner. If a shark showed up, they would stuff the catch in the reef and leave the vicinity so the sharks would find them on their own. This was out on Turneffe. We saw a few sharks but they never gave a second look at the divers

 

[Tumblin’ Dice]

That’s a pretty sharky atoll, and some of the reef sharks are quite large and show no fear of divers.

Had a 7 - 8’ one show up and get right in our face while a group of us were lionfish hunting off Long Caye. Freaked a couple of newly minted divers that were with us out. There’s supposedly an even larger 8 - 9’ reef shark name of “Bruno” around.

I’m no shark expert, but the reef sharks circling underneath us as we ascended early one morning from diving the Blue Hole seemed to me to be displaying agonistic behavior rushing up towards us from below, and the guides carry laser pointers to shine in their eyes as a deterrent.

 

[johndiver999]

I had not heard about using lasers as a deterrent. I imagine that might work to help reduce aggressiveness while it is still building up and there is not too much stimulus in the water.

 

[TostitoBandito]

My profile pic is a reef shark from half moon caye. Might be the very same one.

But in any case yeah, the sharks at half moon in particular have little fear of divers compared to everywhere else in the world I've been. They must be very well protected there. I never saw them come at me, but they wouldn't see you and swim away either. Could get great pics by just positioning yourself in their path and having them swim right by you. I don't think they're allowed to be fed within the park, but I could be wrong.

That said, this wasn't really a diving incident as she was just a swimmer on the surface. I personally wouldn't jump into the water and splash around on the surface knowing there's sharks below. I'd much rather be down on their level where I can see what's going on, plus all the SCUBA gear that makes it clear I'm not a snack.

 

[chillyinCanada]

My profile pic is a reef shark from half moon caye. Might be the very same one.

But in any case yeah, the sharks at half moon in particular have little fear of divers compared to everywhere else in the world I've been. They must be very well protected there. I never saw them come at me, but they wouldn't see you and swim away either. Could get great pics by just positioning yourself in their path and having them swim right by you. I don't think they're allowed to be fed within the park, but I could be wrong.

That said, this wasn't really a diving incident as she was just a swimmer on the surface. I personally wouldn't jump into the water and splash around on the surface knowing there's sharks below. I'd much rather be down on their level where I can see what's going on, plus all the SCUBA gear that makes it clear I'm not a snack.

Those sharks still like to sneak up from behind. I've been eye to eye with them.

It's still hard to believe that one of those regulars would be biting a person at the surface.

 

[ImpotentSeaSnake]

I was recently scuba lion fishing in the Bahamas and the sharks were pretty bad…

Not that I was nervous or anything, but I did bite through my mouthpiece. Must’ve been defective.

 

[Snoweman]

Not that I was nervous or anything, but I did bite through my mouthpiece. Must’ve been defective.
View attachment 879434

You might want to try a SeaCure mouthpiece for a replacement.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

This story is tough and I sincerely hope that she recovers and makes a full comeback with a kick ass postitive attitude. The prosthetic options these days are amazing!

What I will say is that feeding ANY sharks is just a bad idea altogether. This vid that I have from Bora Bora seems totally benign.... but it was right after we had pulled up to a mooring spot where a previous operator had just completed a "feeding" op. We were not "feeding" but it was clear that "feeding" is what the sharks were expecting.

I was fine splashing and "diving" with these animals.... but think that jumping in for a post dive "P" break on the surface might not have been the best idea.