Tiger, tiger burning bright!

[Christian]

Clive,

You are willing to believe a self-appointed shark-expert on the Internet who can't tell the difference between a grey reef shark and a bull shark; british tabloid stories and a garbage TV-show aimed toward 12-year old boys (or their mental equality), but dismiss the opinion of some of the most knowledgable people like Jeremy Stafford Deitsch (the one who wrote Red Sea Sharks), Rick Martin, George H Burgess (International Shark Attack Files) etc.

Can't really figure you out ...

Whatever. I've made my point clear, you've made yours; regarding White Shark Attacks in the Red Sea as well as Bull Sharks living there.

I can't convince you and you need to come up with some better sources to make me reconsider (hey, at least I'm prepared to change my mind).

Until then, happy diving.

/christian

 

[clive francis]

Christian once bubbled...
Clive,

You are willing to believe a self-appointed shark-expert on the Internet who can't tell the difference between a grey reef shark and a bull shark; british tabloid stories and a garbage TV-show aimed toward 12-year old boys (or their mental equality), but dismiss the opinion of some of the most knowledgable people like Jeremy Stafford Deitsch (the one who wrote Red Sea Sharks), Rick Martin, George H Burgess (International Shark Attack Files) etc.

Can't really figure you out ...

Whatever. I've made my point clear, you've made yours; regarding White Shark Attacks in the Red Sea as well as Bull Sharks living there.

I can't convince you and you need to come up with some better sources to make me reconsider (hey, at least I'm prepared to change my mind).

Until then, happy diving.

/christian

why get shirty!?!

if they print a white attacked and on the international tv prog they say it was a white, then who am i to dissagree?

why didn't your expert stand up and say no way?

when i went to marsa, the woman who did all the videoing saw a 5m tiger and at first she thought it was a white, why would she think it was a white if they don't live there?

are you suggesting that i have the mentality of a 12 year old?

i don't know where they web guy got his info i passed it on, perhaps you should contact him and find out where he got it from!?!

tell him he is stupid!

like i said i am keeping an open mind, either way

so in the tone of you last message stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

 

[Christian]

"why get shirty!?!"

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the expression.

"if they print a white attacked and on the international tv prog they say it was a white, then who am i to dissagree? why didn't your expert stand up and say no way?"

In my experience, these type of chockumentaries and tabloid stories usually are so far off the map that any serious person won't even bother to comment. Anyway, I've done some searching and asking around regarding this supposed attack and found zilch, nada. I haven't found a single person who recalls this incident. If you can direct me to some information, anything, I'd very much appreciate it.

"when i went to marsa, the woman who did all the videoing saw a 5m tiger and at first she thought it was a white, why would she think it was a white if they don't live there?"

Because she has a serious eye problem or isn't very familiar with sharks. Working as DM or Instructor doesn't automaticly give you a lot of knowledge about sharks. I dived with a guy (instructor) who had 5000+ dives in the Red Sea last spring, allthough he had above average knowledge, he had serious problems separating some of the less common spieces from each other. But, I would like to press that even if you dive a lot with sharks, some spieces are very tricky to identify correctly, especially requiem sharks. Some of them you will have to bring up on land for closer studies to be 100% certain. One example is the Ambon (Java) shark and the Bull (Zambesi) Shark.

"are you suggesting that i have the mentality of a 12 year old?"

Sorry if you got offended. But seriously, "When Animals Attack"!?!

"i don't know where they web guy got his info i passed it on, perhaps you should contact him and find out where he got it from!?!"

You didn't just 'pass it on'. You said "this will put an end to the myth ..." When you bring something on as evidence, you also put your own credibilty at stake. You can't just blaim "the web guy".

Actually I have mailed this fellow since I really am very interested in where he obtained the information, no answer yet.

"tell him he is stupid!"

Why should I do that?

"like i said i am keeping an open mind, either way"

Good for you.

"so in the tone of you last message stick that in your pipe and smoke it!"

Is this 'getting shirty'?

 

[clive francis]

the 5m tiger was swimming up the reef head on towards her with its mouth open.

so all she could see was a white head (very large) and a big mouth with teeth.

so yes in that situation it would be possible to not get the right shark, until it gets closer (and swims right over your head).

before you start labelling people with eye problems and being dumn DM's/instructors you should get a full picture, sort of like what you (?) to have done over the white attack.

she has dived Elphinstone and video'd more underwater scenes (thats her job) than you have had hot dinners, so i think she is more than qulified!

 

[Christian]

If she only could see its mouth, why would she assume it was a white? Especially when diving Elphinstone. Doesn't make any sense.

My remark about bad eye sight was if a person can't tell the difference between a white shark and a tiger, they either can't see very well or doesn't know a lot about sharks.

My guess is this woman just thought it recalled a white for a split second, probably due to the size of the animal, she didn't really think it was a white. Especially if she is as experienced as you say.

How the hell do you know how many hot meals I've had?

cheers

c

 

[Belushi]

I hate to say this, but the person who started this thread is winding people up.

CaptNerd ...
Why am I winding people up? I also lived in the Red Sea, I have seen whale sharks, hammers and mantas around the south, and my mate Chad still lives there, his children have been born and brought up in Sharm he is the general manager of the Royal Diving fleet, and the ONLY go North. This is where he says he say them

I am not saying he saw them all in one dive ... over the course of a season these things were seen. But the straights of Tiran was the place to see them

 

[docmartin]

what a fun thread to stumble upon. was there a yellow submarine anywhere near that bull shark? seriously, bulls in the red sea? just goes to prove that this is one of the most misidentified shark species in the world. too bad they don't come with horns. that would make things easier.
tigers i don't doubt. lucky to see them, though. funny how they are never less than 4 meters when one comes across a tiger. btw, to mistake a tiger for a great white is quite a feat. even if you just see the mouth/head. both species have very distinctly shaped mouths - pointed vs blunt. if the shark was swimming with an open mouth maybe it was a basking shark tired of the poor viz around cornwall. of course if one has always wanted to see a great white... the mind is a wonderful thing.
to the mysteries of the deep that make this sport so great!

 

[divebunnie]

Like you doc martin, I have just stumbled upon this thread, what a find! I'm not sure if any of you guys are still kicking around the board.

I was in Sharm last year too, staying with the very Barry that you mentioned Neilstewart. On the day that I left, one of the Emperor guides had seen the tiger shark, creating a real buzz about it, everyone wanted to go to Tiran the next day. That turned out to be the day that Barry had his close encounter! I believe as well as the incident with the Italian divers that week, it pinned a woman to the reef on another dive followed by enough incidents for a "trauma centre" to be set up where people could be treated for shock after meeting the shark for themselves.

Even when I was there we had the wonderful fortune to see hammerheads, white-tipped reef sharks and on my last day at the surface, an oceanic white tip. Must admit, I was kind of glad not to have met the big boy to be honest.

We are due to return later this month, though I doubt that the big stuff will be around just yet. I am just looking forward to my first liveaboard and getting back into that sea once again… I just love the reef and the fish in general.

 

[Belushi]

I have seen the full video of the Tiger Shark in Sharm and I know the idve site.
Met up with my mate Chad at the Dive show in Birmingham and because the shark is not attacking people, National Geographic do not want to buy it.
But it is there ... or was

 

[RSoper]

I come from Kenya and confirm there are loads of bull sharks in the area, i actually saw some while i was out surfing on the south coast. In the main however, they tend to hand around the "milango's" of mombasa harbour (Likoni side,) and Mtwapa Creek. They seem to have a habit of following large boats / ships into these harbours, and then being unable to find their way out. This then results in them getting hungry as there is no food for them in the harbours, and going for any tasty humans if there are any around, which happened a few years ago.

As for diving with bulls in Kenya, i have been diving over there for 17 years now and i have never seen one, only ever reef sharks, and i know most of the guys who own the dive operations over there and i don't think they have ever seen one.

With regards to Bull sharks in the Red Sea, i have been to Sharm a few times and never seen one, i am no marine bioligist but there is a huge difference between the water temp in Kenya / Somalia (bath-tub,) and the Red Sea (chilly when i was there.) I can't imagine many sharks "residing" in the Kenya region would be comftable with the temp change.