US Scuba Diver - Shark Attack

[Sharks at Aliwal]

In 15 years of baited sharks dives (30 years of diving with sharks in general) at the Aliwal Shoal. This is a first so yes it is "safe". But we always need to remember that if we cross the road enough times somebody is going to get run over.
Have a look at AfricanDiver.com | Africa's Scuba Diving Magazine and they have a much better report on it with none of the histeria that news24 had

 

[randy88k5]

This is the story from the above link:

Shark Bite on KwaZulu Natal South Coast

We received the following press release issued by Blue Wilderness regarding yesterday's shark bite at Rocky Bay

The KZN South Coast diving community was devastated this morning (28 June) with the bite by a large Dusky shark on an Advanced SCUBA diver who was on a dive within the Aliwal Shoal Marine Protected Area (MPA). Although the injuries sustained by the diver were not fatal, the incident was nevertheless quite serious with the diver being evacuated by air. The diver is now in a stable condition following surgery at Albert Luthuli Hospital in Durban.

Netcare911 Spokesperson Chris Botha commended the Blue Wilderness team for their exemplary handling of the situation, commenting that “this young man owes his life to the well trained Blue Wilderness staff who managed to stop the blood flow so quickly.” Ryan and Clare Daly (Blue Wilderness), Peter Bauer (rescue diver) and Alistair Louw (local skipper) were all on hand to assist with the medical care that saved the diver’s life, and all kept a cool head in a very stressful situation.

Speaking about the incident, Mark Addison of Blue Wilderness said that "after over 23 years in the diving industry, and 15 years in the shark diving industry, this has been the first time we have had an encounter such as this at Aliwal Shoal. Taking all that we have observed and learnt over the last two decades, there is no way that one could have known that that this individual animal would break all of the rules. However, the young diver is our main concern right now and our thoughts go out to him and his family during this difficult time. Anyone who comes into our environment is considered to be a member of our family and we are very close to the diver and deeply saddened by today’s events.”

The bite occurred when a large Dusky shark bit at the diver’s fins in what is most likely a case of mistaken identity. The SCUBA diver was wearing split fins with black and grey stripes, and to the shark this may have looked like a small shoal of fish.

According to Addison, “having swum with sharks on thousands of occasions, I can testify that isolated freak accidents such as this rarely occur. Although there are more large Dusky sharks around than usual at the moment due to the presence of sardines, there is no reason for them to have any more interest in us than they normally do, and this was really unfortunate”.

These large Dusky sharks generally live offshore, but come closer to shore during this time of the year as they follow the massive shoals of sardines that are making their way up the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal coastlines. Dusky sharks are listed on the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List as “near threatened” and are one of the most vulnerable of the shark species to exploitation because it reproduces so slowly and at such a late age.

The diver was part of a team of interns who have been diving with Blue Wilderness for almost a month. “The interns are well-versed with the nature of these animals, these guys are competent divers and are passionate about sharks – that’s why they travelled around the globe to join us during the sardine run. They have been making a valuable contribution to furthering our understanding of these sharks at the Aliwal Shoal MPA” said Mark Addison.

 

[diversteve]

threads merged...

 

[VooDooGasMan]

Well for mistaken Identity underwater, I am not believing, but it happen. although no sardines around they were there to dive cause of the run.

Baited dives also mentioned, this is a rare spot to be in, wonder what the shark thought the rubber fins were to bite again.

Spearfishing the sharks want the booty on the stringer or shaft. I have speared and have stringer hang from boat, to keep the sharks occupied, while I get some for me.

Blue sharks will take my tuna away, they are not that fair to the spearo.

The sensorial cripts are knowing the sardine is in the waster, I am guessing that it would be possible that the sensorial canals sent the vibration and the radar was misinformed and Like they think the gray and black split fin looks like a fish(local I presume).

Well I am glad my twin jets are all black.

My thoughts have always been once we empty the food chain out of the ocean we are the food chain.

After bite to fins the scuba breathing did not send him on his way, cause the diver had to be sucking air right away.

 

[pterantula]

This is a very sad event indeed, and all hopes that the diver recovers fully - not just of a sense of communal empathy, but as divers we also know how much we would all want to get back in the water as soon as we can, and I hope this guy gets to return to pursuing his passion.

And on the other hand, it's also unfortunate that 'shark news' tends to be of this ilk, and always ends up refueling anti-shark arguments all over the sociosphere. Nevermind the fact that similar incidents occur with far, far greater frequency on land, notably with domestic animals. But there's no story there, humanity still harbors great fears of the oceans and their denizens - sharks in particular; it doesn't matter that you or I can swim with sharks all over the world (I have, I know many of you have) for years and never witness this first-hand, but go play with a neighbor's dog and get badly bitten that day (I've witnessed this plenty).
And now cue all the overreactions of the general public, most of whom don't even dive or enter the water.....

 

[hamiltonian]

All
I'd like to pass my condolences on to all those involved, both the injured party and the team at Blue Wilderness. I had the pleasure of diving with Mark and his team early this year, and it was the highlight of my 6 month stay in SA.
Having a tiger shark swim by within a hands-breadth was a moment I'll cherish forever.
Having seen at first hand the professional way the outfit was run, I can only concur with the view that it was one of those 'freak accidents' - in much the same way that it would be if, say, a lion in Kruger mauled a visitor in an open-top vehicle.
I too hope there are no adverse effects on either the shark population, or the wider environment, as a consequence of this.
It would be interesting to find out at some point if there were any other physical or behavioural factors that may have precipitated this attack.
best wishes
h.

 

[gordongreaves]

My information on this event is as follows:
Some unscrupulous dive operators are charging up to R1,200 per dive and 'guaranteeing' sightings of Tiger sharks. The normal charge for a local diver is in the region of R250, so these operators are making a massive mark-up from gullible overseas divers.
What's even more concerning is how they 'guarantee' the tiger sightings - BAIT DIVING. They cover this up by saying it's "research" but that's usually a BS coverup for down and dirty baited dives.
Then they wonder why sharks are behaving as they do???
I've been on dives in Aliwal Shoal where another dive operator has chumming near by, and I can tell you, the black tips around our divers on that day were incredibly aggressive.
Continued bait-diving is making diving unsafe for ethical dive operations in the area.
While any injury to a diver is deeply regrettable, perhaps this will be a wake-up call for operators in the area to STOP ENDANGERING THE LIVES OF DIVERS BY BAIT DIVING!!!

 

[Deefstes]

Jeepers Gordon but you're making some extraordinary sweeping statements! Have you got any data to backup the claim that chumming is increasing the danger to divers - other than anecdotal evidence such as your own?

I'm not an operator and I've never even dived on a chummed dive (partly because I can't justify the cost). But I couldn't go as far as saying that operators are "unscrupulous" by charging R1200 per dive. You can't compare this to a typical dive along the Natal coast. There are reasons why such dives are more costly. The boats cruise around for hours looking for sharks using up much more fuel than the typical 50min normal dives where the boat floats above the reef for most of the time.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

In 15 years of baited sharks dives (30 years of diving with sharks in general) at the Aliwal Shoal. This is a first so yes it is "safe". But we always need to remember that if we cross the road enough times somebody is going to get run over.

... and if you toss food at bears often enough times somebody will eventually get mauled. It isn't that the wild animal is out to harm the humans, it's that by feeding them you are changing their natural behavior ... sometimes in unpredictable ways.

I'm neither for nor against baited dives ... and I'm sure the professionals who run them do everything in their power to make them safe. But anytime we interact with apex predators we take a risk ... by helping them associate humans with food, we increase the risk. The biggest problem I have with this sort of activity is that whenever it turns out badly for a human, it usually turns out worse for the baited predator ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Deefstes]

... and if you toss food at bears often enough times somebody will eventually get mauled. It isn't that the wild animal is out to harm the humans, it's that by feeding them you are changing their natural behavior ... sometimes in unpredictable ways.

I don't think it is fair to compare shark behaviour to bear behaviour. Maybe I'm wrong and I don't know bears well enough but, leave the chumming out of the equation for the time being, I'm pretty sure that if you go walk in the woods and stumble upon a bear you have a high risk of getting mauled. If you go dive in the sea and you stumble upon a shark you have an extremely low risk of being bitten.

Bears see you as a threat or intruder or food or whatever it is that make them maul you. Sharks don't see people as either and will, for the most part, ignore you or avoid you. When you add the "throwing of food" to the mix I don't think the inherent behaviour of the animals are affected much if at all. All it does is that it brings people and sharks in proximity more often.