Sharm El-Sheikh Shark Attacks: Update

Global Shark Attack File

NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release

Sharm El-Sheikh Shark Attacks: Update

Between November 30 and December 5, 2010 there were 5 unprovoked shark attacks reported from Sharm El-Shiekh, Egypt. Following these attacks the Egyptian government assembled an international team of experts to conduct a forensic analysis of the attacks: Ralph S. Collier, President of the Shark Research Committee and Director of the Global Shark Attack File; Marie Levine, Executive Director, of the Shark Research Institute; Moustafa Fouda, MSEA; Mohammad Salem, EEAA; and Nassar Galal, CDWS.

The team gathered eyewitness testimony, examined the attack locations, and reviewed the forensic evidence, including all environmental factors present prior to each of the attacks. The following is a list of those factors they believed to be contributor to the attacks:

* The illegal dumping of sheep carcasses by animal transport vessels within 1.2 miles of the shore.

* The unique underwater topography of the area; i.e., deep water very close to shore allowing pelagic sharks and humans to swim in close proximity.

* Although fishing is restricted in the Sharm El-Sheikh region, unrestrained fishing in the Red Sea has depleted fish stocks and reduced the amount of natural prey available to sharks.

* Shark and human population dynamics, i.e., 5 million people visit Sharm El-Sheikh annually and numbers of sharks migrate through the area each year.

* Feeding of fish by glass bottom boats and swimmers drew the sharks close to the beach.

* Elevated sea temperatures resulted in higher metabolic rates of the sharks and increased their energy (food) requirements.

* Although prohibited, it is believed that some dive operators have been feeding the sharks, which could have habituated the sharks to humans as a source for food.

It was determined from forensic evidence and eyewitness testimony that two species of sharks were responsible for the attacks; shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus, and oceanic whitetip, Carcharhinus longimanus. Historical data obtained from the Global Shark Attack File for Egypt confirmed additional incidents from 2004 to the present (www.sharkattackfile.net).

Suggestions to reduce the potential for such future events were provided to officials for review and implementation.

Shark Attacks - Da Shark in Depth, on Target

The recent shark attacks in Sharm el Shiekh have been unprecedented, causing many in the industry to question how, in the short space of a week, 5 swimmers were attacked leaving behind one fatality.

Industry generated analysis has been for the most part excellent, and yesterday Da Shark in Fiji wrote some of the best shark attack coverage and analysis yet.

Update: Two different pelagic species have been confirmed in these attacks.

We are leaning towards conditioning as a main driver for these attacks. A cargo ship carrying 120,000 head of sheep dumped an unknown number of dead animals several miles off the coast at Tiran Island in the weeks prior to these attacks. This carcass dump may have provided the floating conditioning opportunity, over time, to radically change pelagic sharks normal caution towards unknown objects in the water.

Da Shark on Sharm el Shiekh 2010

Time for a preliminary post mortem.

Like everybody interested in Sharks, I’ve been closely following the news tidbits trickling out from Sharm El Sheikh and the various opines in the media and the blogosphere.

There’s much of the usual fluff and idiocy - but there’s also some stellar stuff.

Take the “experts”. Whilst many prate and pontificate, I found this remarkable interview with Avi Baranes. Now THIS is the kind of person you gotta consult, a highly reputable Shark researcher who has been investigating those very waters for a very long time – and accordingly, the interview brims with factual information and quietly addresses and dispels the usual myths.

Bravo!

Equally noteworthy are the posts by Richard, by the SOSF and by Michael Scholl - however with some caveats that I’d like to address below.

Complete Post.

Sharm el Shiekh Dead Sheep Story Confirmed

Egypt launches campaign to clear territorial waters of dead sheep

9/25/2010 9:45:00 PM

CAIRO, Sept 25 (KUNA) -- The Egyptian authorities started Saturday clearing the Straits of Tiran, northeast the Red Sea, of dead sheep thrown into the sea by a cargo vessel recently.

The move aims to prevent the carcasses being drifted towards the tourist resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, at the southernmost tip of Sinai Peninsula, Minister of State for Environment Affairs Eng. Majed George told reporters here.

"We have contacts managers of all hotels of the city, which overlook the straits, as well as the nature reserves there to inform them of the problem and coordinate steps in this regard," the minister pointed out.

"Reacting promptly to complaints from some hotels in the area, the operation room of the crisis-management unit adopted measures to retrieve the carcasses and bury them at an ecologically-safe site," George said.

"Measures are underway to assess the environment damage and sue the owner of the vessel Badr 3," he disclosed adding that a survey of the area showed 33 carcasses scattered off Ras Mohammad National Park.

Boats belonging to the Ministry of Environment and vehicles of the South Sinai Governorate take part in the clearing campaign.

The ship, owned by an Australian company and carrying The Bahamas flag, was reportedly carrying 120,000 heads of sheep when the accident took place.

Post here.

Shark Attacks in Sharm el-Sheikh, Interview with Red Sea Diving College

Another tragic shark attack in the waters off Sharm el-Sheikh, this time fatal, prompted us to interview a local dive shop in the region via SKYPE today.

The mainstream media's coverage has been typical, covering these ongoing attacks with no real background or substance.

Obviously something has changed in the region and with the sharks off Sharm el-Sheikh.

We chose Red Sea Diving College, a 20 year dive industry veteran, and for the past 4 years winner of the "Best Dive Center Award".

We interviewed dive center manager Jochen Van Lysebettens who has been diving Sharm el-Sheikh for the past 5 years to get a better idea of what is happening on the ground level.

Ocean and beachfront based tourism in Egypt accounts for $10 billion dollars of the Egyptian economy. The stakes for these recent shark attacks cannot be understated or underestimated.

Worldwide, shark attacks resonate though the entire shark diving industry, four attacks in one region and in one week are "unprecedented".

Jochen was forthcoming and frank. In his opinion "something must have triggered these attacks". He is also a pro-shark and pro-industry advocate with a deep understanding of conservation and the impact these unfortunate attacks have on the perception of sharks globally.

Interview with Jochen Van Lysebettens

Shark Diver: So, there's a lot of media focus on the shark species responsible for these attacks with Oceanic Whitetips (Carcharhinus longimanus) being the prime culprit here. What's your take, is this the species responsible?

Jochen Van Lysebettens: A diver took a some pictures of Oceanic Whitetips in the area of the first shark attack minutes before it happened, so I am comfortable that is was an Oceanic responsible for the first attacks. There has been no positive identification on the fatal attack yesterday.

Shark Diver: How rare is this for Oceanics to be behaving in this manner in and around Sharm el-Sheikh?

Jochen Van Lysebettens: Very, very rare. Oceanics never attack divers, they are curious in the water, but we just do not see this kind of behaviour, we also don't bait the sharks.

Shark Diver: So what is happening in Sharm el-Sheikh, what's the word on the street, what are the local dive shops talking about?

Jochen Van Lysebettens: There are rumors, Chinese whispers, of sheep floating in the water.

Shark Diver: Sheep in the water? How does a sheep get in the water?

Jochen Van Lysebettens: One instructor from another dive shop says he saw a dead sheep floating in the water a few days before the first attack, could have been transported and fallen into the water. Is it chumming or not, I do not know. But, as I said these are rumors only.

Shark Diver: What about the targeted shark killings by the Egyptian government? Was that necessary? What has been the local response?

Jochen Van Lysebettens: We are against it, all the dive shops are against it. Publicity killings. Public relations. When the shark killings started by another government agency we, along with other dive shops, contacted The Chamber of Diving and Watersports and they put a stop to it right away.

Shark Diver: They killed two sharks looking for evidence of the attacks, what was your alternate plan?

Jochen Van Lysebettens: The CDWS gathered together 40 dive instructors from all the dive shops and conducted a complete dive survey of the attack sites, looking for anything that might indicate a trigger for these attacks. We spent time in the water observing the sharks and looking at everything.

Shark Diver: Did they find anything?

Jochen Van Lysebettens: N0 they didn't, but we did stop the publicity shark killings, we are totally against any shark killings in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Shark Diver: After yesterdays fatal shark attack on a German swimmer, what's the next step?

Jochen Van Lysebettens: Tomorrow we will conduct another complete dive survey, this time with 40+ dive instructors in the water. Something triggered these sharks.

Shark Diver: Is that is what your gut is telling you?

Jochen Van Lysebettens: Yes, I am convinced something is triggering these sharks, the next step is to have a marine biologist come in and have a look at the area, maybe he can get some answers for us.

Shark Diver: In your opinion how has the mainstream media handled these tragic events?

Jochen Van Lysebettens: The coverage has been good and bad. It's important for the media to include a marine biologist or someone to defend the sharks. People do not have to be afraid of sharks.

Shark Diver: I know you have a lot of work ahead, what's your takeaway quote for now?

Jochen Van Lysebettens: Humans enter into the sharks territory, we want to keep shark encounters natural and safe.

Our impression from this interview was that the dive shops in Sharm el-Sheikh are fully invested in finding out why their sharks are behaving in this manner and are very pro-shark. As time moves forward we will get a better understanding of what, if anything, triggered the sharks. In the meantime dive operations are defending these animals from the kind of knee jerk government response that would have them fished out of the water.

Update Email:

From:Randa

RE:Dead Animals

TO me it is amazing after several reports and testimoney of dive guides, that hardly anything has been mentioned about the dead livestock dumped overboard by a transport ship, which has occurred several times in the past month. The hotel of the diving center where I work in Sharm el Sheikh found dead sheep on the washed up on the beach about 2 weeks ago, and dive guides reported seeing dead sheep in the water in the Strait of Tiran, which is near to the location of the attacks. Although the information about the dead livestock needs to be confirmed, it to me makes the most sense about the behavior of the sharks. Having dead livestock dumped in the water over the course of a 1 month period or more would be equivalent to feeding the sharks. The types of food that people sneak into the water, such as boiled eggs and bread is not attracting sharks, but dead livestock definitely would do the job.