Sad News in Egypt

[ On our trip Martin took off a orange DSMB that was clipped to his BC because he was getting too much attention. This definitely reduced the attention he was getting.

Alex

As the "Martin" in question, I can attest to the apparent level of interest taken by the OWTs when I had the DSMB clipped to my BCD. Anecdotal, for sure, but Jim Abernethy's Rules are pretty explicit - no bright colours, no uncovered skin. The briefings are even more explicit - don't stay on the surface. Unfortunately, snorkelling around OWT's breaks at least 2 of these rules. Hard to place blame, but definitely a tragic accident.

Another one just in from HEPCA

Open Letter from HEPCA To all Dive Guides in the Egyptian Red Sea

Most of you are aware of the death of the snorkeler at St. Johns by an Oceanic WhiteTip Shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) earlier this month. The death was especially tragic because it could have been avoided if guests had been stopped from snorkelling. Allowing guests to snorkel at St. Johns and other Far Islands, especially when C. longimanus is presence, is highly unprofessional. Not only does it place guests at risk of injury, but such unprofessional action gives the whole Egyptian Red Sea dive industry a bad reputation. Since the death of the snorkeler, dive guides have reported to HEPCA that some C. longimanus at the Far Islands are displaying overly inquisitive or even aggressive behaviour towards them while diving. This included sharks near the surface moving rapidly towards divers at 30 m. Others have reported being bumped, tanks nudged and sharks swimming extremely close to them and their guests. There may be a number of reasons why these animals are behaving this way. It could be due to the illegal actions of some divers who have been feeding them in these areas or boat crews baiting them. Alternatively, or in combination with, it may be due to natural seasonal causes relating to reproduction or the presence of natural prey. Whatever the reason(s), we urge guides to be especially vigilant when diving in areas where C. longimanus is commonly encountered. In light of this recent information, we have expanded our earlier list of recommendations when taking guests to areas where this species is commonly encountered. The earlier and new recommendations are:

• No swimming and snorkelling in waters where this and other large species of sharks are known to frequent

• No deliberate feeding of this species or the dumping of waste from boats which may attract this and other potentially dangerous sharks (both activities are illegal in Egyptian waters)

• No SCUBA diving without an experienced dive guide in waters where this species is known to frequent

• In areas such as the Far Islands, where this species is frequently observed, it is advisable that divers enter (and are retrieved from) the water as close as possible to the reef.

• In areas such as the Far Islands it is illegal to be involved in any night diving activities.

• Dive in groups and keep close together.

• Two dive guides should accompany each group.

• Divers should leave the water immediately if sharks display signs of aggression such as nudging or circling divers, or moving rapidly towards them.

• Report to HEPCA any incidents of aggressive behaviour by these animals towards divers, and

• Report to HEPCA the names of vessels whose divers or crew are observed feeding or baiting sharks.

Until recently, the Egypt Red Sea diving industry had an impressive track record of safely introducing divers to one of the largest and wide-ranging predators on the planet. With your help we would like to rebuild that record. For more information of this species in the Egyptian Red Sea go to: http://www.longimanus.info/species-info.htm

HEPCA

I regret that elements in this letter seem a little like a 'nanny state' reaction and is largely unworkable. I'll be on a St Johns safari in a couple of months and on a boat and with a guide who I know very, very well so I don't expect my rather 'relaxed' diving habits will be curtained. Inshallah...

Having just got back from a week in marsa shagra, would appear the dive guids are really worried about this situation.

According to the base leader this was not the only incident this week with a diver loosing fingers, and a dive guid being bitten on the shoulder requiring stitches and medical attention!!.

On the day we were coming away, they came back from elphinestone with more oceanic and hammerheads seen on the 6-9am dives with a oceanic taking the delayed on the surface for a new toy!! on the 9am dive.

Lets just hope we have no one else die, or the encounters we hope to dive for may not be an option on offer.

simon.

I think now that someone has actually died, a lot of these incidents that would have previously been hushed up and unreported are going to hit the headlines.

Let's be honest about this - it's been a disaster waiting to happen. You have some operators baiting the sharks (bordering on tormenting the sharks) then you have other operators who are not baiting, but who are throwing their snorkelers into the water in their speedos with their lilly white legs and arms flapping around without any form of briefing and with absolutely no idea on what state of frenzy the sharks are in.

These attacks are nothing new - they are just being reported now.

So sad for the victims, but also for the sharks.

Translation from an spanish diver:

"Hello friends. I was in St John the day of the attack and the days after and things are not as easy as they seem. I was on the "Beau Rivage" liveaboard with a group of french and belgian divers (only spanish on board). During the nights two more liveaboards tied to us, "Nautile" (where the dead french diver was staying) and "Diving City".

We did not find out about the attack until the next day (Nautile had left to reach the coast), and also after our group suffered an attack, probably from the same shark.

The day after of the deadly attack we were finishing a dive, when we saw a big longimanus under our boat. I saw him give a couple of passes, but I only had 40 bar left and I decided to finish the dive and ascend as we were under the ladder. So I informed my dive buddy, a belgian called Luck. He did not have much air either but decided to stay with the group to watch the shark and take more pictures.

As soon as I was on the boat and took off my BCD and tank I heard screams on the diving platform and I came down immediatly. The shark was on the surface attacking my dive group bullying and trying to bite. No one was snorkeling.

The crew members of the ship were trying to scare away the shark from the ladder with broomsticks and the divers were climbing to the diving platform and a nearby RIB while some were suffering panic shocks. In the ladder the longimanus tried to bite Luck but only it managed to rub it (I believe that for the broomsticks), doing a tear to in his wetsuit, and a cut of approximately 3 cm in the shoulder. The only one that was staying in the water was our guide Nil (he did not climb up until all of us were on board), in between the RIB and the ladder. The shark went for him, Nil bent the knees and struck it with the heels in the face, while the RIB was approaching him. We do not know exactly what happened, Nil says that while he was being lifted up the RIB with tank and all, he felt something strange in the hand and withdrew it rapidly. It was again the longimanus that was to his side and that bit a cut of approximately 7 cm in the fourth finger and back of the left hand and a cut in the back of the third finger. I am a doctor and I checked that there was no affected tendon so applied plastic stitches (stir-streep) and compressive . Nil did not want to suspend the cruise to go to land, he refused blatantly. Luckily we had antibiotic, antiinflammatory and everything necessary.

Later and in the night, after having cruised more than 3 hours north to change the diving area, we met the Diving City and found out what happened the previous day. The captain of the Diving visited us in the night and told us what had happenned to the french diver. He also told us that they had lost many meters of ropes, because when they were trying to untie themselves from the reef, a longimanus was approaching the crew members UP THE REEF AND OVER THE SHALLOWS. They finally chose to cut the ropes with a knife and leave.

So the attack to the french diver was while she was snorkeling, but the one to our group was while on scuba though in surface or close to it. The Captain said that he had never seen something similar in 20 years working the route. It is clear that this was a very strange OWT behaviour. I have photos of the shark, minutes before the assault, also of Nil's wounds, that did not lose the hand for a matter of seconds... "

Thanks for the update.

Stew

I think this was at Habili Ali?

That is pretty full on....

Pictures from the diver:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24298814@N02/...57619908587362/

Thanks for the info, David. Sounds very full on.

I think a lot of it comes down to how you react in these situations and I am not saying it is always easy to control this. On our Bahamas trip one of our group flooded his camera and was understandably panicking. Immediately the lone oceanic we were with at the time was all over him and one of the dive staff had to ward it off several times. The seriousness of the situation shot up very quickly. For the rest of our trip we all enjoyed excellent controlled encounters with the sharks, with up to 9, 3m sharks around us. And never had a similar incident. But it shows how sensitive the sharks are to panic and I can understand how a situation like this develops.

Oceanic Whitetips have always investigated anything at the surface - they common swim right up and bump objects, but this doesn't mean they are about to bite - although it is easy to be unnerved and interpret it this way. The you start to panic, the shark picks up on this and the situation gets a lot more serious.

On our recent Bahamas trip with Oceanics every time divers got in/or were getting out of the water the sharks would break off what they were doing and immediately go and investigate. At the beginning of the trip people found this quite unnerving:

This one is squashed against my dome (hence the shading). It was bumping but not attacking. Had this been my leg and my head was above the water I would have been panicking too and the situation could have become very serious.

In the bahamas, they were also very sensitive to the sound of the boat engines - because in this area they were used to stealing fish from sport fishermen. If people were feeding the sharks in the Red Sea from the boast, of just dumping uneaten food overboard close to the sharks - I can imagine the sharks making a similar link with the boats - which is why they followed the crew on the zodiacs. You wouldn't catch me jumping in with just a mask to untie the ropes, in those circumstances.

I think that several factors come together to change very safe encounters into potentially dangerous ones. It is all interesting info for those of us who plan to dive with these sharks.

Alex

it would actually be a good idea to make some "in the wild" experiments, with a yellow diver and a black diver, and see what kind of behaviour the sharks does have.

Fortunately Mythbusters did it !

Well said Alex, I believe this is true for most diving incidents (I know the attack wasn't a diver but...) if someone starts to panic it all goes wrong extremely quickly.

OK, this I believe is the real story...

Safari boats at St Johns had been discharging organic waste near the reefs and the Longimanus were present and had become used to taking these scraps. The French lady was not snorkelling, she was smwimming and when a Longminanus came close she swam down to stroke it. As she swam back to the surface at least one Longimamus bit her on both legs. She died almost immediately from blood loss.

It does seem as though the behaviour of the Longimanus at St Johns is changing, probably as a response to the increasing number of safari boats and the discharge of waste food.

Responsible safari boats are now discharging organic waste far from the reefs. Divers are starting and finishing their dives from zodiacs close to the reef. If Longimanus are present there will be no night diving, though the shallow, protected reefs when the safari boats moor up for the night are not the sort of sites where Longimanus are present.

The dive guides are responding to this incedent and are taking safety very seriously. If there were another incedent the Egyptian government would likely close St Johns and the Marine Parks.

CJ and I have a St Johns safari booked in August, which is not the best time to see Longimanus as the water temperature can exceed 30 degrees celcius. But we are hopeful of an encounter at sites like Habili Ali which is a offshore pinnacle where the current splits and makes for some exciting drifts! I can feel a trip report coming on...

... the purpose of the blue/green camouflage pattern is actually to ATTRACT fish by disguising the human body shape, thus the game fish will approach closer for the kill.

Not the best emphasis here... as it is a camouflage...not a bait.

A camouflage is not made to attract but to blend in the surroundings so that it looks 'business as usual'

OK, this I believe is the real story...

 

Safari boats at St Johns had been discharging organic waste near the reefs and the Longimanus were present and had become used to taking these scraps. The French lady was not snorkelling, she was smwimming and when a Longminanus came close she swam down to stroke it. As she swam back to the surface at least one Longimamus bit her on both legs. She died almost immediately from blood loss.

 

It does seem as though the behaviour of the Longimanus at St Johns is changing, probably as a response to the increasing number of safari boats and the discharge of waste food.

 

Responsible safari boats are now discharging organic waste far from the reefs. Divers are starting and finishing their dives from zodiacs close to the reef. If Longimanus are present there will be no night diving, though the shallow, protected reefs when the safari boats moor up for the night are not the sort of sites where Longimanus are present.

 

The dive guides are responding to this incedent and are taking safety very seriously. If there were another incedent the Egyptian government would likely close St Johns and the Marine Parks.

 

CJ and I have a St Johns safari booked in August, which is not the best time to see Longimanus as the water temperature can exceed 30 degrees celcius. But we are hopeful of an encounter at sites like Habili Ali which is a offshore pinnacle where the current splits and makes for some exciting drifts! I can feel a trip report coming on...

I was a little further north at The Brothers, Daedalus & Elphinstone a couple of weeks back and can repeat that the general sense is that Longimanus behaviour is changing there too. They are getting very very curious and the guides are indeed quite apprehensive about happens next. They seem on tenter hooks waiting for the next major accident which could have terrible ramifications for the industry there if the authorities go OTT.

I had many interactions with Longimanus and only on two occasions did I feel in any real danger, and we spent a lot of time hanging under our boat playing with them. They definitely did seem to get more 'agitated' as the day grew longer. Their circles got tighter, they were more 'twitchy' and 'jerky' in the afternoon and came in closer in more aggressive postures. On one occasion I was pushed down from 5m to 31m in less than a minute by a frisky female. I would not like to dive with them after sunset. Also, there was a Russian lady whose calf was bitten a week or two before I got there (Brothers I believe). She was swimming and freaked out when a longimanus came to check her out. Our main guide witnessed the unfortunate event but there wasn't anything to do to help her. Anyhow, she lived which is good.

I spoke in some depth with our main guide who has been diving this general location for the last 12 years and whereas longimanus used to be a seasonal occurrence, she says that they are around pretty much perenially now. It's also interesting that you rarely find them near the reef. All the 'action' is near or underneath the boat. I don't know what that means but that's definitely how it is. Various conclusions could be drawn but I guess they're all just guesses.

Dive safely,

John

The behaviour of these ocean-roving scavengers has not changed. It is the behaviour of humans. There are now far more large safari boats at these formerly remote sites. Ten years ago, no-one would have swum with them let alone try to stroke them. I have witnessed OWTs being drawn to and bumping almost anything that splashes in the water since around 1990.

Thanks for the info, David. Sounds very full on.

 

I think a lot of it comes down to how you react in these situations and I am not saying it is always easy to control this. On our Bahamas trip one of our group flooded his camera and was understandably panicking. Immediately the lone oceanic we were with at the time was all over him and one of the dive staff had to ward it off several times.

Alex, I think the main difference here is that you were on an organised shark trip with experienced guides and probably divers experienced in shark encounters (and if not I bet they were well briefed). As you'll almost certainly already know many of the divers in the Red Sea who come across these OWT's have never even seen a shark before. The last two trips I've been on to the southern Red Sea I was the only diver on the boat who had ever dived with sharks before, let alone something as potentially aggressive as an Oceanic. There was never a briefing from the guides on potential shark encounters, how to react, potential signs of aggression and/or what to do if things started to get out of control.

Cheers, Simon

OK, this I believe is the real story...

 

Safari boats at St Johns had been discharging organic waste near the reefs and the Longimanus were present and had become used to taking these scraps.

Any idea if 'discharging organic waste' includes the common practise of dangling a chicken over the side of the boat to get the sharks really fired up? They don't call them 'Chicken Sharks' down there for no reason.

Cheers, Simon

Hey everybody!

With all you guys discussing shark behaviour - and especially the Oceanic Whitetips in Egypt - I wanted to share some of my, well, let's say, inside perspective. I am working as a dive guide and biologist on Egyptian liveaboards for the last more than 5 years. Since October 2004 I am specifically looking for the Oceanics and initiated a research project... (see www.longimanus.info)... building an individual catalogue, that now contains more then 500 individuals...

Ever since meeting them underwater, there have been very close encounters with these sharks, not that different from this year...

What is different this year is their unusual numbers around reefs, where they normally show up only seasonally. St. Johns however is one of the areas, where they have always been more frequent in the early summer months... And also one of the sharks now allegedly involved in one of the attacks has been around these reefs at least since 2008. She was highly pregnant last summer, and showed up again this spring/summer. I have met her three times underwater and she has never been aggressive - inquisitive, yes, but never aggressive... so there is no reason to classify her (or any of her conspecifics) as dangerous maneaters!!!

One of the statements made above I can definitely confirm: with food present, these sharks do become more erratic, pushy and aggressive. Which is a particularly serious issue as a snorkeler, which has been proven by a variety of - until this June - fortunately mainly minor incidents.

A lot of factors are contributing to that behavioural change, hunger and the search for food, possible competitive issues (especially if more then one shark is present), etc...

It is definitely recommendable to leave the water asap, BUT in a calm and orderly fashion !!!!

A panicked human being will send signals that get the sharks even more interested !!! And that is - quite clearly - the last thing anybody needs in that situation...

And that is also the most important thing that needs to be explained to divers entering the water before a potential encounter with Oceanic whitetip sharks (or any other shark species for that matter): If you are not sure that you can stay calm in the face of an approaching shark, do not go inside !!! Or stay close to the reef and thereby avoid the close encounter with the Oceanics. Any other shark species is so much more reluctant to be close to humans, that there is generally no issues with them...

To keep on following these developments, I am inviting you to help me with my research on the oceanic whitetip sharks!

All it takes is for you to send me underwater photographs or video clips of your encounters with them. I can use them for my identification study, as long as you include the information on where (which reef) and when (which date) the footage was taken.

You find all these details and contact information on my webpage (www.longimanus.info), I would really appreciate your help ! The more we learn about these sharks, the better we can counter false accusations and hysteria, that can only be detrimental for them...

Best wishes and happy diving to all of you !!!!

Hi Boje,

I had been aware of your www site previously but as I hadn't noticed any changes or additions to the ID catalogue I (incorrectly) assumed that the site had fallen into disuse... Sorry.

In the next few days I'll look again at my longimanus images and see if there are any which may add to your data. Maybe CJ and I can add a few more next month but, as we both know, August isn't the best time to spot longimanus.