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Accidents and IncidentsThis forum is for the discussion of diving Accidents and Incidents. Please read the message at the top of the forum before posting threads or responses. Memorial threads can be posted in the Passings forum.
Please note: The last reply in this thread was more than 8 month(s) ago.
Actually, this article doesn't seem to shed any more light than earlier pieces. It simply states he was bitten on the leg by a shark, but, doesn't definitively state that's what he ultimately died from (as opposed to embolizing from a rapid ascent after the bite).
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Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote...
Debate all you want but it would be nieve to think this wasn't coming. If they took you on a Safari and told you to get out of the Land Rover and sit on the ground to watch while they threw meat to wild Lions would you go?? Cut the nit picking over the species of shark and how many times it has been done successfully. This is a dangerous activity and it was sure to happen sooner or later.
I think they are far more iinteresting to watch cruising a wreck or a reef than going insane over a ball of frozen sardines...but thats just me.
Condolences to the diver and family.
Unfortunately, most people already know that Lions are dangerous, and you are in a Land Rover with its engine running for a reason, and why they also have a 458 magnum cocked and ready. And most people don't go out killing kittens and cats out of fear of lions.
We have a situation here where the majority of land lubbers think that little sharks will grow up to be killer Great Whites. It is hard enough to teach folks that 99% of the sharks in the ocean are not killers.... But all it takes is a news report that a diver is killed by a bull shark while feeding it will reverse 90% of the success of well meaning biologists to teach the community NOT to kill all sharks indiscriminately. We are essentially teaching folks to kill tabby cats for fear they'll grow into lions.
You don't see the DEP or any other wildlife service promoting the feeding of bears, alligators, crocs etc so why feed sharks...any where. People + food = food. I know science isn't strong in Florida's curriculum but doesn't anyone remember Ivan Pavlov?
Damn you beat me to it! Thank you!
What does everyone think the various wildlife services reaction would be to a company offering a "bear experience" (caged or uncaged) where steaks were hung from trees in Griz country and hikers knelt in a circle taking pictures?
Shark feeds are just stupid and irresponsible. And they have a strong potential of changing the sharks behavior inappropriately and putting other, non-feeding divers at risk.
Jimmy has a flying boat (Zodiac with a wing) he flew for maybe 30+ miles above several major beaches and videotaped hundreds of sharks outside the surfline on a typical day...
yeah, I have flown up and down both FL coastlines at 100' many times. it is amazing to see the sharks in and around the oblivious swimmers. they'd poop their speedos if they knew Some of the sharks I've seen are BIG too!
still, not an argument in favor of allowing shark feeds IMNSHO
There is a huge difference between cage dives with divemasters out in chain mail suits, "hand feeding" the sharks.....and chumsickle style dives where there is a large simulated "natural feeding event" taking place..ie., sharks have been showing up to eat dead whales, dead fish, injured anything for millions of years, and this form of feeding is normal for them....when Aberbnethy drops a crate of dead fish or fish parts in the water, and it sits there overnight, this is NOT similar to hand feeding sharks--I do not believe you have shark intelligence attempting to correlate the crate of fish parts with any of the fish or other marine life which shows up over this time period, and begins to attempt feeding on scraps--or correlate with humans that show up with the other incidental visitors. There may be some clear "pecking order" behavior that would seem to be size based, but even this would seem inocuous, as far as behavior modification theories could suggest.
And Jimmy does not grab unsuspecting divers, and throw them bodily into the water..the divers know what is in the water, and they are paying huge money to get in to this.
It appears to me that Neal Watson et al, are using this tragic event to push their agenda and gain back market share from Abernethy--and that the News outlets are enjoying the ratings bonanza that they can get by attempting to create a feeling that horrible wrongdoings have taken place--and thank god for the news reporting to aquaint us of all this evil. Meanwhile, as some of the other posters have already pointed out, this death may well be more about a diver panicking and getting an embolism which would later kill him--the shark just representing the incident that led to a panicky ascent-the bite not really being life threatening on it's own.
Of course, if the media was thinking this way, then there is a good chance this would evolve into their blaming PADI or some other agency for not creating better drills to prevent panicky ascents and embolisms.
You know, sometimes, when a person dies or gets hurt, we should not be trying to "blame" this on someone else. Sometimes, bad things just happen... This Austrian diver death is tragic, we all feel terrible for his family--but it is not a "fault" issue.
before you guys get spun up any more regarding the diver's death........ latest news/rumor only at this point, is that he died from a rapid ascent embolism, not a shark attack.
Some of the sharks I've seen are BIG too!
