Richard Martyn Turner, (GBR). Killed by shark (REU) (11.2019)

[HalcyonDaze]

The difference is (at least some) humans understand spoken word. Critter acting out of instinct -- can develop an instinct that says you eat this type of food, your entire species go extinct. We do this to wildlife preying on livestock, tigers preying on humans, what makes sharks so special.

Pretty much all of the examples you quoted are examples of humans deciding they want the environment "sanitized." I've never seen someone pull up a credible account of the "rogue shark" hypothesis which held up under scrutiny. It's quite simple: environment with big predators + humans, pets, or livestock = occasional predation. No need to conjure up the animal version of Jack the Ripper; frankly I feel safer in the water than I do around humans (okay, I live in Miami so that's not putting the bar very high).

The only way predator culls work is by crashing the predator populations, which in the case of the ocean is metaphorically dumping chlorine in there to spare us any unpleasantness. While I agree that in this case it seems like the sharks had gotten into a supposedly protected swimming area, I'm not completely surprised; big sharks can get into some pretty skinny water. Years ago there was a rather famous case where a full-size great white got stuck in a tidal pond in Massachusetts and a lot of effort was required to point it towards the exit. I've come across an ~8-ft tiger in 3-4 ft of water on a grass flat.

 

[JDelage]

I went to La Reunion 10+ years ago, and I recall 3 types of beaches:

1) Unprotected black sand beach (maybe Etang Sale? Can't be sure) - very steep, very big waves, zero visibility. It was fun to swim in there and at the time I didn't give much thought to sharks but there was a fatality there a year after we were there and last I checked swimming is banned at this beach.

2) Atoll-like natural lagoons, protected by a barrier reef. These are spectacular snorkeling spots, with very even, white sand bottom, lots of small critters (octopus,...), etc. They are protected from the outside but they often have a channel through which the water escapes. Sharks could easily come through this channel in search of food. IMHO, there is not enough life in the lagoon to sustain sharks long time.

3) Unprotected beach with a man made "lagoon", like a sunken swimming pool reaching a few inches below the surface. I suppose a shark could get stuck in one of those, but only by accident.

One of my best friend lives in La Reunion, and his opinion on the shark attacks is that te waters are chronically overfished and that the sharks have to seek out food in new places...

 

[Darnold]

This is terrible to hear, as always.

I stayed at the Lux Saint Gilles last week for a few days of diving out of Port Saint Gilles. The lagoon referenced is typically shallow and protected. Nearly pure speculation, but it seems highly unlikely to me that he was attacked by a tiger shark in the lagoon itself - much more likely that something went wrong in the lagoon and he was washed out to sea.

Reunion is a beautiful island with some great, diverse dives. The locals are all well aware of the prevalence of shark attacks and readily warn tourists not to snorkel, swim or surf - diving is still very popular.

Personally I'm very sympathetic to the arguments for preservation/conservation, but the situation in Reunion may be a rare exception. The fatal attack rates there are beyond the pale.

 

[JDelage]

When I was snorkeling in the lagoon 10+ years ago, my friend suggested that we exit the lagoon via the channel and explore the other side, which he had done before many times. We decided not to because we didn't have enough flippers for everyone and we found the current a bit strong on that day...

 

[dmaziuk]

The only way predator culls work is by crashing the predator populations, which in the case of the ocean is metaphorically dumping chlorine in there to spare us any unpleasantness.

You know that e.g. animals living near highways learn to run across at different speeds depending on the width/type of the road? Do not underestimate their learning ability.

 

[Steve_C]

The only way predator culls work is by crashing the predator populations, .

Depends on the predators and the location. Note that culling an established problem predator is different than reducing an entire population throughout a large region.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

You know that e.g. animals living near highways learn to run across at different speeds depending on the width/type of the road? Do not underestimate their learning ability.

I didn't know that, but it doesn't surprise me. That said, figuring you need to hustle across an open surface with speeding, sometimes brightly-lit ... things ... rushing past is not an apt comparison to the cause-and-effect linkage you're suggesting. People have a hard enough time getting their pets to connect a scolding to the mess they made on the carpet. It's not like sharks have a water cooler where they go, "Hey, do you know what happened to Bruce? He disappeared not long after he bit that weird pale flailing thing on the surface ..."

Depends on the predators and the location. Note that culling an established problem predator is different than reducing an entire population throughout a large region.

See previous statement - the "rogue shark" hypothesis has been discredited six ways to Sunday. Hawaii tried it after a bunch of tiger shark attacks in the 90s, then decided to actually think about it first. Tracking data showed that with the kind of territory the sharks were covering, getting the exact one that attacked someone would be blind luck. In this case, if the sharks in question were captured in the lagoon, they got into a semi-enclosed area that would have retained them in the immediate vicinity.

This is terrible to hear, as always.

I stayed at the Lux Saint Gilles last week for a few days of diving out of Port Saint Gilles. The lagoon referenced is typically shallow and protected. Nearly pure speculation, but it seems highly unlikely to me that he was attacked by a tiger shark in the lagoon itself - much more likely that something went wrong in the lagoon and he was washed out to sea.

Reunion is a beautiful island with some great, diverse dives. The locals are all well aware of the prevalence of shark attacks and readily warn tourists not to snorkel, swim or surf - diving is still very popular.

Personally I'm very sympathetic to the arguments for preservation/conservation, but the situation in Reunion may be a rare exception. The fatal attack rates there are beyond the pale.

As yet I have not heard anyone give a credible explanation for why there are so many shark attacks at Reunion, but from looking at the list of fatal attacks over time here it's not exactly a new issue: List of fatal shark attacks in Réunion - Wikipedia

Given that a culling program was announced in 2013, killing sharks seems to have been ineffective: Island beset by shark controversy