Great white attack in Australia

[ScubaSteve]

As for leaving the body there... would anyone here volunteer to go in and retrieve it?

I would have driven the boat over to see if there was a possibility of saving the diver. I have no idea if that would scare the sharks off long enough to get the guy in the boat but I would not turn tail and run without at least trying that. Maybe the captain tried that, maybe not.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

One of my buddies knew him well. He sent this to me;
Peter Clarkson was a very special guy. He was renowned by the shelling world as one of the most knowledgeable. He was the co-author of "Australia's Spectacular Cowries". A book dedicated to the beautiful family of Cowries in Australia's waters. He dived commercially all year round. He was commercial diving for abalone and was hit when he surfaced. He had had encounters with Great Whites before. Unfortunately, this last encounter was fatal.

 

[SoccerJeni]

How horrible! I'm so sorry to hear that.

He was actually doing scuba then?

 

[SC_Hoaty]

I would have driven the boat over to see if there was a possibility of saving the diver. I have no idea if that would scare the sharks off long enough to get the guy in the boat but I would not turn tail and run without at least trying that. Maybe the captain tried that, maybe not.

A bit more information on the captain in this article
Shark Attack At South Australia | Howard Rodd

 

[SC_Hoaty]

Apparantly the captain searched for the diver before returning to shore. From Skipper watches as sharks attack diver

Skipper Howard Rodd told police he saw the sharks, believed to be white pointers, grab Peter Clarkson and pull him under as he surfaced from a dive on Thursday off Perforated Island near Coffin Bay on SA's west coast.

Mr Rodd radioed for help and searched the area for some time before making his way to shore where he was treated for shock

 

[SC_Hoaty]

How horrible! I'm so sorry to hear that.

He was actually doing scuba then?

Jeni - I've read about a dozen or so articles, and none state that specifically. However, there are frequent references to use of shark cages by abalone divers, and comments that you are safe on the bottom, but need to beware of sharks if in mid water or at the surface. This could support the presumption that he was not free diving.

If someone knows, hopefully they will post.

 

[sydney-diver]

Jeni - I've read about a dozen or so articles, and none state that specifically. However, there are frequent references to use of shark cages by abalone divers, and comments that you are safe on the bottom, but need to beware of sharks if in mid water or at the surface. This could support the presumption that he was not free diving.

If someone knows, hopefully they will post.

My understanding is the commercial abalone divers in the area use surface supplied air, and some at least use cages with a propulsion device but no idea if that's standard. I've not seen any reports specific to this incident though.

Not sure if this has been posted - Shark attack: Abalone industry mourns experienced diver - ABC West Coast SA - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Documentaries I have seen on Australian Commercial Abalone Divers showed the use of Hookahs (surface supplied Air). The Documentaries showed several "operations" with small boats with one on the boat taking care of the Hookah and the other diving as the boat slowly moved along. I haven't heard if that was the case here.

The Commercial Abalone Divers are seen as at higher risk as they are prying the Abalone off the rocks and stowing them in "baskets" they have with them. That means a lot of enticing smells for predators given off by the "catch". AFIAIK Shark attacks on Commercial Ablanone Divers are much more common than on other divers with the exception of those spear fishing.

Sad story but I guess it is a case of evaluating risk for reward.. sometimes the cost is just too high :cyring2:

 

[myscubastory.com]

There is a good video report of the story here

'Experienced' diver taken by sharks - Yahoo!7

 

[-hh]

Documentaries I have seen on Australian Commercial Abalone Divers showed the use of Hookahs (surface supplied Air). The Documentaries showed several "operations" with small boats with one on the boat taking care of the Hookah and the other diving as the boat slowly moved along. I haven't heard if that was the case here.

Agreed that we don't know the exact specifics here, although there is information that does affirm that Peter did (sometimes) dive a Hookah rig. This information comes to us via a product testimonial that Peter himself wrote, for an anti-shark electronic device known as a "Shark Shield" that was mentioned in this CNN report of this accident. Tracking down the previous webpage version (backup archive) reveals Peter's product testimonial with specific mentioning of diving on a Hookah dive.

This information does naturally raises the obvious follow-up question, namely if Clarkson was equipped with his Shark Shield device on his last dive. Currently & similarly, that's just another unknown-to-the-public at this point.


-hh