Man Bitten By Shark In Bahamas

[CaptRam]

Has anyone said how it happened?

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I have to disagree. There are "natural death events" occuring all the time in the ocean, these bringing in large numbers of sharks for feeding....whale deaths, or any large marine creature deaths, will be a natural dinner bell. Response to this was evolved many hundreds of millions of years ago.
Sharks do learn also, so if there was an area where seals or whales were dying frequently, sharks would take up residence there, and be looking for ( or listening for) the dinner bell. I am very much against the hand feeding which some Bahamas operators engqage in, as this does actually teach a BAD association with humans....but just a die off, or death event ( which a crate of fish parts on the bottom will simulate) will have changed nothing in the behaviors already mentioned, which have gone on for hundreds of millions of years. In all this time, there have AWLAYS been other opportunistic feeders showing up at natural feeding events...the groupers and all the other fish you see in the shark videos joining in on the event--sharks are used to these potential competitors to the meal showing, and they maintain a standard pecking order and proximity to the food type of a comfort zone....divers showing up are just one more species of marine life showing up for the buffet...not a big deal for the sharks.



The real EVIL is the commercail seafood industry, and the aspects of the "Cultures" which cherish shark fin soup or other shark products. Against the enormous power of financial gain, and an enormous market to sell to, the commerical fishing interests have NOTHING BUT CONTEMPT for tree hugging, shark loving people who disapprove of the killing. These people and corporations would HATE people like you, and would enjoy pissing on you. The moral issues you cherish, are jokes to them, and with the money they make from the huge market of shark part consumers, your "leave the sharks to themselves" philosophy will only allow the shark killers to kill them with even more impunity--with no one watching, or aware of the extent of dwindling numbers.

Without the national media attention people like Abernethy get on behalf of sharks, without the constant attention and awareness he generates, sharks would have no protection now or in the future. Far more likely than your scenario, operations like Abernethy's will cause the bahamas ministry of tourism to ban all shark fishing, because the island nation would realize for more income itself ( and for its people) from shark tourism, than from killing sharks for pennies a piece ( as is still occurring now). Tourism is a powerful enough lobbing group to do something. It is the only hope....You will not change the cultures of the people who want to eat sharks--that would take generations, and we don't even have an emotional strategy with global media plan , with any real chance of effectiveness.
The real issues here for the world at large are supply and demand.....Follow the money.....Your best hope is to have nations like the Bahamas decide they can make more money with tourists seeing sharks alive, than in having commercial fishing operations raping their oceans, and only paying a pittance for each shark they kill....

I did not know that, I thought the NMFS was directed to set catch limits at sustainable levels and to prevent overfishing. I had no idea the shark world revolved around Jim Abernethy.

So all shark protection would be discontinued if this guy stops feeding sharks in the Bahamas and "educating" people????

The fact that the state of Florida made his chosen business activity illegal in Florida but continues to reduce commercial landings and adopt more restrict regulations would seem to refute your primary assertion that shark feeding is necessary for the preservation of sharks.

 

[danvolker]

I did not know that, I thought the NMFS was directed to set catch limits at sustainable levels and to prevent overfishing. I had no idea the shark world revolved around Jim Abernethy.

So all shark protection would be discontinued if this guy stops feeding sharks in the Bahamas and "educating" people????

The fact that the state of Florida made his chosen business activity illegal in Florida but continues to reduce commercial landings and adopt more restrict regulations would seem to refute your primary assertion that shark feeding is necessary for the preservation of sharks.

Exactly how would this nonsense stop Japan from harvesting sharks for shark fin soup off of the bahamas, if the Bahamas decided to allow it--for the money?

I have been diving off Palm Beach since the 70's, and I know for a FACT that marine fisheries management is a massive failure--one that blind people want desperately to believe in.

 

[Scott L]

I did not know that, I thought the NMFS was directed to set catch limits at sustainable levels and to prevent overfishing. I had no idea the shark world revolved around Jim Abernethy.

So all shark protection would be discontinued if this guy stops feeding sharks in the Bahamas and "educating" people????

The fact that the state of Florida made his chosen business activity illegal in Florida but continues to reduce commercial landings and adopt more restrict regulations would seem to refute your primary assertion that shark feeding is necessary for the preservation of sharks.

DD, you are a free-spirited fellow. Why do you care in he feeds sharks?

By the way, it is the Chinese who is the largest market for shark fin soup. Counterfeit Viagra is much cheaper.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I've participated as a safety diver in commercial shark feeding/diving

I think it is dangerous and stupid.

It endangers the sharks by making them overly aggresive and inquisitive toward divers.

Besides that, if people want to be educated about sharks and observe them, why not do it naturally? Volker's attempt to equate a boat coming to the EXACT SAME location and dumping bait on a periodic basis to a natural event such as a whale death is pretty weak. The whole process causes unnatural behavoir in the sharks.

Furthermore, an experienced and skilled shark feeder knows how to manipulate the sharks. Possibly the customers who are getting educated don't understand this that the behavoir is most definitely unnatural. The feeder has to carefully control the activity level, the food distribution rate, not reward overly aggressive behavoir etc. The sharks are actually "trained" by this activity.

Not much more educational than a lion tamer in a cage at a circus.


As for destructive or wasteful commercial fishing practices, that is another topic and it is my contention that it is pretty much unrelated to shark feeding.

 

[Ryan]

It is worth stating that JASA is not a feeding operation. When divers are in the water the bait is in crates, used as an attractant. No hand feeding.

 

[danvolker]

I've participated as a safety diver in commercial shark feeding/diving

I think it is dangerous and stupid.

It endangers the sharks by making them overly aggresive and inquisitive toward divers.

Besides that, if people want to be educated about sharks and observe them, why not do it naturally? Volker's attempt to equate a boat coming to the EXACT SAME location and dumping bait on a periodic basis to a natural event such as a whale death is pretty weak. The whole process causes unnatural behavoir in the sharks.

Furthermore, an experienced and skilled shark feeder knows how to manipulate the sharks. Possibly the customers who are getting educated don't understand this that the behavoir is most definitely unnatural. The feeder has to carefully control the activity level, the food distribution rate, not reward overly aggressive behavoir etc. The sharks are actually "trained" by this activity.

Not much more educational than a lion tamer in a cage at a circus.


As for destructive or wasteful commercial fishing practices, that is another topic and it is my contention that it is pretty much unrelated to shark feeding.

I think the issue here is off-track...It is too easy to make this about what we enjoy doing ourselves---whether we like to be on shark dives or not, is not really the big issue.


The important issue that is getting lost:

• Big lobbying groups and big money creates laws....most of us should not expect a law to be enacted because of a moral issue...this is just not reality, even though it is the way things should be.
• Fisheries management is run far more by the seafood industry, it was not created for divers who want to see fish on the reef. The fisheries desire to prevent decimation of important fish stocks, as this would cause financial devastation to the seafood industry. However, they have a track record of failing badly, on many targeted species...As to sharks, they are as likely to care about sharks doing well, as the FDA is likely to care about whether the public is aware it needs Vitamin D and vitamin C...Oh wait, they ARE TRYING TO OUTLAW SOME FORMS OF VITAMIC C NOW, THAT THREATEN DRUG INDUSTRY PROFITABILITY..... Again, it is not about what is right...Fisheries Managers are not here to care what divers think.
• If China gets it's way, they would come into the Bahamas and make a fortune for the Shark fin soup induastry, this decimating the shark populations in the area of the Bahamas. Two things stand in the way of this ( PETA and other charities are impotent in such issues, and any blocking they are causing is a joke) ... the 2 things are : 1.) the huge public interest of Americans in tourism in the Bahamas for shark dives ( brings big money into the Island nation) ; 2.) the actions of the Bahamian government, relating to whether they will choose the fast buck from china--or be afraid of negative tourism effects from the mass shark finning, and the long term sharp loss of income.
• Media time on TV for protecting sharks keeps the Bahamian government concerned about American tourism revenue...the more air time we get for sharks, the more likely the bahamas will do the right thing...and the more likely Americans will act with their wallets, and either support or shun the Bahamas. Abernethy has gotten enormous national and international attention on TV to help protect the sharks....He is in a very small family of world-renowned shark experts, TV videographers and speakers in this area, and is heavily supported by his peers in this group.
• What Abernethy can do for DD, is not about the dives DD may want or not want to do...it is about how Abernethy is helping to prevent the Chinese from decimating shark populations in our back yard. Maybe there is "someone" who is doing more than Jimmy, maybe not--that is not the issue....the issue is that Jimmy clearly is in this fight, his actions are bad for China, and good for us.

 

[eddyunderwater]

3, Jim's safety records over the years have been staggeringly excellent. Other dive ops who work with sharks have a 100% dive guest perfect safety record - and don't forget that most of these ops staff work in chain-mail or in cages, perhaps Jim will decide what is best for his operation.

4, Sharks need human intervention by divers and shark protection groups to bring about the total ban on killing them for fins and landing them for ego trips. Humans are destroying the sharks not the other animals who survive on this planet. If that means diving underwater with them, then that is what it needs to wipe away people's misconceptions about shark behaviour, open their eyes and realize what the ocean would turn into with a human-forced shark extinction on the cards

Eddy,
on #3 you drinking the cool aid at the local tiki hut? Jimmy has fed several customers to the sharks in my short short, diving career! just do a search on this site!

On #4 Sharks need human interventions Oh Boy!

In the last three years he has had two accidents. You should check the testimonials yourself -

One was himself, one was a guest who sadly died as a result of blood loss and drowning etc., and what I am saying isn't about whether we disagree if sharks can be dangerous- they can be if the environment is one in which there is food involved, or they are threatened in any way. Jim's record is still good, compared to every other extreme sport out there.

However - you don't seem to understand - being devil's advocate without seeing all the angles is shortsighted of you. What we humans do is kill sharks [here] and what I am saying is YES we need MORE intervention to SAVE them. Get it?

Stop rattling your sabre, get it out and stick the people who need sticking- splitting hairs and arguing about insignificant BS is getting us all nowhere. When I say insignificant I DO mean non-fatal bites nips incidents. eople in the wrong place doing the wrong thing [quantifying the old "fisherman with bait on his hip fishing in waist high water attracting predatory fish who smell fish oil and blood"] are misinformed about sharks and shark behaviour- they need education and knowledge to avoid the situation which no-one want to happen.

What happened to some divers over the years in these situations has everyone at a loss- they knew full well what they signed up for - it still does not change the fact that the shark feeding operations are bringing awareness and knowledge to the guy in the street, the diver who wants to know, the newby, the old pro, the old and young, who want to know - this is what the shark population requires to reverse what we have done globally. Without this, the sharks remain at best a media target as killing machines and animals not to be trusted.

The sharks are what is important here - sure... yes, if we left them all alone they might be better off [but that only works if there are no shark ENEMIES] which there ARE in their thousands! The attempt to reduce the finning industry to zero has failed and sharks need more supporters than ever to avoid being wiped off the face of this planet. How to do this? Get people interested in sharks- how? by forming an interest. Interest is gained by seeing sharks and getting sharks closer to people, and by doing this we can help the sharks by helping people see the amazing animals they are, and that they are being destroyed by humans, they NEED saving.
THAT is the intervention I am talking about. Humans intervening other humans by way of interacting with sharks.

Now if you don't want to do this, or you don't believe that the Chinese want to get that export permit I mentioned earlier- then it is YOU who should check your facts, and stop bending this discussion towards your ego.

So F-ing HELP will you? Peter should ban people like you from this forum- I thought most divers were eco-friendly ocean loving people - seems I am wrong! And I am now tired and pissed off of wasting my energy on YOU

 

[danvolker]

Speaking of human interactions that could cause unnatural feeding behavior of sharks....has anybody else noticed what happens when one of the big party boat fishing boats ( like 60 fisherman on it) goes out on a reef? Big sharks have LEARNED that this means struggling fish and food....and the big sharks follow the fishing boats. Is this natural? I don't think so.... Am I particularly concerned about it? Not in the slightest.

My big concerns are big netting, long lining, and other large scale commercial harvesting operations which decimate fish populations wherever they are allowed (or are not fined too heavily)....


If the only fishing was people getting their own fish, we would have a huge and healthy marine ecosystem.

 

[JJEH]

The real EVIL is the commercail seafood industry, and the aspects of the "Cultures" which cherish shark fin soup or other shark products.

Well, this whole thing is up to the end user.

With the purchase of shark products you support the dirty fishmongers worldwide directly. Because as long as people buy this stuff, they look for supply.

This is where keep-sharks-alive.com starts to act. We don't only fight the big industry, we also try to educate or rather inform the end user.

As soon as nobody buy shark products, there is no need for an industry anymore...