“The shark is innocent,” was the verdict by environmental researchers from the Hurghada Association for the Environment and Conservation in the Red Sea, who conducted a creepy study on the reefs Elphenstone in Marsa Alam. In general, the topic of their study was the behavior of sharks in the Red Sea, but in this case they investigated whether the cause of death of a tourist – a Swiss diver – was a shark attack.
Researchers are sure not. Although the “accused” shark did bite off part of the body of the dead Swiss diver, it was not the cause of his death. The tourist died, they are sure, in connection with an accident while diving.
A 'suspected' tiger shark appeared in the Elphinstone reef area of Marsa Alam – it was believed to have killed a Swiss tourist who was diving in the area. However, the Environmental Protection Committee confirmed after investigating the incident that the diver's death was not caused by the shark attack – a number of divers testified that the victim was already dead prior to the shark attack. Although – and its dimensions, according to diving guides who saw the shark – ranged from four to five meters in length – and cut off the victim's right arm and part of the shoulder, but the tourist was already dead. And the tiger shark “checked to see if the diver was prey, but didn't actually feed on it.” According to the committee, the shark would eat a tourist whole if it wanted to feed, as a tiger shark can eat more than 40-50 kg in one meal.
“Death was the result of a diving accident and that the incident did not go beyond the fact that the tiger shark tasted the corpse, biting off part of the victim, and most likely spitting it out, which means that the attack was not for the purpose of feeding,” – said the committee. Divers have been cleared to return to diving.
However, the committee has been updated with a warning that tourists are at risk of “unsustainable, overused and unregulated use of reef areas due to the increase in the number and size of boats that far exceed the capacity of dive sites, and violations by boat workers who dump kitchen and food waste into the water at dive sites, in addition to overfishing in the Red Sea, which has led to a shortage of food for sharks.” All these factors, they say, contribute to attracting sharks to dive sites that lead to such incidents, the committee warned.
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