Hanli Prinsloo freediving blog

Why did they bite? Red Sea shark attacks

9 December 2010, 08:41

This is the question everybody is trying to find an answer for. Three shark specialists are being flown from the US to Sharm el Sheikh, beaches have been closed and two sharks have been caught, killed and opened up to see if they have human in their stomachs. The global hysteria around the last weeks' shark attacks in Egypt has left ocean lovers like myself in despair.

Four tourists were injured by an Oceanic White Tip Shark in Naama Bay in the South of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. The Egyptian CDWS (Chamber of Diving and Watersports) closed beaches and reports of a 'killer shark' started circulating. After two sharks were pulled out of the water and killed without positive identification last week thursday, the coast was considered clear once again and swimming resumed. On Sunday the 5th of December an elderly German tourist was fatally injured.

Sharm el Sheikh is a popular holiday destination with hundreds of thousands of tourists visiting this barren desert peninsula for the underwater fairyland which is so easily accessible. Beautiful coral reefs, colourful fish and crystal clear water attracts thousands of snorkelers to visit the Red Sea, the home of several shark species. Tiger sharks, Oceanic White Tips, Hammerheads and Mako sharks to name a few. Many divers visit the Red Sea expressly for the opportunity to dive with these majestic predators.

The snorkelers who were injured by the sharks were in the water to experience the underwater world. Sharks do not attack people often considering the vast amounts of surfers, divers and swimmers who share the oceans with sharks every day, all over the world. According to the International Shark Attack File less than 5 people per year die from shark attacks. Sharks have been around on our blue planet earlier than dinosaurs. Humans and sharks did not evolve together, and sharks do not see us as prey or a natural part of their diet.

So there are two interesting points: Why do sharks occasionally bite a human, which I go into in some depth below. But more fascinating still is why do we feel the need to retaliate so drastically? Oceanic White Tip Sharks as a species are listed as 'vulnerable' globally and 'critically endangered' in some parts of the world. The fishing of sharks and the selling of shark products is illegal in Egypt, and yet with all this information a decision was taken to kill sharks in the hysteria following the attacks. Two sharks that were clearly not the animals in question were killed in something that resembles a witch-hunt to satisfy some inexplicable human need for 'a tooth for a tooth'. Disregarding the fact that it is the shark's environment, they are a protected species and the ocean users were doing so at their own risk.

Oceanic white tips in the Red Sea
Images by Jean Marie Ghislain

Regarding the encounters that have sparked this irrational killing, it will be interesting to hear what the imported panel of experts come up with upon their arrival in Egypt. Why did the sharks bite? Popular theories include: the rumour that there are cadavers being dumped at sea off live-animal transport vessels changing sharks feeding patterns in the area; sharks having been fished for their fins extensively in the Red Sea the last couple of years by illegal fishermen where baited hooks and chummed water can possibly affect their typical behaviour; overfishing forcing sharks to venture closer to shore.

Extensive research by the Save our Seas Foundation in Cape Town has come up with three theories about why Great Whites occasionally take a nip at a human ocean user. I think these well-researched theories should be kept in mind for the Egyptian incident, as Oceanics and Great Whites are similar in being large, confident sharks with no natural predators.

In summary these are: 1: Investigatory theory- White sharks are intelligent and curious apex predators with complex behaviour patterns. They sit at the top of the marine food chain, and although they are hunted by man, they have no natural predators. As a result white sharks, especially the larger individuals, are confident in nature and extremely curious. They are much more likely than other marine species to investigate unknown objects in or on the water. Unfortunately, when they are unable to identify an object they rely on an investigatory bite to gather more information. 2: Mistaken identity theory- A shark is able to sense a person in the ocean long before that person can detect a shark. White sharks have excellent senses. They can detect sound and pick up smells from hundreds of metres away. They can sense moving objects through their lateral line, which consists of pressure-sensitive receptors along their body, and their vision underwater is far better than ours. However, these senses, impressive as they are, are not perfect. A large number of attacks occur when water conditions are poor leading many scientists to believe that bad visibility, background noise from heavy surf, and other conditions can cause white sharks to mistake humans for their normal prey. 3: Social / defensive theory- White sharks defend their ‘personal space’ by communicating through body posturing and biting, and the less dominant shark is normally forced to give way to the more dominant. A surfer or swimmer at the surface, totally unaware of a shark’s presence below the water, would be unaware of a shark defending its space until bitten. A shark could even view a person as a competitor when fish or other prey is in the water.
For more on the SOSF research on 'Why White Sharks Bite People' please see: http://saveourseas.com/articles/why_do_white_sharks_bite_people.

At times like these one hopes that humans will make the better choice and act as the evolved sentient beings that we are. Keep an open mind and a cool head about this and not revert to behaviour that is unacceptable and in fact more despicable than the original perpetrators. The oceans are our last wilderness, let's try approach them with the respect and understanding they deserve.

Images of Oceanic White Tips in the Red Sea taken by Jean Marie Ghislain of Shark Revolution, November 2010.