| An extraordinary series of shark attacks highlight the need to enforce existing environmental laws By Richard Hoath |
| Normally I would applaud when a wildlife story occupies so many column inches in the national, indeed international press.But sadly with this most recent reporting there is absolutely nothing to celebrate. I refer of course to last month’s unprecedented spate of shark attacks off the beaches of Sharm El-Sheikh. “Unprecedented” in this era of sensationalist journalism is an over-used and generally incorrectly used word, but as such is the nature of these attacks, which have left many of the world’s leading shark experts perplexed, it is surely appropriate in this instance. As is so often the case with shark attacks, there has been much exaggeration and hyperbole in the reporting, some of it absolute drivel. That General Mohamed Abdel Fadil Shosha, governor of South Sinai, should even consider publicly the sensationalist theories that the sharks were part of some sort of Israeli conspiracy defies belief. Things got even sillier when further reports suggested a link between the aberrant — and make no mistake, it is aberrant — shark behavior and secret nuclear testing. Often these ludicrous accounts were accompanied by photographs of a Great White Shark, a species forever damned by the movie Jaws but one never recorded in the Egyptian Red Sea and one most definitely not responsible for the recent attacks. So let us first consider the facts gleaned from responsible agencies such as the Chamber of Diving and Water Sports (CDWS) and the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA). The first attacks occurred November 30 on two snorkelers to the north of Naama Bay, resulting in serious injuries to both. A photograph taken just before the second attack showed an adult Oceanic White-tip Shark with a nick on one of its fins. On the following day, December 1, there were two reports of shark attacks on swimmers north of the first incidents; the second report of the day, according to HEPCA, was later corrected as the swimmer’s injuries were due to severe coral cuts. The species indicated in the third attack was a Mako Shark, though there was no photographic evidence. Authorities decided to stop all water activities in the Sharm area until the evening of December 3, with the exception of limited diving for experienced divers only in Ras Mohamed National Park. It should be noted that no divers were attacked, only swimmers and snorkelers. On December 2, two large sharks were caught, conveniently enough an Oceanic White-tip and a Mako. Pictures of the ‘guilty two’ hauled out on a dive boat were broadcast all over the media here and abroad. As HEPCA noted, the Oceanic White-tip was not the same one photographed at the site of the second attack — the one with the nicked fin. Nevertheless, it was announced that it was now safe to go back in the water. Tragically not so. The capture of the two sharks so publicly trumpeted proved an embarrassing publicity stunt that backfired horribly. The very next day, December 4, a German swimmer was attacked and killed in Naama Bay, the species responsible once more thought to be an Oceanic White-tip. Clearly there was something seriously amiss. Advice was urgently sought from some of the foremost shark experts in the world, such luminaries as Dr. Marie Levine, head of Princeton University’s Shark Research Institute; Dr. Ralph Collier of the Shark Research Committee; Dr. Erich Ritter, a leading behavioral ecologist; and Dr. George Burgess of the Florida Program for Shark Research. Working with the CDWS, the South Sinai Governorate, authorities from the Ras Mohamed National Park and dive operators, the experts came up with recommendations addressing why the sharks were attacking and looking at precautions to prevent future attacks. I should stress just how rare shark attacks are. In figures compiled by the International Shark Attack File (ISAF), in 2009 there were a total of 61 reported attacks worldwide, five of which were fatal. It should also be stressed just how rare shark attacks are here in the Red Sea — or indeed how rare the two species connected with the attacks are. In a December 3 bulletin after the first attacks, HEPCA noted that only 11 Oceanic White-tip Sharks of the “size and proportions” of the individual presumed responsible for the second incident had been recorded by researchers over the previous six years. It is presumed that one of these was responsible for the June 2009 fatal attack on a French snorkeler off Saint John’s Reef in the southern Egyptian Red Sea. This attack (see my August 2009 column) was thought to have been caused by illegal chumming (baiting the water with an evil-smelling concoction of fish entrails and the like) and potentially provocative behavior by the victim. The recent attack by the Mako Shark is even more exceptional for the region, with only one reported non-fatal incident off Eilat in the 1970s. Sadly this perspective has been missing in most reporting. Britain’s tabloid Daily Mail for instance had a [mis]information box headed “Jaws of Death” in which it stated that “the Oceanic White-tip is responsible for more fatal attacks on humans than all other types of sharks combined.” What it did not make clear was that the bulk of these records came from the Second World War, referring to attacks on thrashing servicemen — red rags to a marine bull — from torpedoed warships. Attacks under normal circumstances are extremely rare, not least because the Oceanic White-tip is a pelagic species, rarely coming inshore — another reason why these recent attacks are so baffling. Repeated attacks are almost unheard of. However rare these attacks are, clearly something had to be done if the authorities could genuinely declare Sinai’s beaches open for business as usual, of vital economic importance for the tourist industry cash cow. At a December 12 press conference, the expert scientists presented possible explanations for the spate of attacks. Four contributory factors were proposed: unusually high water temperatures in Sharm El-Sheikh, depletion of natural prey species due to overfishing, illegal feeding of fish (banned on paper but still practiced) and, perhaps the most likely factor — the dumping of sheep and cattle carcasses from a ship or ships ferrying livestock in for the Eid Al-Adha feast. Burgess, who is also the ISAF director, detailed a series of recommendations he and his team had offered Egyptian officials. These included an immediate stop to the culling of sharks; enforcement of existing bans on feeding marine life; environmental and emergency education for all diving personnel, crew and beach staff; environmental awareness education for tourists and the public; and enforcement of existing laws against illegal fishing. Burgess also addressed the possibility of netting the beaches, stressing the difference between gill nets that kill sharks and hence are unacceptable, and exclusion nets which are designed to separate sharks and swimmers. In response to these recommendations, Shosha issued Governor Decree 357 of 2010, which, after consultation with CDWS and other parties, placed a blanket ban on recreational activities such as water-skiing and water tubing, severe restrictions on snorkeling, and restrictions on divers except those with 50 or more logged dives. At press time, these restrictions were in effect through December 21. If there are any positives to be taken from this tragic series of events, it might be that environmental regulations that are already on paper — and on paper for very good reasons — regarding the feeding of marine life, illegal fishing, chumming and so on, may now actually be enforced and enforced rigorously. It may also mean a clampdown on the irresponsible, often cheaper, tour operators and dive outlets. Sadly this optimism seems misplaced. As this piece goes to press I have just received an update from HEPCA entitled Criminal Insanity by South Sinai Authorities. It starts “Contrary to what everyone has been led to believe by [the] South Sinai authorities, the random and indiscriminate killing of sharks continues …removing its top predators without any control or logical reason.” According to a December 17 state-run Ahram Online article, Dr. Amr Aboulfat’h, director of the Aquamarine Diving And Water Sports Club, alleged that parks and fisheries officials have killed eight sharks. When contacted by Ahram Online, authorities denied the allegations, stating that only the two sharks were killed on December 2. If there is an official indiscriminate shark hunt going on, it is contrary to the advice of the very experts the authorities themselves called in. I for one am prepared to rally round HEPCA’s slogan “A Shark Free Red Sea is not an Option!” |
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