Man Dies in South Africa Shark Attack!
A 25-year-old man was killed by a shark at Port St Johns Second beach on Sunday, the Eastern Cape health department said.
“This afternoon a swimmer from Port St Johns was attacked by a shark and struggled with it for about five minutes using his surf board,” said spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo.
“A surfer who was next to him during the ordeal described the swimmer as being brave by fighting it. Unfortunately it injured him severely in both arms and in the chest,” he said.
A second eyewitness raised the alarm for other swimmers to leave the water.
“A doctor who was amongst the swimmers tried to save his life along with paramedics who arrived at the beach. The man died on the way to a local health centre.”
“Second beach is notorious for shark attacks and I am told that there is no [shark] net there,” said Kupelo.
[source]
Quite possibly the most dangerous beach in the world for shark attacks.
Fish Hoek #2?
In terms of fatalities,PSJ certainly has the top status, followed by Fishhoek. Then there are the beaches in Recife, Brazil and Western Australia. Whats always concerning is not knowing about shark activity in some of the rural areas that dont report incidents…anyway this is a very sad and disturbing reoccurance for the residents of PSJ.
@Waz
I find it disheartening that the ISAF proffers the following as the “reason” why Port St John’s is exceedingly dangerous: “With the world’s population now topping 7 billion people, low cost travel and an increasing number of people engaging in activities such as scuba diving, there are more people in the water than ever before, according to research done by George Burgess, director of the Gainesville, Florida-based ISAF.”
There is no causal nexus between any of those dynamics and human predation, in my opinion. It’s not as if there are demonstrably more people in the water today than before. Rather, there are less fish stocks. As a generalist feeder, White/Tiger/Bull/Oceanic Whitetips will undoubtedly “adapt” to feeding on humans as a basic Darwinian survival strategy.
In your opinion, is the fact that Port St. John is less “civilized” or “domesticated” have anything to do with the increased risk of attack? In other words, not only do “rural” areas not report shark attacks, but perhaps the sharks are somehow aware that there is a decreased likelihood of a human/cultural response?
“Opportunity makes a thief.” – Francis Bacon
@drudown
PSJ is an interesting case. Shark activity has been notorious around PSJ for years. The spearfishing community woudl testify to that. There has certainly been an increase in the number of surfers using these waters, as locals have been drawn to the sport, but prior to the surge in local surfers there were a number of local and foreign visitors surfing…perhaps there were some visitations by men in grey suits then but I have no knowledge of that.
I see PSJ sharing a parallel with Recife where the predominant species involved in attacks was the bull shark. The umzimvubu river used to be a deep river port but has been severely degraded. Erosion has choked the river and the mouth and what used to be a great breeding and nursery ground for zambezi sharks is now largely limited, plus with a limited food supply. This has probably forced the zambezi sharks to roam outside of the mouth of the umzimvubu and also to search out food along the beaches.
Increased number of water users is certainly a key factor but the increased number of cultural rituals being performed on the beach, involving animal slaughter certainly points to the darwinian shark theory.
But shark attack may not seem that uncommon as there were stories in the past of people disappearing while swimming across the umzimvubu…the problem supporting shark attack in these supposed cases is that the residents are notorious for being poor swimmers and drowning could have been the factor. Also no evidence or history of shark attack has been publicized prior to the onslaught of the shark attacks at 2nd beach.
After considering all these factors its certainly probable that Fracis Bacon is right….the opportunity exits…and sharks are feeding machines…their food source is down and they are out there hunting.
I am always comforted with the pictures of Bull Sharks in 2 1/2 ft. of water!
@Waz
When I hear about the purported “animal sacrifices” on the beaches of PSJ, it reminds me of how the authorities and marine biologists pointed to “sheep carcasses” being tossed by freight ships in the Red Sea. In both instances, even if either or both are factually accurate (i.e., the alleged stimulus was placed into the marine ecosystem), it still doesn’t explain why sharks have been preying on humans. That is, unless one blindly believes popular groupthink that sharks are incapable of differentiating known prey items.
If someone had a speared fish in his/her hand and a shark attacked them- ok, I can see there might be some credence to such analysis. But simply because people may have attracted sharks to any shark attack hotspot doesn’t seem to explain “why” they attack humans any more than a shark being naturally attracted to a river mouth to forage on available prey.
In short, people at these hot spots (e.g., the recent Red Sea attacks) are being eaten. So my sense is that other prey items are in shorter supply.
In other words, as in the practice of law, we should apply the “but for” test to establish causation.
Can anyone truthfully say that, “but for the sheep being dumped in the Red Sea, the Oceanic Whitetip sharks would not have preyed on those people”? And so with animal sacrifices.
Again, my thought is that “but for the diminution in fish stocks and the resultant disruption in the oceanic food chain caused by this, by climate change and/or via industrial pollution, shark attacks would be less frequent.”
But these sharks have always been know to eat us prior to any of these selective forces pressing down upon the species. This is a very important point, in my opinion. Namely, far too many marine biologists and state officials want to begin their analysis from “something went wrong” [e.g., territorial response; 'mistaken identity'; sick/injured shark] instead of dispassionately accepting the fact that we are a known and readily available resource for pelagic sharks.
“A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.” – Saul Bellow
@ drudown
The Transkei coast holds an abundancy of fish stock…so it seems from the surface. No conclusive study that I am aware of points to mass depletion of marine reserves bar a few isolated studies related to inter-tidal molluscs. A corrollary between PSJ, other areas around the world exists as environmental degradation of breeding and nursery areas has seen an expected alteration of normal behaviours of these particular shark species.
Bull/Zambezi sharks are certainly opportunist predators, perhaps not feeders. A very plausible argument against those who purport that sharks in fact do not like the taste of humans is that in most cases the human victim is removed or escapes from the water. In the bull sharks case and the findings of stomach content analysis (analysis shows little preference of food item) there exists your theory that given the circumstamces the opportunist shark may feed on the preyed upon item and again if the opportunity presents itself may return on occasion to find an established food source corralled into a restrictive swimming area along the beach. I would go so far as to say I support the theory that in this case an altered feeding behaviour exists during the summer months when swimmers and sharks interact within the shallow waters.
“For the adaptive will continue to survive”
Has been determined that all or nearly all of the PSJ attacks were Bull sharks? I thought there were multiple suspects- after all, I remember hearing testimony after certain attacks of a “very large” shark.
Speaking in terms of shark attacks globally, fish stocks are down worldwide. I think attacks in the Seychelles and Reunion Island might reflect this dynamic.
As an aside, I use the term “generalist feeder” because it is a term of art in sociobiology. As you are aware, most fish/reptile/avian apex predators will opportunistically realize feeding opportunities as they present themselves- and, in contrast, Killer Whales may have more specialized diets.
Ps. what’s your take, Was? Mako or White
http://www.thedorsalfin.com/shark-videos/shark-caught-on-camera-in-hawaii-waters-mako-or-white-shark/
I mean Waz…damn Mac always changes words
I’m not Waz but It looks like a big Mako to me (cause of the pointy head).
The fact he’s so fat and slow (for a Mako) makes it hard to differentiate from a white shark but I think I’m right..
Very nice vid by the way, thanks for sharing.
Concur for reasons stated on link provided.
Hey drudown…its a white for sure. I didnt hear any of the commentary. What is the debate about about it possibly being a Mako?
From my perspective it is clearly a Mako in the Hawaii video because (1) the exposed dorsal fin seen is pointier than a White shark’s; (2) with White sharks, if the dorsal fin is exposed (as in the video seen here), the tail would likewise be exposed; (3) the pectoral fins seen are narrower than a White shark’s; (4) while both White sharks and Makos have conical snouts, the Mako’s nose is pointier; and, most importantly, (5) if you watch the video again and compare it to video footage of Mako sharks, you can tell it is a Mako by the distinctive “sidewinder”-type gait of the Mako as it swims slowly. White sharks seem to glide.
A White shark that long would be more like a submarine shape. At least the ones I dived with in Guadalupe were.
White sharks of this length are not unlike goofy teenagers, i.e., they have oversized pectoral fins for their body length. Certainly by contrasting the pectoral fins in this video (a White shark of comparable size), you can differentiate the two species.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phy1zzMMK3Y
Look at 1:02 at the last youtube video and see how much wider those pectoral fins are.
Also, look at how the tail is exposed when the dorsal fin is as exposed as in the Hawaii Mako video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f9Pkf75yX0
I paid much closer attention after the at its 1st approack at the props around that 2:15 mark. Thats one hefty mako. Theres no second guessing the eye and shadowing around it. Yikes!
Do they give a rough estimation of size in that video? It looked around 3.5m, and that would almost seem non-typical of a relative teenager heading on a migratory route toward the hawaiian islands. What is the season of GWS (and their sizes) around Gaudalupe?
@drudown
kinda looks like a longfin mako those pectorals seem like they belong to a longfin…but maybe just the angle of the shot.
@Waz
definitely a long fin Mako- and a fat one at that.
The best time to go to Guadalupe island is between October and November- although the sharks are there before and after.
I went in October years back and did it through Doc Anes and SD shark diving
http://www.sdsharkdiving.com/ .
I saw at least 10 different White sharks the first day; only one juvenile the 2nd day (that was following the small mexican fishing boat that came to visit); and about 4 or 5 the last day. One day trek to and from San Diego. Visibility was absolutely amazing. True, it’s not as affordable as South Africa, but it was a dream come true for me.
Notably, some guy on our trip went on Rodney Fox’ Neptune Island shark dive…says he paid $10,000…and they saw ZERO White sharks. You can always count on the visibility and numbers to be good off Guadalupe. Even though the island itself looked like Ayer’s Rock-desolate, underwater was literally teeming with life.
One shark came so close to the cage I shook its pectoral fin and said “I am”
In fact, read this post about a famous White shark photo I am 99.9% sure that I posted on the internet. Wish I could say I took it, but the guy I was paired with as a dive buddy did. I just posted it on the internet. Still, pretty cool to me!
Of course, someone else “claims” he did. But if he was actually the photographer, presumably he would be getting royalties from all the uses.
http://www.thedorsalfin.com/uncategorized/great-white-shark-photo-is-this-your-photo/
Just this: I’ve been an amateur shark fanatic since I was 8.
I’m 38 now, and while I am terrible at math, one thing I was blessed with is a photographic memory for quotations, history and what have you.
When I first viewed my dive mate’s photos, this “smiling” White shark photo jumped out as better than all the rest. I posted it and about 50 other on shark attacks.com (and another shark site).
Within a few years, having forgotten about the photos I posted, I will never forget getting a FWD from about 30 different people that used the same photo. It was since debunked on snopes. Classic!
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/scubashark.asp
I know it’s the internet and people are going to believe what they want to believe and I really could care less insofar that I have zero right to say “it’s my photo” because, in the end, I didn’t take it. So it isn’t my photo. Moreover, I think it is so cool every time I see it on youtube or a cover of a shark book or what have you.
So, not looking for props, just wanted to share with my fellow sharkies
hey drudown,
I had a quick look at that photo thinking which gws image it would be, low and behold its one of the most creatively used shots out there challenging with the one famous flying jaws shot. Immediately noticed it couldn’t have been a gansbaai shot, we wish we had water that free of particulates.
This is very shameful and sadness after the hearing the report for the death of Person due to shark attack in the south Africa.
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I can not Understand that why may be Possible to Increase the attack of shark?
http://acaiburnextremefacts.net/?p=17