Sharks from species once thought harmless kill and eat snorkeler in feeding frenzy
40 year old man tourist was swimming and filming about 100 meters away shore in Hadera off the coast Israel In April, when dusky sharks, a species generally thought harmless to humans, suddenly flickered around.
Witness statements show that Reportedly attacked by shark On the GoPro camera. Witnesses then heard him shout “Help…they’re biting me” and disappeared as the water turned red. shark fins were visible on the surface. By the time rescue boats arrived, the water was stained with blood and the man was gone, according to local reports.
“The next day, searches at sea improved. human remains (in very small amounts) this allowed forensic verification of the victim’s identity, but also led to the conclusion that he had been engulfed by ‘several’ sharks during this incident,” the researchers wrote.
The report was published in the magazine EthologyDocuments the first known example of brownness shark – a species with no known record killing people – fatally attacking a diver during a feeding frenzy.
Researchers attributed the extremely rare attack to a combination of factors including human error, ecological disruption and animal instinct amid a feeding frenzy.
Although dusky sharks are large and appear to be predators, growing to around 3 m (10 ft) in length, they are generally shy and wary of humans.
Dusky sharks can be identified by their curved dorsal fins (Getty/iStock)
The sea off Hadera, Israel, attracts these sharks in droves due to the hot water released from coastal desalination plants.
In addition, the feeding of these sharks by humans and the abundance of food waste dumped in the area has attracted even more attention from dusky sharks, with dozens of them roaming around each winter.
Local boat operators serving tourists also throw fish waste into these waters to keep sharks in close proximity for customers.
Scientists explain that these factors combined lead sharks to associate humans with food, leading to a new form of behavior in them called “begging.”
A number of sharks have been documented swimming directly towards divers, sometimes even brushing up against them to deliver a quick meal.
Careful review of footage from the scene revealed that the sharks were likely dusky sharks, based on the size and shape of the dorsal fin.
Scientists suggest that the competitive food environment created in these waters causes dusky sharks to exhibit frenzied behavior while feeding.
Warm water off the coast of Hadera attracts dusky sharks (AFP/Getty)
“Competition for access to the food resource overrides the species’ usual behaviors, including the non-instinctive nature of (human) prey,” they wrote.
“This likely occurred through a process of side-by-side bites with two different motivations: first, a (possibly single) reflex/clumsiness bite caused by begging for food, and second, several predatory bites triggered by a feeding frenzy,” the researchers explain.
It is stated that the solutions that can be taken to prevent such incidents in the future are simpler and more effective than the classic case of fatal shark bites from known deadly species such as the tiger shark.
“The main goal is to eliminate begging behavior in sharks, and this can only be achieved by establishing and enforcing a complete and total ban on artificial feeding of sharks by the public,” the scientists write.
“Any other measures may be complementary but undeniably less relevant than this approach,” they concluded.
