Diver Killed by Shark

[Sarah]

By Andrew Ba Tran | Sun-Sentinel.com
1:41 PM EST, February 25, 2008

A man bitten by a shark while diving over the weekend has died, the U.S. Coast Guard in Miami announced on Monday.

The 50-year-old man "passed away from his injuries sustained by a shark bite," said Coast Guard spokeswoman Petty Officer Jennifer Johnson.

Authorities have not identified the man or where he was bitten pending family notification.

The victim was diving about 50 miles east of Fort Lauderdale on Sunday at about 10 a.m. when a shark bit him, according to officials.

The service dispatched a rescue helicopter, and its crew hoisted the man off the boat and flew him to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.

A crewmember aboard the 70-foot Shear Water had contacted the Coast Guard. The blue commercial diving vessel is registered to Jim Abernathy's Scuba Adventures from Riviera Beach.

The company offers shark trips to the Bahamas for enthusiasts and photographers hoping to interact with hammerhead and tiger sharks, according to its Web site.

Operators for the company stir in fish and fish parts to "chum" the water and attract the sharks, reads the itinerary. "Please be aware that these are not 'cage' dives; they are open water experiences," states the Web site.

Abernathy had been told by the Bahamas Diving Association to exercise caution with more aggressive sharks such as mako, lemon, tiger and hammerhead sharks.

The association, a group of 36 charter businesses that operate in the Bahamas, sent a letter to Abernathy and other boat owners in the past year recommending a cease and desists to conducting "open-water non-cage Shark Diving experiences with known species of potentially dangerous Sharks," said Neal Watson, the association president.

Abernathy did not return phone calls.

"Most operators do a safe dive behind cages. But Abernathy, for whatever reason, simply refused to comply with the safe diving practices in violation of our standards in the Bahamas," said Watson, who operates a diving company out of Fort Lauderdale.

It is tempting to offer a cageless option to customers: both the photographs and personal experience would be enhanced. But the risks are too great, Watson said.

"Him working with tiger sharks and bull sharks uncaged is totally irresponsible and dangerous," he said. "It wasn't a matter of 'if,' it was a matter of 'when.'"

[Papa Bear]

He may have died from DCS after being rushed to the surface after being bitten in the calf! ???? Time will tell and adventure has its cost!

[Papa Bear]

Feb 25, 5:33 PM EST

Man Dies After Being Bitten by Shark During Dive Off Florida's Atlantic Coast

By BRIAN SKOLOFF
Associated Press Writer
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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- An Austrian tourist died Monday after being bitten by a shark while diving near the Bahamas in waters that had been baited with bloody fish parts to attract the predators.

Markus Groh, 49, a Vienna lawyer and diving enthusiast, was on a commercial dive trip Sunday when he was bitten about 50 miles off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, said Karlick Arthur, Austrian counsel general in Miami.

The crew aboard the Shear Water, of Riviera Beach-based Scuba Adventures, immediately called the U.S. Coast Guard, which received a mayday from the vessel, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Nick Ameen.

Groh was airlifted to a hospital, where he died. Groh was bitten on the leg, Ameen said, but he could not be more specific about the extent of his injuries.

It was unclear what type of shark was involved in the attack. The shark got away before anyone could identify the species.

The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation by the Miami-Dade Police Department. A telephone message left for police was not immediately returned.

A woman who answered the telephone at Scuba Adventures on Monday said the company had no comment.

The company's Web site says it offers the opportunity to get "face to face" with sharks. The site explains that its hammerhead and tiger shark expeditions in the Bahamas are "unique shark trips ... run exclusively for shark enthusiasts and photographers."

To ensure "the best results we will be 'chumming' the water with fish and fish parts," the Web site explains. "Consequently, there will be food in the water at the same time as the divers. Please be aware that these are not 'cage' dives, they are open water experiences."

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

We have to wait till all the facts are in! I have done many and even been charged! But you have to know what you are in for and make your own call!

[Conrad]

When are people going to use common sense?

Although I did not know people would pay for that experience, Maybe I will start a tour here... After they pay me... I will cover them in bacon fat and take them to see the Grizzly bears.

[Papa Bear]

As long as they know before hand I don't see the problem? If you don't want to go then don't! We need not to be so judgmental, the sport you judge today maybe yours tomorrow! More kids are killed on the football field every year than by shark bites, if that is what it was caused by, the facts are not in!

[Conrad]

Sorry, Did not mean to come off with that tone.

I understand that people have a choice, I am not condeming that. I also know people die everyday doing things they are passionate about. Thier choice. As some one who has done alot of the riskier stuff. I understand completely. What I ment to say, I feel bad for his family but he put himself in that situation.. his choice. I see it all the time here with bears, People just don't seem to understand Predators are predators it's what they do. I love going hiking and seeing, black and Grizzly bears. And I am really looking forward to seeing sharks in there natural habitat. But it just not make sense to me, that someone would put a predator in feeding mode, to get a closer look. Without somekind of protection.

[Papa Bear]

I understand, being eaten is a primordial fear, but education can over come such fears! The man may have died from DCS being rushed to the surface too fast? We just don't know yet!

The only way to see Apex predictors in an ocean environment is by feeding them! They are eating machines and the best way to not be food in their environment is don't look or act like food! Accidents happen, and I have been on many Shark Dives around the world, and I feel they do more good than harm by a factor of 1000! Shark Feed

When you do this you understand the risk! But I feel it is worth it to see an apex predictor up close in its home!

[Sarah]

I understand, being eaten is a primordial fear, but education can over come such fears!

You mean there are people who show no fear while being eaten by a wild animal?!

[Papa Bear]

You mean there are people who show no fear while being eaten by a wild animal?!

Depends on who's doing the eating!

[bottlefish]

IThe only way to see Apex predictors in an ocean environment is by feeding them!

Sorry Papa, but I disagree. I have had numerous shark encounters, from a wide variety of sharks, without having had to chum the water or tempt them with bait. It's quite possible to see Apex predators without having to resort to this practice, however you would need to accept that you will be treated to an encounter as and when they decide to come by and say hi, there's no gaurantees.

On the whole, people aren't prepared to risk their siting to chance, and so buy the right to see what they want to see by adding in a bit of manipulation. Good business for the dive centres and the customer gets what they want. Sadly in this case they got a little more then expected.

I've been on a couple of shark feeding dives, the type of behaviour I saw was completely different from that experienced when just allowing sharks to do their own thing. On the first dive, sharks came looking for food as soon as we hit the water, on both dives the sharks were attracted in by the masses of chum with minimal food behind to satisfy them. You could see they were getting frustrated! All in all, the experiences felt false, manufactured, give me a natural fly by any day, I certainly wont be repeating the experience.

Wether or not the pros of shark feeding outway the cons is an ongoing debate, a number of countries and areas are introducing restrictions or total due to concerns the negative effects on the environment, and about safety.

My own personal view point, it's wrong of us to expect to be able to manipulate nature to perform on demand, it affects the natural order of things and can produce unpredictable results.

Nature's secrets are not a comodity to be sold and paid for, if she decides to expose a little more of herself to you, then accept it as a gift and respect it as that. However if you choose to force your way in and take what's not given, don't be surprised if she rewards you with a sharp reminder of who's really the boss.