Shark Kills US Tourist Snorkeling In Bahamas

[marmar]

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A shark attacked and killed a U.S. cruise ship passenger who was snorkeling in waters around the Bahamas on Tuesday, according to authorities.

The incident involved a 58-year-old woman from Pennsylvania and occurred at a popular snorkeling spot near Green Cay in the northern Bahamas, police spokeswoman Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings told The Associated Press.

“It’s unfortunate,” she said.

Skippings said the woman’s family identified it as a bull shark.

Royal Caribbean International said in a statement to the AP that the person died after arriving at a local hospital for treatment and that the company is helping their loved ones. They said the guest was participating in an independent shore excursion in Nassau and had been sailing on Harmony of the Seas, which is on a seven-night trip after departing Florida on Sunday. .................(more)

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/shark-kills-us-tourist-snorkeling-in-bahamas_n_631899e1e4b000d9884c0d77

[LonePirate]

1. I think the increased shark attacks are due to our decimation of the ocean food supply.

The sharks are simply hungry and humans make for easy prey.

I’m not a marine biologist so I could very easily be wrong.

[roamer65]

2. That very well could be true.

When one is hungry, you get less picky about the food source.

[edhopper]

3. Sharks don't like to eat people

we probably don't taste good. As this case, and most others show, once the shark bites someone, they usually let them go. Unfortunately, the bite is often severe enough to fatal.
Most likely, the shark mistakes a person for a seal or other prey.

[BradAllison]

5. Bull sharks and tiger sharks are fine with it.

Great whites, which need more fatty foods like whales and seals find it a waste of it's valuable time.

[Effete Snob]

7. A what?

[BradAllison]

8. .....

[edhopper]

10. Bulls and Tigers do attack people more than other sharks

but they rarely, if ever eat them. About a third of attacks are fatal, and that is when the people die of their wounds, not eating by the shark.

[BradAllison]

14. They are basically scavengers

Most simply aren't big enough to digest a human (although 16 foot Tigers are not unheard of). They are also very aggressive and once they make decision to attack they see it through.

[edhopper]

26. They tear pieces off their prey and then keep going at it

Can you find an instance where a shark actually consumed a human. Not attack, bit a chunk off and then left? If it happened it is very rare. The fact that 2/3 of attacks by Tigers and Bulls are non-lethal shows they don't try to eat us.
So no, they do not see it through, they attack and leave most of the time.

[ZonkerHarris]

35. real easy to bleed out if the right artery is bitten.

[edhopper]

36. That is usuall the cause

Sharks often bite and let go. But the wound is deep and a major artery or organ can be hit.

[Polybius]

21. The reason we're not eaten much is usually because we wear clothes

They are quite annoying and get in the way of it eating. Another is because we are fairly large, but not very meaty.

[edhopper]

27. They attack swimmers wearing speedos

and they often eat larger animals. There are instance of sharks attacking and eating an orca. So it seems they do not want to eat us and probably attack mistaken us for other prey.

[leftyladyfrommo]

28. Orcas kill sharks. The great whites leave the area

as soon as the orcas show up.

Orcas also kill whales.

[edhopper]

31. True

but there are instances of single orcas being attacked by sharks. My point being they do attack and EAT larger prey. So not eating humans because we a large is silly. And of course many seals that they do eat, are as big as us.

Sharks rarely if ever EAT people. I have yet to see anything to counter that statement.

[Polybius]

37. Oh, I like when they try to attack orcas

I like when bully's get pulverized.

[Volaris]

30. Well, not very blubber-y .. which is what most sharks want.

Very high energy return for energy output.

We're not that. It just so happens that, having a 4 foot wide maw of razor sharp teeth takes off limbs (which means we bleed out before medical attention) on a creature that's only 6 feet long on average, and well...that isn't exactly the sharks fault.

[sarisataka]

25. First, test the premise

Shark attacks are increasing-

World wide unprovoked shark bites:
2017- 83
2018- 62
2019- 62
2020- 47
2021- 64
2022- 54 through Sept 6

It appears we are on pace for an above average year. It must also be considered that more people are going to the beach this year as Covid fears dissipate. There is no indication that sharks are adding humans to their diet in any significant way.

[woodsprite]

4. Counting my blessings as my son and his GF just got back from

a RC cruise to the Bahamas where they were snorkeling, etc. And of course, son is taking his first test this morning for NAUI scuba certification. He wanted to do that as one of his cruise activities/excursions, but it wasn't being offered at the time.

My heart goes out to her family.

[BlackSkimmer]

9. I was certified to dive at 16.

I kept diving pretty much up until my 40s. I had a blast. I still snorkel when I get the chance.

I saw a few sharks, but never had a problem. Diving was always so much fun. I lived in the Keys for years, so I was lucky in that respect. But there are lots of great places to dive.

Tell your son to check out some of the wonderful fresh water diving areas in Florida. Ginnie Springs is a great one. And no sharks!

[woodsprite]

15. UD has a new dive master charged with building their program.

Seems like a great instructor. Was in touch with all the students over the summer and jumped right into teaching on day 1. Split the class up into multiple sections to guarantee more actual pool time. Apparently there were some issues with the last company who was contracted to teach. The new dive master had to present his plans to build the program before being hired (proposed very solid changes) and is offering the class a "study abroad" type session in January where they'll help out with some research dives, snorkel with manatees (he was co-founder of a manatee conservation program in South FL), and have a side trip to Epcot to dive in the Living Seas exhibit. Son is hoping he doesn't get shut out of the trip since there are only 20 slots and he's not a marine studies or ROTC major. His major is fashion merchandising/marketing. He's really anxious to get his certification so he can do some dive trips in the Outer Banks.

[BlackSkimmer]

16. Very cool.

Outer Banks will be challenging. I had a pretty scary dive off Vero Beach once, but probably nothing like the Outer Banks.

He’ll have a fantastic time no matter where he goes! Makes me want to dive again!

[woodsprite]

20. To dive again would you have to go through recertification? nt

[BlackSkimmer]

23. Oh gosh yes.

It’s been more than 20 years.

I no longer have any of my equipment, but of course it would be outdated anyway.

Stop! Don’t tempt me!

[Torchlight]

6. I was nine or ten when dad took me to see the film Jaws

And consciously or not, I've avoided deep waters whenever practical ever since. Heck, I get jumpy just sitting on a lake pier dangling my legs into the water if it's not clear.

Snorkeling, scuba diving, etc have not been in my comfort zone ever since that day at the movies. Had I been that guy, I'm pretty confident I would have panicked and made a bad situation much, much worse.

[BlackSkimmer]

11. That's a shame.

Diving is a blast!

[woodsprite]

19. For my 12th birthday, my Mom and Dad took my friends and I to see "Blue Water, White Death".

It was a documentary on sharks that came out before Jaws but had a resurgence in the theater after Jaws came out.

[Torchlight]

22. Ha! If I had seen that at the time,

it would have been the final nail in my mental coffin and I doubt I would have ever gotten into anything with water after that (I was a malleable little kid, easily persuaded by visual images).

[BlackSkimmer]

24. There's a really scary one out there. I think it was called Left Behind or something.

Or maybe Open Dive. Open Water? Don’t remember.

Anyway, two divers surface to find their dive boat has left.

That one scared the crap out of me.

[ColinC]

12. Harmony of the seas is about to be their least popular ship...

[BlackSkimmer]

13. The ship had nothing to do with it.

They were onshore.

What in the world?

[ColinC]

17. Not the kind of logical processing I expect most people to make.

[BlackSkimmer]

18. Point taken.

[ColinC]

29. ...which is why Harmony of the Seas may become my top choice for my next cruise.

It's a super-cool looking boat!

[BlackSkimmer]

32. It is! I've only been on one cruise, as a teen with my parents.

I want to do some sort of ship adventure. Probably an Alaskan one.

[ColinC]

33. I did that this summer. Super fun and highly recommended!

Just always be careful of the coughers and sneezers! So many people don't wear masks or even cover their mouths when they sneeze or cough 😷

[BlackSkimmer]

34. Yeah, I'm a bit of a germaphobe, but I love ships.

I traveled on the Queen Mary at the age of 6 weeks. Not that I remember it.

But something must have taken hold in my subconscious, I guess.

[mnhtnbb]

38. Tattoos, nail polish, yellow, metal jewelry

and bright colors can all be attractive to sharks, according to a Florida shark expert.

https://www.news4jax.com/news/2015/11/13/researcher-says-tattoos-certain-nail-polish-yellow-bathing-suits-attract-sharks/

My husband dove for years and had some interesting stories to tell about shark encounters. He and my oldest son once went on a dive trip to the Bahamas where the guide took them to a shark encounter. They all sat in a circle on the bottom while the guide put out chum and drew the sharks in! They came home with a video and you could see the fear in my husband 's eyes. Ah, testosterone!

I've known the advice about bright colors and jewelry for years since I love to snorkel, but the attraction to nail polish and tattoos is new to me. It makes sense.