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Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Is this the killer shark?

The BBC has broadcast an image of what is believed to be the oceanic whitetip shark behind the attacks in Sharm El Sheikh.



Diving operations in some parts of the area were starting today as the authorities continued the hunt for the shark.

Now there has been a lot of comparisons between this episode and the move Jaws and it's fair to say the similarities are pretty amazing but before the powers that be get Flint in to start pulling out sharks from the sea lets get things in a little bit of perspective.

Yes it has been without doubt tragic for the victims and their families and ones thoughts are with them at this difficult time.

But we have to accept that the shark has been attracted to the area by man, whether it be over-fishing or the dumping of dead animal carcasses from a cargo ship.

More than 70 million sharks a year are killed by humans and they are an essential part of the marine ecosystem so I hope we don't see the authorities landing dozens of sharks just to appease the tourist industry. We have to remember the devastation we are doing to the underwater world.

The BBC has a good piece on the attacks here.

In it David Jacoby, who specialises in shark behavioural ecology at The Marine Biological Association of the UK, agreed that if animal carcasses had been dumped, it was likely to be a significant factor in the sharks' behaviour.

"Pelagic, or oceanic, species of shark often feed opportunistically because the open ocean can be a sparse environment for food," he said.

"Both species [white tips and makos caught last week] rarely encounter people as they spend large amounts of their time in blue water - open ocean."

Oceanic whitetips are a Red Sea species but are not normally seen in Sharm. Instead they are typically found in the southern Red Sea. And this time of year, the northern Red Sea has been emptied of its pelagics as they head south for warmer waters.

Ian Fergusson, a shark biologist and patron of the Shark Trust, a UK conservation organisation, said it was very rare for shortfin makos to be found in the Red Sea - and exceptionally rare to find them close to shore.


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