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| Welcome to Bad Idea Underwater Encounters |
| 2008-02-26 |
| Hey, honey. This looks like fun... The Riviera Beach dive company involved in a fatal shark attack off the Bahamas this weekend offers clients the opportunity for uncaged encounters with tiger sharks and great hammerheads, fearsome ocean predators known to attack people. They won't rip me to shreds, right? These people know what they're doing, right? Sure, honey, of course they do... On a dive Sunday from the 65-foot boat Shear Water, which the company's Web site said was on a shark expedition, something went wrong. A shark sank its teeth into the leg of Markus Groh, 49, a lawyer from Vienna, Austria. Hmmmmmm...no professional courtesy there, I guess... A mayday call went out at about 10 a.m., and the Coast Guard airlifted him to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where he died. But I'll bet he had the experience of a lifetime. Not for long though... No one was able to identify the species of shark that attacked, said Petty Officer Nick Ameen. The circumstances of the attack are unclear, and the Coast Guard is investigating. We're not sure but we think it had big, pointy teeth... But the incident has drawn more attention to the dive company and its practice of shark feeding, a common procedure in which tour operators dump bloody fish parts into the water to attract sharks. Here sharky sharky. Here sharky sharky... Jim Abernethy's Scuba Adventures, which took Groh on the tour, offers diving expeditions of the Bahamas and the reefs off Palm Beach County. At the company's dock Monday, the Shear Water was tied up, with brown curtains pulled tight over the windows. In a telephone interview, Abernethy said he had never had an accident in 25 years of operations and felt terrible. "I've been awake for 48 hours taking care of the grief with friends," he said. "At this time, my heart and soul goes out to the loved ones and family members who are affected by this unfortunate accident ... I would never had done any of this if I thought there would have been an accident." He hung up before he could be asked what had happened. Another bottle of Grief, Jim? The Austrian Consulate in Miami confirmed the victim's identity. According to the company's Web site, Europeans are among the steadiest clients, with many divers flying from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Europeans: They're not just for breakfast anymore... During the weekend of the fatal attack, according to the schedule on the company's Web page, the Shear Water was on a seven-day tour called the "Great Hammerhead and Tiger Shark Expedition." The company restricts such trips to 10 divers, and it demands that they demonstrate advanced scuba experience through log books and interviews with the company's staff. Forgot ya log book? But ya got your checkbook? Well, okay, we'll trust ya... "This week's shark expedition started off with calm seas and Great Hammerheads, Tigers and Bull Sharks every day for the first three days," reads Abernethy's Web account of a shark expedition at the beginning of the month. "The Hammerheads arrived within minutes every day. The water was clear and the sharks were plentiful." And, you know, the thing about a shark... he's got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be living... until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then... ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin'... For years, Abernethy and other tour operators ran shark dives off Broward and Palm Beach counties, feeding the sharks to ensure a successful experience for their clients. The practice drew complaints from spear fishermen, swimmers and others who worried that the practice would attract sharks and lead them to associate people with food. ...and it appears to have worked. After a series of highly contentious meetings, at which Abernethy and other tour operators insisted the practice was safe, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission banned shark feeding in 2001. For the past five years, Abernethy has run his shark dives in the Bahamas. When in doubt...go where there is none. George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File, said Sunday's attack would be the first fatality involving shark feeding, if it turns out that practice was taking place around the time of the attack. If it did, the incident would be considered a provoked attack, he said. There have been more than two dozen injuries involving feeding, he said. Traditional shark dives stick to reefs or shallow water, where the sharks are smaller and their behavior more predictable, he said. But this one heads into open water, he said, where there's little cover and a greater chance of encountering dangerous sharks such as tigers and makos. ...and Danger is my middle name! The Bahamas Diving Association has issued a warning about the dangers of interacting with dangerous sharks. It called for an end to open-water non-cage diving operations involving such sharks. Burgess said he opposed shark feeding, not so much because of its immediate danger but because it trains sharks to expect food from people and not to fear them. Oh, no food, huh? Get 'em, boys! Abernethy's activities had drawn scrutiny from the Bahamas Diving Association, which sent a letter urging him to exercise caution with more aggressive sharks such as mako, lemon, tiger and hammerhead. Oh, okay. I'll get right on that... The association, a group of 36 charter businesses, asked Abernathy and other boat owners in the past year to stop conducting "open-water non-cage Shark Diving experiences with known species of potentially dangerous sharks," said Neal Watson, the association president."Most operators do a safe dive behind cages. But Abernethy, 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. Ahhhh, sharks...people in the water. What could happen? Although it's tempting to offer a cageless option, improving the photographs and the experience, the risks are too great, Watson said. Wow! Great picture of him ripping off your arm, Bob! "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.'" Well, gee, thanks, Mr. Knowitall... |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #7 Didn't these idiots watch "Jaws"? |
| Posted by: Rambler in California 2008-02-26 17:25 |
| #6 Entirely possible I fished (for sailfish, not sharks) off that same boat in Florida about 25 years ago. Same name, same length, same look. Not and uncommon name or look, I know. What a freaking moron tour operator and what moron tourists. Getting into the water with a tiger shark, a bull shark, a big hammerhead or a mako is asking for trouble. |
| Posted by: remoteman 2008-02-26 17:06 |
| #5 They're not all in the Bahamas, but there's nothing in the article about what's for breakfast in Manalapan, Frank. Several South Florida beaches are closed because of migrating sharks. Hundreds of sharks have been seen recently migrating off the coast of Palm Beach County, Florida. This swarm of sharks was spotted in the waters off Manalapan, Florida Tuesday morning. Officials have closed the beaches to keep swimmers from getting too close to the sharks. The sharks are expected to eventually move north and away from land. |
| Posted by: GK 2008-02-26 14:18 |
| #4 LOL, Frank! Snark of the week material ... |
| Posted by: Steve White 2008-02-26 13:42 |
| #3 a Continental breakfast, apparently |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-02-26 13:19 |
| #2 they FED them? |
| Posted by: Abdominal Snowman 2008-02-26 13:16 |
| #1 I still blame this kind of thing on Disney, the public at large no longer understands that wild animals are DANGEROUS. They might be cute, cuddly and nifty, but to them you're just food or a rival for food. They don't talk, sing, or dance and they will kill you without mercy. Gee, thanks Walt. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2008-02-26 13:01 |