# Shark Attack.... Travel insurance



## MaidenScotland

Safety and Security - Adventure Travel
Before undertaking any adventure activity ensure that your travel insurance covers you for the activity.

On 1 December 2010, diving and water sport activities in the Sharm El Sheikh area were suspended following reports that three Russian tourists had been attacked by what is believed to be a single adult oceanic white tip shark. All three are being treated in hospital, with one of the injured reported to be in a critical condition. The ban is likely to remain until the shark is caught. However, incidents involving shark attacks in the Sharm El Sheikh area are rare.


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## MaidenScotland

This too is a circular from the British Embassy
Quad bikes can be dangerous. There have been several serious quad bike accidents involving British nationals in resort areas. Take the same precautions as you would in the UK and note that safety standards can vary considerably. Always wear a crash helmet and ensure that your travel insurance policy covers you fully before you hire a quad bike.


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## MaidenScotland

Four Russian tourists have been badly mauled by a shark in two separate attacks at an Egyptian Red Sea resort.

Two Russians had their arms bitten off by the oceanic white tip shark as they swam in the Ras Nasrani area of the Sharm el-Sheikh resort.

The same shark is then thought to have been involved in an attack on another Russian couple yesterday close to the resort beach, Director of Sinai Conservation Mohammed Salem said.


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## Horus

MaidenScotland said:


> Four Russian tourists have been badly mauled by a shark in two separate attacks at an Egyptian Red Sea resort.
> 
> Two Russians had their arms bitten off by the oceanic white tip shark as they swam in the Ras Nasrani area of the Sharm el-Sheikh resort.
> 
> The same shark is then thought to have been involved in an attack on another Russian couple yesterday close to the resort beach, Director of Sinai Conservation Mohammed Salem said.


Thanks for the warning Maiden.


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## ASAMY

Egypt says caught sharks blamed for diver attacks
Egypt says caught sharks blamed for diver attacks | News by Country | Reuters

Don't worry anymore


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## Horus

ASAMY said:


> Egypt says caught sharks blamed for diver attacks
> Egypt says caught sharks blamed for diver attacks | News by Country | Reuters
> 
> Don't worry anymore


There are different stories, this one says the Sharks were captured and being held at the Ras Mohamed marine park, other stories say the shark is dead and will be embalmed

BBC News - Egypt shark attack: Conflicting capture claims










There are conflicting stories and to be quite honest I would be suprised if the facilities exist to keep a shark. Stories like this are bad news because it can affect tourism

The fact is these sharks are BIG and scary I am just glad I have not seen one myself for real, they normally eat tuna.










Lion fish are worrying as well; I have seen plenty of those and they can sting

With regard to these types of sharks there needs to be a specific activity or event that brings them in, boats have been known to throw food in the water and people have been known to also feed the fish and restaurants can also throw scraps in.

We need to remember when we do go into the water either to snorkle or dive that the sharks inhabited the oceans longer than man has been on earth.

So yes shark species do exist in Egypt as do a few species of dangerous fish and eels, I had a moray eel reel up at me and open it's mouth and it's a SCARY thing to see 

Every time we enter the sea in Egypt we take a risk - and I take the fact that this shark has been captured / killed with a pinch of salt.


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## SHendra

I too take it with a pinch of salt. Maybe I'm just turning into a grumpy lady, I don't mean too and perhaps they have got the right shark. 

But sadly It's hard to know whats truth in the news when it comes to Egypt. Especially locally made news, and internationally to to some extent. I tend to worry more of whats not ever said than what is!


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## Horus

They must have been in a rush, they could have a least chosen a more scary looking shark.

I could see the Minister of Tourism saying "throw that one back, he's too small, yella yella reuters is waiting, more chicken in the water..."

Apparently an Egyptian diver took a photo of the shark some how I think that would have been the last thing on his mind


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## aykalam

Horus said:


> I could see the Minister of Tourism saying "throw that one back, he's too small, yella yella reuters is waiting, more chicken in the water..."


:spit: 

You know something? I bet you are not wrong


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## SHendra

Ironic how they can be quick (or not) to catch a shark in the water.. Yet on land allow so many to run free!


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## DeadGuy

Horus said:


> They must have been in a rush, they could have a least chosen a more scary looking shark.
> 
> I could see the Minister of Tourism saying "throw that one back, he's too small, yella yella reuters is waiting, more chicken in the water..."
> 
> Apparently an Egyptian diver took a photo of the shark some how I think that would have been the last thing on his mind


The Arabic word that was used in the conference and then was quickly replaced/corrected by another word said it all really.........."We ARRESTED the shark that caused all the panic blah blah blah, blah blah, blah!" :lol:

What are the chances for that fish to have a twin though?


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## Whiskey96

DeadGuy said:


> The Arabic word that was used in the conference and then was quickly replaced/corrected by another word said it all really.........."We ARRESTED the shark that caused all the panic blah blah blah, blah blah, blah!" :lol:
> 
> What are the chances for that fish to have a twin though?




The following are excerpts from the HEPCA statement on the incident(s)....


_"On November 30th, 2010, two snorkelers were attacked by a shark off a beach just north of Naama Bay, both suffering serious injuries. Photographs taken minutes before the 2nd attack show a fully grown oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus), that closely circled divers before approaching and eventually attacking a swimmer on the surface."

"Additionally, National Park Authorities attempted to capture the shark(s) believed to be involved in the attacks. As a result, two individual sharks were caught on December 
2nd, one mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) and one oceanic whitetip shark."

"Comparing the photographs of the oceanic whitetip shark responsible for the 2nd attack with the images of the captured oceanic whitetip shark, it is clear that they don't show the same individual...."_

*For more information please visit us HEPCA: Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association - Caring for the Red Sea*

The full statement makes for interesting reading, but it would appear that "JAWS"
is still at large, and is highly unlikely to be caught......


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## Horus

Whiskey96 said:


> The following are excerpts from the HEPCA statement on the incident(s)....
> 
> 
> _"On November 30th, 2010, two snorkelers were attacked by a shark off a beach just north of Naama Bay, both suffering serious injuries. Photographs taken minutes before the 2nd attack show a fully grown oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus), that closely circled divers before approaching and eventually attacking a swimmer on the surface."
> 
> "Additionally, National Park Authorities attempted to capture the shark(s) believed to be involved in the attacks. As a result, two individual sharks were caught on December
> 2nd, one mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) and one oceanic whitetip shark."
> 
> "Comparing the photographs of the oceanic whitetip shark responsible for the 2nd attack with the images of the captured oceanic whitetip shark, it is clear that they don't show the same individual...."_
> 
> *For more information please visit us HEPCA: Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association - Caring for the Red Sea*
> 
> The full statement makes for interesting reading, but it would appear that "JAWS"
> is still at large, and is highly unlikely to be caught......


Mako's have a wide distribution and are quite unusual to come across but they are nasty and will even go so far to attack boats, they can grow to 10 foot and weigh 800lbs

They look like a giant mackerel; I have thank goodness never seen one for real

Problem is in the red sea you can't take spears etc diving, even when you snorkel off a reef or jetty you are floating above deep water, the giant tuna are scary enough


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## ASAMY

I am sorry to read that:

Shark attack kills German tourist at resort in Egypt
BBC News - Shark attack kills German tourist at resort in Egypt


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## SHendra

ASAMY said:


> I am sorry to read that:
> 
> Shark attack kills German tourist at resort in Egypt
> BBC News - Shark attack kills German tourist at resort in Egypt


Just read that you beat to the posting of the link! It's awful. Guess most of us was right (sadly) in not believing they had the 'right' shark.


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## ELTViola

It's really sad. Also it's scarily like Jaws as the person was just snorkeling in the shallower area, not even diving. Think I'll leave it a while before I go to Sharm.... 

I imagine many more sharks will be unnecessarily killed over this. It makes me really unhappy that for highly publicised attacks from nature there is always a knee-jerk reaction which causes a lot of hassle and suffering for the species concerned and doesn't solve the root cause of the problem, whether that be dumping animal carcasses into the sea or over fishing, or both. It's not just Egypt that's guilty, I think every country does this to some degree. When it comes down to it, it's always man's interference that starts off to problem, and we think the best way to fix it is to interfere even more :confused2: We never learn.


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## Sonrisa

I just can't help to see the irony, they show the wrong shark and try to fool the rest of the world into thinking that it is totally safe to go in their sea. Liars, it's just got Pure Egyptian BS written all over it, I feel so sorry for that poor woman and her family.


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## wales1970

where exactly were these attacks.?.


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## DeadGuy

Dizzie Izzie said:


> I just can't help to see the irony, they show the wrong shark and try to fool the rest of the world into thinking that it is totally safe to go in their sea. Liars, it's just got Pure Egyptian BS written all over it, I feel so sorry for that poor woman and her family.


Well they do the same and +80 Millions out of the +85 Million Egyptians buy their BS........So you can't really blame them for trying, they just got used to it 

The lady's family shouldn't feel that bad about it......If it wasn't for that lady, only God knows how many others would be in the "first" attack to re close the beaches......So she's more of a hero if you look at things from this angle


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## Horus

It's tragic what happened but I have personally seen people walking over sharp coral scratching and cutting themselves and then go swimming or people feeding the fish to make them swarm, I am not saying that has happened however in this case and they have cited various causes such as dead sheep etc from Eid or over fishing.

If you go diving or snorkle on a frequent basis you will soon get to know that certain fish (or a specific fish) lives in a specific area by a certain rock and this shark will still be around that area now. Until they catch it or them I think the attacks will continue as they now see us as food.

There are shallow areas - however normally everything has quite a steep drop once you are off the jetty and as of yet there is no approved shark repellant and I would not risk feeling safe carrying shark repellant cans as these guys move quick.

The only way to be protected for the time being is to stay dry and never dive or snorkle alone not that it would help.

Naama is quite busy and this shark will have probably been drawn in for one reason or another..and the main one is to eat

The only good thing to come out of this might be lower property prices but I doubt it, it will be the small business that will suffer.

Either way this is the LAST thing that Egypt needs


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## layla13

I read that the sharks DID NOT match the sharks that attacked. they would definitely lie about this saying they caught the sharks.. for the purpose of tourism. I have no doubt lol

they say its not that common but i remember not too long ago a french woman in marsa alam getting attacked by a white tip. lol can never know how safe it is. its no different then going into the woods and a bear or cougar stumbling upon us.


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