Red Sea beaches add safety measures against shark attacks

Beaches at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh will reopen after officials ordered new safety measures following a recent series of shark attacks.

One swimmer was killed and four others injured in attacks by at least two sharks.

The new safety measures include patrol boats and onshore viewing stations. Swimmers, divers, and snorkelers will be reminded to stay within certain areas and not to feed the sharks.

Sharm el-Sheikh hasn’t had a fatal shark attack since 2004 and it’s unclear why so many incidents have happened in so short a time. One theory is that a boat carrying animals threw some dead carcasses overboard and that encouraged the predators. Another theory says that overfishing has forced sharks to hunt closer to shore, bringing them in contact with humans.

Deadly Red Sea shark attacks puzzle scientists


Marine biologists are scratching their heads over the spate of shark attacks near Egypt’s Red Sea port of Sharm El-Sheikh, the BBC reports. The waters near the city, which are popular for swimmers, snorkelers, and scuba divers, have seen attacks that have left one tourist dead and four injured in the past week.

The attacks started last week when a shark bit three tourists in a single day. Since then another swimmer has been injured and last Sunday a German woman was killed very close to the shore. Most of the beaches are now closed and authorities are warning people to swim in groups and avoid swimming at night.

The attacks were carried out by more than one shark from more than one species, including an oceanic whitetip and a mako. Marine biologists say this is “highly unusual”. They’re unsure what has caused the attacks, but suspect that when a cargo ship dumped a load of animal carcasses overboard near the shore it might convinced the sharks that it was a new feeding ground.

The mako has since been caught, but the oceanic whitetip, which is believed to have killed the German woman, is still at large.

[Photo courtesy Johanlantz via Wikimedia Commons]

Photo of the Day (8/23/07)

Former Gadling blogger Willy has really been loading up our Flickr Pool with some fantastic shots of his most recent underwater adventure.

While most have been wetsuit-wetting photos of man eating sharks, this one offers a far more playful side to the denizens of the deep. There’s something about the angles of the dolphins contrasted against the diver that’s just visually arresting here. And the smiles. Gotta love those dolphin smiles.

If you have some equally cool photos from your last vacation that you want us to consider for our Photo of the Day, jump on over to our Gadling Flickr Pool and upload away. No matter how crappy they might be, we’ll still publish them if you work for Gadling (just kidding, Willy!).