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Austrian media reported a shark bit Groh in the leg, but local authorities say they are still investigating. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s office determined Groh’s death to be accidental, but more details were not available Monday. Abernethy’s website advertises shark-diving excursions to find hammerheads, tiger, lemon, bull and other sharks. The divers go down without cages, attracting the sharks to them with fish chum, according to the website. ”The Hammerheads arrived within minutes every day,” Abernethy wrote. “The water was clear and the sharks were plentiful.” Abernethy’s company has been cautioned by the Bahamas Diving Association to use more care on its shark excursions. The group, of which Abernethy is not a member, sent Abernethy and other dive operators a cease-and-desist letter last year asking them to stop diving for sharks in open water without cages.
As a scuba diver, I was at first sympathetic. But this type of thrill diving while chumming the water is just plain idiotic. Hammerheads are some of the most aggressive of sharks, and the dive charter should be held liable.
Mmmmmmmmm……Throw chum/bait in water…attract sharks……then get in water with them……then be confused for said bait/chum…..get bitten….expire……….Seems logical to me.
Must be after the thrill. Sheesh. Rest in peace.
“dive charter should be held liable”
oK–No More “Nanny State” postings from you!!!!!
Oh–what value then would you place on any signed waiver?
#3. “Oh–what value then would you place on any signed waiver?”
Not much.
Cannibalism……..how disgusting!!!!!!!! How many jokes can YOU get from this one story?
So ‘professional courtesy’ no longer applies?
Damn it! I was there three weeks ago!
As a scuba diver, I was at first sympathetic. But this type of thrill diving while chumming the water is just plain idiotic. Hammerheads are some of the most aggressive of sharks, and the dive charter should be held liable.
Liable for what? Giving us a much needed method of natural selection? Too bad there aren’t any predators that have found a good way to make a greater part of their living on humans. We could use a scrubber for the gene pool. People walking in front of buses aren’t common enough and the drivers usually stop in time.
#8. Yeah, yeah, yeah, all humans are bad all animals are good, we should all die and return the earth to the good animals, blah, blah, blah, whatever.
#9 – McCullough,
Say it with as much sarcasm as you like. It’s still not far from the truth. It’s really not that all other animals are good. Chimps, for example, are every bit as evil as we are; they’re just not as good at it.
The problem with humans is the magnitude of our destruction. Most animals kill to eat, whether it’s plants or other animals. We just do things to such an extreme that we are causing another Permian/Triassic level extinction.
So, unless you think humans are so great that having us on the planet for a mere 200,000 years is worth killing off millions of species that have been here far longer, then yes, we’re pretty bad.
Sorry if this view of humanity disturbs you; I know it disturbs me. That doesn’t negate the facts.
Sharks are not aggressive or dangerous; circumstances can be. If you want to see sharks, you have to use bait / chum. Then, you have to be as circumspect as you would be driving a motorcycle. It is as simple as that.
One should not demonize the sharks or blame the operator for this deplorable accident – these things happen very rarely and should be put into perspective: Last year there was only one reported fatal shark accident – world-wide, whereas 12 people died from snakebites in the United States alone, hundreds probably world-wide.
But the press does not report on the bites of venomous snakes – that’s boring even though the victims die an agonizing death. Shark “attacks” are just so much more appealing. We seem to subconsciously love the monsters of our worst nightmares….
Misanthropic Scott: You are absolutely right!!
#11 – Wolfgang,
Well said!! Even those 12 snakebites in the US really mean that 299,999,988 people in the U.S. last year did not die of snakebite. How many snakes and sharks died at the hands of humans for no good reason?
One less lawyer in the world, is there a downside in the story?
Crikey!
this was not a very fair article depicting shark diving in the bahamas , or anywhere .. much of the helpful information we know that helps humans and sharks better live in the same seas are from dives like these .
this was an accident . people have been doing cageless diving for 25 years and this has never happened . ultimately it will be bad for the sharks , but great for the media who feeds of such misery .
more people are killed falling of chairs than are killed by sharks .more people are bitten by other people than sharks, hundreds more in new york city alone . in wreck diving every year there are more fatalities as well as recreational scuba diving than shark diving or shark feeds.
the bahamas should do more about protecting their natural resources and its ocean . its not ok to bait these animals for observation but its fine to bait them in the same spots and sometimes right next to people by fisherman .. who kill them . the very same media seems to be there as well when one is killed . why?
this was a mans death , not a stage for sensationalized media outlets ..
shame on you all … news is suppose to show a nuetral side , but it seems there is something personal about this story . this shouldnt be an outlet for a writer to express personal views but the facts .
is the reporter trying to say that he though this was foolish . do you feel the same about bungee jumping ?
or sky diving and they have no scientific value .
its a matter of freedom. freedom to search for answers and to experience all of this world .
in the bahamas their is relentless fishing of sharks and 100 million of them are killed worldwide .
the media feeds of the hardships and sad moments in human lives . no putting a fair view on this is unfair to the sharks and the victim
my heart goes out to the family of mr groh . im sure he loved sharks and would hate this tasteless view and story on the end of mans life … florida reports the smallest thing w shark encounters as being attacks . the states record of attacks are sensationalized and blown up by the media . dont be afraid of the water , or sharks .. the media are the real wolves ..tasteless….
Why did we waste a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter to cart the corpse to a hospital? I hope they send the bill for all that to the family in Vienna. With all our living expenses increasing along with several cities and communities falling into bankruptcy it’s getting awfully stupid of us to continuing baling all these idiots out of their stupid situations for free.
Poor, poor M Scott. Never able to reach through the free-floating white liberal guilt and the PC
brainwashingcultural conditioning that the underdog is always more noble and virtuous than those above, by definition.And at the heart of it, the age-old, totally irrational and unjust practice of blaming an entire group for the actions of some of that group’s members. OJ killed Ron and Nicole, so all blacks should be done away with. Some humans do bad things, we all dserve to be dead. Thank you, the David Duke of the human race.
Always it’s “we” do this and “we” don’t do that. Sure, Scott. Why just yesterday, I spilled oil all over the ANWR. Well, I didn’t, but I made someone else do it. Well, I didn’t do that either, but don’t worry, as an “evil” human, I made it happen. Somehow 🙂
“The divers go down without cages, attracting the sharks to them with fish chum, according to the website.”
Darwin awards candidate…
What a dumbass greedy tour/diving operator. Don’t people learn anything from experience … like feeding the bears in Yellowstone was very bad idea. FEEDING THE SHARKS IS MUCH WORSE IDEA … one will not be able to control them and change their habits once they learn that humans are providers of (AND ARE) food.
I’ve dived quite few places. I manage marine services, particularly underwater construction and salvage. I also do a lot of recreational diving in my time off. I’ve dived with sharks hundreds of times. None were with tour operators, all from my own boat or shore. I’ve seen as many as several dozen sharks at a time. When sharks were present, I always stayed closed to structure so I could avoid being in the middle of them if they got aggressive. I also kept my buddy close so we could watch 360 degrees. Any time that they were feeding or acting aggressively, I carefully exited the area. I guess they don’t know what kind of shark attacked this guy. The tour operator supposedly regularly gets Hammers and Tigers. I’d be pretty careful around Hammers; that’s my threshold for unacceptable species. I’d never try to dive near Tigers. For me the only question of culpability that the operator would have is making sure his clients understand the risks. That can be difficult. You tell them they can die, and they just go, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, let’s get in the water.” Or maybe the divemaster glazed over risks. Who knows? Either way I wouldn’t want to limit a person’s ability to attempt dangerous activities. The diver must assume the responsibility to understand the nature of the risk.
#22. Yes. Good post. But we both know tourists’ will do stupid things on “vacation”. Common sense doesn’t apply.
Coming Soon…”WWW.HUGAGRIZZLIEBEAR.COM”!
Fun for you and the whole family!
dumbass
Its horrible…..
It has been said to have been the work of a bull shark who was trying to bite the crate of food nearby the diver. The shark instead bit his calf but instantly let go.
There’s nothing wrong with diving with sharks but I don’t agree with chumming the waters to attract them.
And again, the man wanted to do this so the company should not be liable.
wow, sad