Experts told who are attacked by sharks in the Red Sea

“Hurghada is returning to a relaxing holiday,” the Egyptian tourism industry consoles tourists. The investigation into the death of a 23-year-old Russian has been completed: parts of his body were found in the stomach of a shark caught on the same day, the killer is mummified and sent to the Hurghada museum. The ban on swimming, diving, snorkeling and boat trips has been lifted on almost all beaches. And the “relative” of the Hurghada killer – the tiger shark, met in the Red Sea waters of Jordan by local fishermen, photographed by them and posted on the social network, is called an “accident”.

According to our tourists currently in Hurghada, all vacationers in their hotels have been informed that the system for ensuring and improving safety standards in bathing areas will be reviewed.

– What is it, no one knows, – a Muscovite, now resting in Hurghada with her 10-year-old son, throws up her hands. – All the beaches are now open, except for the one where all this horror happened. But it is municipal and paid, for those who live in the private sector. And the hotels are all open. But we decided not to play Egyptian roulette with sharks, we swim in the pool. By the way, locals from the hotel staff, seeing that I am with a child, come up and speak English in a whisper – they say, it’s right that in the pool, you don’t have to climb into the sea yet. Surely they are forbidden to say so, but they love children, feel sorry for them.

According to representatives of the Egyptian tourism industry close to entertainment on the water, the authorities are going to announce a tender for the installation of protective nets.

– And they said that they already exist, they are simply removed for the passage of watercraft! – I appeal to a Russian-speaking diving instructor.

– Well, the nets are different, there are the simplest so-called “drum” anti-shark barriers with hooks, removable nets are hung on them. This is an ancient device, in fact more fishing tackle than protection. In places where there are really a lot of sharks, protective equipment has already stepped forward significantly. But it costs accordingly.

– The same shark as the Hurghada cannibal was seen in the waters of Aqaba (a Jordanian resort on the Red Sea. – Auth.). Are there modern security systems?

– There are just few tourists there, it cannot be compared with Hurghada. And there is no protection at all, a poor country. I know exactly what is in Eilat (Israeli resort on the Red Sea. – ATue.). In short, it all comes down to money.

– But you, knowing that the nets in Hurghada are conditional, are taking people to dive. Doesn’t eat anything? After all, the Aqaba shark can swim here.

– No. Firstly, divers who are at depth in a wetsuit and in full gear are attacked much less frequently by sharks. Unless she’s completely crazy or something is very much frightened. Bathers, swimming on the surface, and in the water only dangling their legs, sharks are mistaken for fur seals, which are hunted. And in general, for the Egyptian coast, a shark attack on a person is rare, tragic, but an accident.

This is also the point of view of the Egyptian authorities: an isolated case, an evil fate, a terrible combination of circumstances. While ISAF (International Security Assistance Organization. – Auth.) of a different opinion: their recent report says that over the past year, Egypt has come out on top in the number of unprovoked shark attacks on bathers. So in 2022, out of 57 cases of attacks by cannibal predators on people around the world, 5 cases occurred precisely in the waters of Egypt, while two of them were fatal, which equaled it in sad terms with South Africa, previously considered the “leader” in sharks. attacks on holidaymakers.

“But at the same time, South Africa has the most modern anti-shark equipment in all bathing areas,” says an ichthyologist from Australia, where there is the same problem, so anti-shark protection is constantly updated. – Shark attacks on people, alas, happen in our country, but in recent years there has not been a single death. Do you know why? Of course, a reservoir is primarily a territory of fish, not a person, so one individual can slip through the barrier, you can’t follow each one. But predators are dangerous, as a rule, during periods when they walk in packs – during the mating season, for example, or during mass migration due to some environmental problem in a place of permanent residence. And a lone individual usually, if it attacks, then more for warning, marks, so to speak, the territory.

But, according to the official statement of the professor of the Egyptian National Institute of Marine Sciences, the tiger shark that attacked the Russian turned out to be 12 meters from the shore, as it was on demolitions and was preparing for childbirth, and sharks give birth in shallow water, having previously cleared the territory of suspicious inhabitants ( predatory inhabitants of the sea, shark males, etc.). Before giving birth, pregnant female sharks patrol the place chosen for procreation for some time. The breeding season of sharks, according to ichthyologists, in the Red Sea will last until the beginning of July, which means that nothing prevents another pregnant female from choosing the waters of Egyptian resorts as a maternity hospital. Meanwhile, the administration of the resort of Aqaba, in response to the photos of “their” shark scattered on social networks, reassured tourists: there are no sharks on their beaches and cannot be, since the movements of marine predators are controlled by the Jordanian naval forces.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29049 dated June 15, 2023

Newspaper headline:
Everything is calm in Hurghada