TITLE:
Shark Cognition and a Human Mediated Driver of a Spate of Shark Attacks
AUTHORS:
Marie Levine, Ralph S. Collier, Erich Ritter, Moustafa Fouda, Vincent Canabal
KEYWORDS:
Forensic Science, Red Sea, Sharks, Shark Attack, Shark Cognition
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Animal Sciences,
Vol.4 No.5,
September
29,
2014
ABSTRACT: Five
unprovoked shark attacks are reported from Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt, between 30
November and 5 December 2010. Three of the five attacks are attributed to an
oceanic whitetip shark, Carcharinus longimanus with a distinctive
crescent-shaped notch in the upper lobe of the caudal fin. The shark was
observed during the first attack on a snorkeler and photographed underwater
during the second shark attack on a swimmer. In a video taken several months
prior to the attacks, the same shark is
hand-fed underwater by a divemaster with additional fish in a pack over his buttock. The shark can be seen swimming behind the divemaster while he removed additional
fish from this pack. In Victims 1, 2 and 5, the shark removed an extensive
amount of tissue from the victims’ buttock. The three victims also lost a hand
and/or a portion of their forearm, suggesting the injuries were inflicted by a
shark conditioned to associating food with hand-feedings and the human form.
The remaining two attacks, Cases 3 and 4, were attributable to the
shortfin mako shark, Isurus oxyrinchus. This was determined from a unique dental pattern
of the right side of the upper jaw due to a prior injury. This same “misalignment”
dental pattern was observed in the injuries sustained by Victims 3 and 4. We
conclude that the shortfin mako shark was responsible for the attacks on Victims
3 and 4, and the oceanic whitetip shark was the causal species of attacks on Victims
1, 2, and 5.