British man tells Why Sharks Attack of ‘horrifying’ moment he saw a man’s calf ripped off during a dive – but viewers say it’s the victim’s fault for ‘invading’ the ocean
- Why Sharks Attack viewers were left defending the animals after the BBC show
- Read more: Russian tourist, 23, screams ‘papa’ as he is mauled to death
A British man revealed to Why Sharks Attack viewers of the ‘horrifying’ moment he saw a man’s calf ripped off during a dive.
The documentary, which aired on BBC1 last night, explored why the creatures may choose to attack humans, with experts suggesting hungry sharks are hunting for prey they would not normally eat.
During the film, British scuba diver Dan White recalled the moment he was diving in Egypt when he saw a member of his group being bitten in a ferocious attack.
After the shark grabbed hold of the diver’s leg, Dan recalled: ‘There was a big plume of blood in the water…Another diver started screaming. You could hear her screaming. It was horrifying to listen to.’
However many viewers confessed they were less than sympathetic towards the divers, with one saying: ‘Sometimes humans aren’t meant to be so adventurous, we don’t need to see and explore everything or dive to depths or even go snorkelling or scuba diving because we think it’s exciting.
Viewers of BBC’s Why Sharks Attack were left defending the animals as they slammed humans for ‘invading’ the ocean
‘We’re not entitled to every thrill we want.’
Another added: ‘I have a lot of respect for sharks. If I was a shark I would probably attack and eat scuba divers too.
‘They are invading their territory.’
A fourth commented: ‘I’m really angry on behalf of the sharks now. Anyone else?’
Another added: ‘Afraid I have little/no sympathy for any people who get in the water and into the sharks home.’
‘#WhySharksAttack…because we’re invading their bloody space. Leave them alone,’ another wrote.
‘People and divers thinking they can just enter the water in droves and not get attacked,’ one commented. ‘Not sharks fault at all.’
During the episode, British diver Dan explained his attraction to diving with the animals.
He explained: ‘For thrill seekers like myself, it’s a big attraction. Seeing something you know could do potential damage and being one to one with that creature in the water…
However many viewers confessed they were less than sympathetic towards the divers and defended the sharks
‘It’s like you are there in the partnership, seeing something in its natural habitat.’
In 2018, he and his fiancée were diving with a tour group south of Hurghada.
Dan said: ‘We were only around 5 metres deep, swimming around and seeing what we could find.
‘Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a dark shadow and I turned to see what it was and it was an oceanic white tipped shark.
‘That’s when I pulled up the go-pro and started filming.’
Dan’s footage showed the shark swimming above the group, before he moved closer to a number of divers not far from Dan.
He explained: ‘The shark was pretty placid, chilled and then his behaviour completely flipped.
‘He came down to the diver’s level and started investigating.
During the film, British scuba diver Dan White recalled the moment he was diving in Egypt when he saw a member of his group being bitten in a ferocious attack
‘It took a great interest in the male diver. It was trying to bite fins, the diver was kicking it off.
‘The shark disengaged from the male diver in one group and took his interest in another diver.’
Dan explained: ‘He bit onto the divers leg, latched on and they ended up going end to end, almost like a cartwheel.
‘It was crazy, it wouldn’t let go for what felt like forever and it ended up tearing off his calf muscle in the leg.’
After the incident, a terrified Dan said he was keen to ‘get out of the water quickly’.
The victim was given emergency first aid on the dive boat and taken to hospital where his leg was saved.
Elsewhere in the documentary, experts suggested the attacks may be happening as hungry sharks are hunting for prey they would not normally eat.
Despite shark numbers declining in many parts of the world, attacks aren’t going down. Scientists believe this is because of an increasing number of people in the water.
Dan explained how he had seen a shark approaching his group while diving off the coast of Egypt in 2018
Laura Ryan explained: ‘There’s a few different reasons why sharks would bite humans.
‘It can be aggression or a human invading their space or in a more exploratory nature.
‘If they’re not sure what something is, this could be how they investigate the object.
‘There’s also this idea of mistaken identity, where sharks can identity objects as something different, like seals.’
If a person encounters a shark when in the water, experts recommend remaining still still and not to swim away.
If the shark does attack, experts recommend punching the shark with all their might in the nose, due to their sensitivity. In most cases, experts says, that will drive the shark away.
After the shark grabbed hold of the diver’s leg, Dan recalled: there was a big plume of blood in the water
They also advise that if a shark is circling around someone in the water and does not seem to be of immediate threat, they key is to remain still and vigilant until it swims away.
Just last month, Egypt put its beaches in lockdown following the brutal shark attack that killed a 23-year-old in front of his desperate father.
Authorities have cracked down on snorkeling, swimming and watersports after Vladimir Popov was mauled to death by a tiger shark at the Hurghada resort in Egypt.
Witnesses say the victim’s now mourning girlfriend had been in the water at the time of the attack, while his helpless father watched from ashore.
The ban will last until tomorrow, with beaches from the northern El-Gouna Resort to the south border of Abu Souma Bay affected.
In a statement, Egypt’s Environment Ministry said: ‘Dr. Yasmin Fouad, the Minister of the Environment, directed the staff specialized in managing the shark attack incident on a pioneer of Hurghada beaches, to apply all policies applied globally to achieve maximum levels of safety for Red Sea shores and to take all possible measures to avoid the repetition of the shark attack incident again.
‘In light of abnormal shark behaviour causing the incident and previous fact that there have been incidents of attacks on humans by this species in the past, the fishing team examined the fish that caused the incident to examine it to find out possible causes for the attack and whether it was. Same fish that caused previous accidents.’
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