Gharib Saleh, who served as the head of the Hurghada Fishermen’s Association until last year, said he had received calls from the executive authorities of the Red Sea Governorate to gather fishermen to carry out the operation to capture the shark that attacked the Russian youth.
Saleh, 73, said:
At the beginning, I told those who contacted me to collect the fishermen that hunting sharks was prohibited, and they confirmed to me that the decision was taken after examination by experts from the Ministry of the Environment and that this is an exceptional case that requires capturing the fish because it has a flaw that causes it to come out onto the beach and stay there and attack humans. 16 fishermen of different ages participated with me, and we brought 3 nets and bait, consisting of chopped fish, which we scattered in the area where the shark was to attract and control it. We saw the shark swimming near the beach, but it refused to eat the fish we used as bait, and it also dumped the rest of the Russian tourist’s body before our eyes near the beach. We made three net traps for him and chased him through two wooden boats until we could force him into one of the nets and hold his mouth with a chain. The process of catching the shark did not take more than an hour, since all the fishermen who participated in it have a lot of experience in dealing with such situations. We are not afraid of sharks and we often swim next to them in the sea. Under normal conditions they do not attack humans, but it is clear that there is something wrong with them this fish. We learned that we will be honored next Sunday by the governorate authorities for having caught this fish which threatened people’s lives.
A rare accident
For his part, the head of the Red Sea River Rescue and Environmental Protection Association, Hassan Al-Tayeb, told Sky News Arabia that the incident of a shark attack on a Russian tourist does not should not cause panic, as this is a rare and accidental incident, according to its description.
He added that “incidents of shark attacks on humans are almost daily in countries like South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and America, whereas in Egypt it happens rarely, and if it has been repeated over the past few years, it has prompted the relevant agencies to travel to investigate the causes.”
Earlier, the head of the nature protection sector at the Egyptian environment ministry, Mohamed Salem, told Sky News Arabia that the fish had been caught to be dissected and an explanation of the reason which led to the imbalance. which caused it to consider humans as one of its sources of nutrition, unlike nature.
He explained that the “tiger” shark is one of the known and usual species found in the Red Sea and is not alien to it, but its offensive behavior to humans is the strange thing.
He noted that the preliminary investigation indicated that this fish was most likely the source of two previous attacks on the coasts of Hurghada and Marsa Alam, last year and the year before.
The horrific incident of a shark when it attacked a young Russian on a beach in Hurghada has raised many questions about its type and the secret behind its attack on humans.
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