CAPE TOWN, South Africa (15 June 2005) -- University of Stellenbosch student Henri Murray might have had a foreboding of the dreadful fate that awaited him when he went skin-diving with his friend, Piet van Niekerk, 23. Speaking to the media for the first time since the attack that killed his best friend, Van Niekerk said: "Henri said that day he wouldn't mind being attacked by a shark because Miller's Point is notorious for shark attacks. "But, I think he knew his time was near. I believe God took him away," said Van Niekerk about the June 4 tragedy. He said that when the attack happened, "I was utterly helpless, but I could hear Henri's screams clearly. "Within 30 seconds, it was all over." Van Niekerk said they got into the water about 14:00 and Henri, 22, speared a galjoen about an hour later. "Minutes later, he shouted 'A Great White is here; we have to get out'. Has South Africa's cage diving industry made coastal waters and beaches unsafe for tourists and locals?Saw his arms in shark's mouth "While we were trying to get ashore, the shark jumped out of the water next to us. He disappeared under the water again. "At first, he snapped at Henri twice, but was unsuccessful because Henri fought him off. "The third time the shark pulled him under the water. I dived beneath the water and I saw Henri's arms in the shark's mouth," said Van Niekerk. He rushed to get help and someone called the National Sea Rescue Institute. Van Niekerk said: "Ten minutes later, we went looking for Henri in a boat, but couldn't find him." Some of his equipment was found the next day. Meanwhile, international shark expert Geremy Cliff thinks the shark that took Henri might have been the same one that killed Tyna Webb, 78, in an early-morning shark attack last year. According to Cliff, there is a possibility the shark could have developed a taste for human flesh. Murray was the fifth person to be attacked within a year along the False Bay coast. Shark feeding blamed for shark attacks The recent spate of shark attacks off South Africa has provoked demands that officials shut down commercial cage diving operators who feed sharks to attract them to near-coastal waters for thrill seeking dive tourists. Cage diving operators deny their shark feeding stunts have made South Africa's popular coastal waters unsafe for tourists and locals. | | Diving too close to shark feeding areas? Shark attack victim Henri Murray. With the support of the scuba diving and dive travel industries, cage diving operators deny their shark feeding stunts have made South Africa's popular tourism destinations unsafe for both locals and tourists. Due to concerns about public safety and scientific studies that confirm fish feeding adversely effects marine wildlife, coastal resource management officials in the United States, the Maldives, the Cayman Islands, Egypt and many other popular diving destinations have banned all shark feeding and fish feeding activities. According to the DEMA dive industry marketing group and PADI, a US-based company that sells diver certification cards, sports apparel and interactive shark feeding thrill dives, shark feeding is a multi-million dollar industry that "rebrands" sharks as cute, playful and friendly just like dolphin and orca aquarium shows. The United Nations and leading international environmental groups such as the Humane Society and Wildaid condemn interactive shark feeding dives as harassment of marine wildlife and argue that divers and the public should be taught to respect sharks as predators, not cute circus animals exploited by scuba diving companies to perform for the amusement of thrill-seeking tourists. SOURCE - CDNN, News24CDNN Related Story: South Africans want shark feeding bannedCDNN Related Story: Shark feeding cage dive operators blamed for shark attacks in South AfricaCDNN Related Story: Shark cage diving: Feeding, filming, mutilating great white sharksClick on graphic, go to CDNN Shark Feeding Timeline: A Chronology of Key Events. |
