UK (27 Feb 2008) — British tourists have been warned not to go on shark-feeding scuba dives after a holidaymaker was killed off the Bahamas. The man was attacked during a trip with a Florida company although the state banned shark-feeding dives five years ago. Several dive companies get round the ban by taking divers to the Bahamas, where there are no restrictions, or into international waters. On these dives, sharks are lured to the area when a bait of "chum" – fish blood and entrails – is thrown into the water. The holidays are popular with British, German and other European holidaymakers. Some operators say half their business comes from Europe. The tour group involved, Jim Abernethy's Scuba Adventures, specialises in "open-water" expeditions, in deep water out at sea where scuba divers swim among vicious man-eaters without the protection of a safety cage. The company website says it tries to attract hammerhead, tiger and bull sharks – three of the most vicious predators in the ocean. The man who died, 49-year-old Austrian lawyer Markus Groh, was on Scuba Adventures' seven-day Great Hammerhead and Tiger Shark Expedition in the company's 65ft boat, Shear Water. The website warns: "Please be aware that these are not cage dives; they are open water experiences." A senior Coast Guard officer said Mr Groh's leg was "very nearly torn off" by the shark. The Shear Water crew radioed for help and Mr Groh was picked up from the sea 50 miles east of Fort Lauderdale by a US coast guard helicopter. But he bled to death on the way to hospital in Miami. Coastguard spokeswoman Petty Officer Jennifer Johnson said: "We strongly advise tourists not to take one of these trips. This particularly applies to people from Britain and Europe who may not be fully aware of the potential dangers." Professional diver David Earp, of Florida's Marine Safety Group, said: "These Feed Jaws tours are absolute madness. These shark circuses are out of control. They are attracting all sorts of vicious fish towards humans, including sharks, barracuda and moray eels. "All those things have very ugly teeth. Tourists just don't realise the enormous danger they are in. Shark attacks have increased dramatically around Florida this year." It has emerged that Mr Abernethy was warned last year to stop uncaged dives. Neal Watson, president of the Bahamas Diving Association, a group of 36 charter businesses, said: "We wrote to Jimmy. Him working with tiger sharks and bull sharks uncaged is totally irresponsible and dangerous. It wasn't a matter of 'if' an attack would happen, it was a matter of 'when.'" | Despite pumping more than a million dollars into its campaign to legalize shark feeding, PADI, DEMA and a small clique of U.S. dive industry insiders lost their battle to prevent Florida's ban on so-called "interactive" diving, and in the process, lost their credibility as self-described "eco-friendly" companies. George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History, and a world authority on sharks, said there have been more than two dozen injuries involving shark-feeding dives, but this was the first fatality. Mr Burgess opposes all shark feeding, not because of the danger but because it trains sharks to expect food from people and not to fear them. He said: "They lose their natural caution around human beings. For the same reason on land, you don't fee alligators or bears. It's changing the behaviour of sharks and the ecology by concentrating sharks in one area." Last night Mr Abernethy's boat was tied up at its dock in Riviera Beach, Florida, and he was being questioned by coastguard investigators. He said: "I would never have done this if I thought there would be an accident." SOURCE - Daily MailCDNN RELATED NEWSCDNN SPECIAL REPORT - Shark FeedingFLORIDA - Fatal shark attack vindicates Florida's decision to ban shark feedingBAHAMAS - Shark kills tourist during Jim Abernethy's 'interactive' shark feeding diveKEY LARGO - Shark 1, shark molesting scuba idiot 0FLORIDA - Utah tourist dies scuba diving with Jim Abernethy Scuba AdventuresGRAND BAHAMA - Shark attack victim sues Our Lucaya resort for $25mWALKER'S CAY - Shark feeder Eric Ritter attacked at shark feeding siteSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum | 
