MIAMI, Florida (28 Feb 2008) — Jim Abernethy, the charter boat operator whose passenger was fatally mauled by a shark near Grand Bahama, could lose the right to lead tours in those waters, Bahamian authorities said Tuesday. But he also faces a more immediate concern: a criminal investigation by Miami-Dade homicide detectives. Abernethy issued a brief statement Monday expressing condolences for ''this unfortunate accident.'' Attempts to reach him Tuesday were unsuccessful. As officials sorted out Sunday's fatal adventure, divers across the world lit up online message boards about the controversial practice of cageless shark diving while baiting the predators with bloody chum. Markus Groh, a 49-year-old Austrian lawyer, died at Jackson Memorial Hospital Sunday after being flown there on a Coast Guard helicopter. He was bitten during a shark-diving excursion with Abernethy's Scuba Adventures from Riviera Beach. A Miami-Dade police spokeswoman said the investigation is routine, pending definitive autopsy results. ''We're involved because once the shark attack occurred, they brought him to shore and he died at Jackson Memorial,'' Detective Nelda Fonticiella said. ``Our role is to wait for the medical examiner to make an official ruling.'' The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's office listed Groh's mode of death as accidental Monday, but the autopsy report was not yet finalized Tuesday. A Bahamian Ministry of Tourism spokeswoman said authorities there are trying to determine whether Abernethy violated any of the country's charter-diving guidelines. ''We have rules for diving,'' said Nalini Bethel, the tourism department's senior director of communications. Abernethy had been warned by the Bahamas Diving Association not to lead cageless dives in chum-baited water with tiger sharks, hammerheads and other potentially aggressive kinds. The Scuba Adventures website said the purpose of Groh's six-day trip on the 70-foot Shear Water was specifically to find tigers and hammerheads. Bethel said it was a tiger shark that killed Groh. She also said Sunday's incident could lead Bahamian authorities to forbid Abernethy from leading shark-feeding dive excursions there. It's already illegal off Florida's coast. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission banned shark dives with chum baiting in 2001 -- sending operators like Abernethy toward the Bahamas. Even if the official investigations result in no criminal charges, maritime experts say Abernethy could have a legal headache awaiting him. ''I would sue the operator, sue the people involved,'' said attorney David Neblett of Miami Maritime Law. | 
