Earlier today, a 21-year-old Australian woman was reportedly diving with friends in “waist-deep
water” off North Stradbroke Island, east of Brisbane, when an unidentified shark attacked her. The woman
sustained severe injuries to both of her arms and her upper right leg. Initially, it was thought doctors would (only)
be forced to amputate both of her arms; however, she died from her injuries. The grey nurse shark, considered dangerous if
provoked, is commonly seen in waters where the woman was mauled.
A local woman said her teenage daughter was swimming nearby at the time of the attack. The woman said her daughter comforted the victim and helped try to stanch the flow of blood. I’m sure this would’ve been a traumatic way to spend the afternoon, especially since the diver (reportedly) kept repeating how she knew she was going to die.
1. I think you have to be careful when repeating a phrase like "dangerous when provoked", especially from a newspaper report.
ANY animal is dangerous when provoked, not just sharks. It intimates that the grey nurse shark is dangerous, when it's not. If it turns out this poor woman was attacked by a grey nurse shark, it will be the first fatal attack by that species on a human anywhere in the world. (Only 27 nurse shark attackes have been recorded worldwide since 1580 - according to Shark Survivor) They look fiercesome but they are usually harmless and quite docile creatures.
The grey nurse shark has been hunted almost to extinction in Australia precisely because their fierce appearance made fishermen et al wrongly believe they attacked swimmers.
Despite being protected in 1984 by the Australian government, there are only 500 or so left on Australia's East Coast. (Check Oz Grey Nurse conservation site Let Lucy Live for more info).
It sounds to me like she was attacked by something much bigger - there was a fatal Great White attack in Byron Bay (in the 1990s, I think) and Byron is only 70km down the coast from Brisbane. It's quite possible another Great White has turned up there.
I'm no shark expert, but I'd say it's highly unlike a Grey Nurse Shark is responsible for her death. Meanwhile linking grey nurse sharks to her death just propagates the myth that they are dangerous to humans, period, rather than if provoked, which is a huge qualification. It seems to me the Sydney Morning Herald reporter just threw in reference to the grey nurse sharks without knowing anything about them.
Posted at 12:39AM on Jan 8th 2006 by Chris Mitchell