Rose island shark attack

[swissh40]

Just booked an excursion through carnival for the snorkel excursion around rose island in August. I know there is always a danger in the water, but this particular attack with three sharks close to land is unnerving. Thinking about trying to cxl. 

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/abcnews.go.com/amp/International/american-woman-killed-shark-snorkeling-bahamas-police/story%3Fid%3D63972067

[ProgRockCruiser]

Well, sharks do hang out in the littoral waters (close to land) because that is where a lot of food is for them.  I think the thing is to just be aware of any sightings, and remember to stick your head up and look around every now and then - especially if snorkeling alone, away from others, but even if snorkeling in a group.

 

You are far more likely to get in some other unfortunate situation on the way to the cruise port than be attacked by a shark.

[ShakyBeef]

How horrible!  So sad.  Prayers for her loved ones.

 

There seem to have been a lot more shark attacks in the Atlantic lately.

[purplephenom]

What an awful story.  How horrible.  

 

Like @ProgRockCruiser said, the odds of getting attacked by a shark are very slim, and tons of people go in the water and never even see a shark.  But, if cancelling would make you feel better about your vacation, IMO you should cancel. Vacation isn't supposed to be stressful and something you worry about.  

[ProgRockCruiser]

24 minutes ago, ShakyBeef said:

There seem to have been a lot more shark attacks in the Atlantic lately.

 

They are just reported a whole lot more, and social media has created instant-shock-news delivery methods.  Shark attacks are down, world wide and in the Atlantic (which is really "Florida").  Especially when you consider the increase in human population that is interacting in traditional shark territory.

 

From:

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/yearly-worldwide-summary/

 

"For decades, Florida has topped the charts for worldwide shark attacks and the trend continued in 2018. Florida’s 16 cases represent 50% of the U.S. total. "

 

and

 

"The 16 unprovoked shark attacks in Florida were significantly lower than the most recent five-year annual average of 30 incidents. "

 

And summarizing:

 

"The worldwide total number of unprovoked shark attacks is remarkably low given the number of people participating in aquatic recreation each year. For decades, worldwide fatality rates have continued to decline reflecting advances in beach safety, medical treatment and public awareness. This underscores the importance of global efforts to improve ocean rescue, medical care and shark education.

The somber truth is that most of the world’s shark populations are in decline, or exist at greatly reduced levels, as a consequence of overfishing and habitat loss. On average, there are only six fatalities attributable to unprovoked attacks by sharks worldwide, each year. By contrast, fisheries kill about 100 million sharks and rays annually. There is a pressing need to conserve these animals and their associated habitats to ensure their sustainability in the long term."

 

Also look at this, which, though recently published, looked at data up to 2015:

 

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0211049

[Host Carolyn]

This isn't really cruise related as it's evolving but will.leave so others can f find this news and make decisions re their excursion in this area