Before an assault on a diver who is thought to be dead, a shark was seen swimming around frightened young children on an Israeli beach. Graphic video shows somebody screaming, “I’m bitten, I’m bitten,” as the sea turned red around him in what may have been the first deadly shark attack in the nation’s history.
The attack occurred on Monday, shortly after a group of young children who seemed paralyzed with fear watched the animal swim in shallow water on camera.
As the hunt for the unidentified missing man entered its second day, the beach at Hadera, north of Tel Aviv, remained closed Tuesday. This occurred when police announced that, as part of their search, they had sent “findings” for forensic analysis.
There have only been three reported shark attacks in Israel. Before the nation was established in 1948, one individual was slain in the 1940s. However, the area of shoreline has a reputation for having sharks come close to beachgoers, who occasionally actively seek them out.
Before others could say, “He suddenly disappeared,” they spotted a man far out in the ocean.
For years, a group of endangered sandbar and dusky sharks had been swimming in the vicinity, presumably drawn by the warm water emitted by a neighboring power station.
For years, conservation organizations have urged the government to keep them away from people, but to no success. In one video, which was circulated by Israeli media, a shark was seen swimming thigh-deep into the sea and approaching bathers.
The man filming yells, “What a huge shark!” as the shark gets closer to him. “Whoa! He is approaching us!
“Stay put!” He pleads with a nearby boy, who defiantly replies, “I’m going.”
“What, are you afraid of the sharks?” the man asks.
Footage of the attack, which occurred farther out to sea, showed a shark’s tail thrashing out of the water before turning red. The victim reportedly went swimming with the sharks, according to Israeli media.
“I saw the diver in the depths of the water, and he shouted, ‘I’m bitten, I’m bitten,’ and waved his hands in the air,” an eyewitness told Channel 12. Sharks bit him a few minutes later, and he abruptly vanished.
Before the water turned red, beachgoers witnessed a lot of thrashing. Different beach footage shows humans pulling at the sharks’ fins and throwing fish for them to eat. Dusky sharks can weigh roughly 350 kilograms (750 pounds) and reach a length of 4 meters (13 feet). Sandbar sharks are smaller, reaching a maximum size of 100 kg (220 pounds) and 2.5 m (8 ft).
Although it was unclear how the man who was allegedly attacked behaved around the sharks, Yigael Ben-Ari, head of Israel’s Parks and Nature Authority’s marine ranger force, said it was the public’s duty to understand that they should not go into the water and should not play with or touch the sharks.
According to the authority, “the sharks’ behavior may be unpredictable, like every wild animal.”
“It would have been appropriate to take steps to preserve and regulate public safety, but over the years, chaos has developed in the area,” a statement from Israel’s Society for the Protection of Nature stated.
“Not used to being in large crowds”
The beach was off-limits to swimmers, according to Mr. Ben-Ari, but the warning was disregarded.
According to him, a wild animal that “is not accustomed to being around crowds of people” collided dangerously with fishermen, boats, divers, surfers, and snorkelers.
Israel is already dealing with a sharp decline in tourists as a result of the security situation since October 2023, so it cannot afford to imply that its beaches are dangerous.
Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics reports that last year’s visitor numbers fell by over 68% from the previous year.
Police spokesperson Aryeh Doron said Tuesday, “We are on the second day of the search, both in the sea and on the shore, and we are sparing no means.”
“At this time, I can say that some findings were sent for [forensic] examination, and we will await the professional results,” he continued.
“We hope to help the family at the end of the day. We will keep working until they receive a definitive response.
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