UPDATE – 2nd FATAL shark attack at Anse Lazio, Praslin, Seychelles – 16 August 2011 – snorkeller attacked

The beautiful Anse Lazio, Praslin island, Seychelles - scene of two fatal shark attacks in 16 days.

UPDATE:
22 August 2011

Just to clarify, following conflicting reports, Ian Redmond was bitten on the back and arm, not on the leg as initially reported.

Also, researchers from South Africa’s Natal Sharks Board have examined a tooth that was embedded in the wound. They say the tooth is from a great white about 10 foot long.

UPDATE:
19 August 2011.
BBC News online has a moving piece quoting the widow of Ian Redmond who died in the attack.

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We have more details of this second fatal shark attack at Anse Lazio, Seychelles, widely recognised as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world

A British tourist Ian Martin Redmond, 30, died from a massive wound on his left leg after being bitten by a shark while snorkelling about 20 metres off Anse Lazio on Praslin Island in the Seychelles.

He was just married and was on honeymoon with his wife who was on the beach at the time of the attack.

It is not known what type of shark it was – although people commenting on SharkAttackMonitor suggest it was a either a bull shark or tiger shark, both of which are found around Seychelles.

A witness on the beach at the time of the incident

Anse Lazio (the beach on the left) is regarded as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

described the scene in a comment to SharkAttackMonitor.

I was seated on the beach when a lady beside me starting shouting something and pointing towards the water … I could see someone in the water with a mask and snorkel about 20 yards offshore.

Dinghies launched from both catamarans [anchored in the bay]. They circled the swimmer and pulled him into one of the dinghies.

He said when the dinghy landed on the beach he saw the shark attack victim in the boat “who was missing a huge chunk of flesh from his left leg, so much so that I could see the bone of his thigh”.

He was sickeningly pale, but still had his flippers on both feet. At this point a woman ran over and started screaming… she said “that’s my husband! We were just married…”

I wanted to burst into tears. People all over the beach where just hugging whoever was close to them or squatting in the sand pulling on their hair, or trying to keep any children from witnessing what was going on.

After some time, perhaps 5 minutes I saw someone doing chest compressions and that’s when I knew this was a fatal attack.

He said an ambulance arrived at the scene 30-40 minutes after the attack took place.

According to a report on Sky News online the Seychelles government issued a statement after an emergency meeting last night saying that “with immediate effect, the Seychelles Maritime Safety Administration has issued a temporary ban on swimming or entering the water in certain bays of the island of Praslin and islands off the coast of Praslin following two fatal shark attacks this month in the northwest area of the island”.

The report also said officials have reinforced a ban on the dumping of waste from yachts and other boats into coastal waters to prevent sharks being lured to beach areas.

Some people writing to SharkAttackMonitor after the first fatal attack at Anse Lazio on 1 August 2011 said crew had been dumping waste off boats anchored in the bay and that this had attracted the shark into shallow waters.

Sources:
Sky News

PIC Sources:
Seychelles-islands-beaches.com
Flikr – Stewart Morris photostream

Explore posts in the same categories: Indian Ocean, snorkeller

Tags: Anse Lazio, fatal, honeymoon, Ian Martin Redmond, Praslin, Seychelles, shark attack, snorkelling

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