INJURED – 10 September 2012 – Vava’u, Tonga – diver attacked

Kylie Maquire recovers in hospital in Tonga following a shark attack.

Treasure hunter Kylie Maguire, 29, suffered serious wounds to her buttocks and thighs from a shark attack in waters off Tonga.

Doctors who treated Kylie in Tonga estimated the length of the shark to be 3m, with teeth about 25mm across and a 40-45cm bite circumference. The shark is thought to be a bull shark.

The incident occurred on Monday 10 September 2012.

The captain of the treasure seeking boat said Kylie had paddled off with a friend in an inflatable kayak from the anchored boat near the Treasure Island Resort in Vava’u about 4pm. The shark attack occurred shortly after this. It is not clear if she was swimming or diving when the attack occurred.

She was treated initially at a hospital in Tonga and then airlifted to Brisbane for further treatment after one of the wounds became infected.

Sources:
Whitsunday Times

ABC

PIC Source:
BlueTreasure

INJURED – 29 May 2012 – Boca de la Leña, La Unión, Mexico – diver bitten

Benigno Medina Navarrete recovers in hospital after losing his left hand from a shark bite.

Benigno Medina Navarrete,  46, lost his left hand when a shark bit him while he was fishing. He nearly lost his entire left forearm in the attack while was diving with his friend off Boca de la Leña in La Unión, Mexico. It is not clear if he was spearfishing. Some reports say he was fishing, some say he was diving.

His friend helped him ashore, placed a tourniquet on his arm and then took him to Hospital General de Lázaro Cárdenas where he underwent emergency surgery.

He told media he is thankful his friend got him to hospital quicky which saved his life.

He said: “I felt a sharp pain, but I held strong … and I asked God, ‘Help me … I still want see my children and my family.’”

The incident happened around 9am on 29 May 2012.

Some reports say it was a bull shark about 3 metres long.

Sources:

El Sol De Zamora
Diario ABC
Despertar de la Costa

PIC Source:
Diario ABC

INJURED – 6 March 2012 – Melbourne Aquarium, Australia – Aquarist bitten

A Melbourne Aquarium diver in her late 30s (not named) was bitten in the face during a routine feeding session, but avoided serious injury. She suffered three lacerations to the right side of her mouth, according to the report.

The shark that bit her was “a 40cm tawny nurse shark that did not have sharp teeth”.

She was taken to hospital in a stable condition after being treated.

Sources:

ABC

The Australian

INJURED – 28 October 2011 – uShaka Marine World, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa – aquarist bitten

A brief report on South Africa’s East Coast Radio (ECR) quotes Dr Mark Penning,  the CEO of uShaka Marine World in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa as saying one of the divers at the marine theme park was bitten on the arm by a ragged tooth shark while doing routine work in the aquarium. The incident happened in the morning of 28 October 2011.

“Luckily he’s a tough guy. He’s in hospital, and he’s being very well looked after,” he said.

“This is not an aggressive shark, it’s not a species of shark that will deliberately go out and hunt a diver, but the animal got scared and it lashed out, and unfortunately his arm was in the way at that time.”

No other details were reported.

Source:
East Coast Radio

FATAL – 22 October 2011 – Rottnest Island, Western Australia – diver attacked

A 32-year-old diver (name not reported) was killed by a three-metre great white while diving 500 metres north of Rottnest Island, Western Australia.

Initial reports are quite thin. All they say is that witnesses on the dive boat saw a large amount of bubbles before the man surfaced with ‘horrific’ and ‘obviously fatal’ injuries.

Two people on the boat described the shark as a 3-metre great white.

It is the third fatal shark attack off the west coast of Australia in two months.

The blog will be updated when we have more details.

Sources:

The Guardian
Channel News Asia

INJURED – 10 July 2010 – Lauderdale by the Sea, Florida, US – diver bitten

A very brief report by 7 News.com says a diver (not named) bitten by a nurse shark he was trying to rescue from a net. The incident occurred on Sunday 10 July 2010 in the area of 2 E Commercial Blvd, Lauderdale by the Sea, Florida, US. He was treated on the scene for lacerations.

No other details were reported.

Source:
7 News

FATAL — 15 February 2010 ?? — Yadua Island, Fiji — diver attacked

A diver went missing after being attacked and dragged under the water by what wtinesses think was a shark. From the report it is unclear when exactly the attack happened. The report is dated Thursday 18 Feb 2010. It noted police on Yardua island, Fiji were told of the attack on Monday afternoon, which would have been the 15th of Feb.

According to the report:

Captain Kaukau Corrie said they watched helplessly as fellow diver, Henry Usimewa, 19, struggled and fought off an unseen creature before he was dragged beneath the waves.

Corrie said when they rushed to his aid less than half a minute later, Usimewa was nowhere to be seen.

“He was gone and all that was left behind was his diving gear,” he said.

“The boys dived in to look for him.”

 Usimewa, of Tabwewa Village in Rabi, was part of a group of seven divers working for High San Trading aboard the Grace Three. They dove for sucuwalu or beach-de-mer near Nara Reef, which is an hour’s boat ride from Yadua Island.

Four divers including the deceased were in the sea at the time of the attack.

“Around 9.30am we spotted him surface about 15 metres from the boat,” said Capt Corrie. “I can still hear his screams as he fought off something that pulled him under. It was terrifying.

“He was wearing his diving jacket but was pulled clean from it.

“We looked whole day and whole of Tuesday but we couldn’t find him except for his diving gear and sack of sucuwalu.

“We saw that his regulator hose had been bitten off. We are horrified and scared to dive in this area.”

No other details were reported.

Sources: CDNN