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Tuesday's shark attack may have shifted the perspective of many sea lovers, and divers. But while investigations are still ongoing to see what prompted the attack, we consulted with a shark expert today.
She says that what they have learned so far from the incident is that it is an isolated event involving a Caribbean reef shark.
She notes that at present they are in the mating season which makes them a bit more skittish, which could well be a factor in this incident.
She says the area they were swimming in also happens to be an important site for female Caribbean Reef-sharks, where MAR Alliance conducts most of their behavioral monitoring work.
Kirah Forman Castillo
"We were amazed. We were all struck that this knowing the species that we work with, knowing their behavioral patterns, it was something very unexpected. It's a rare occurrence within Belizean waters. I can't speak to what exactly they were doing. We the information that we have received a It sounds like they were on a dive tour. What exactly led to the event and the situation on the ground at that time?"
"You know, that's still under investigation, so I can't speak exactly to that. What we do know is that the behavior is not normal. There seemed to be some some issues there concerning conditioning of the species, so whether this operator was feeding or not. And from what I understand, they weren't. However, these animals have already been conditioned. There's some behavioral changes that have occurred."
"And we can't say, you know, what is the circumstances. That's something still under investigation. But we know that it's not normal. It's not a normal behavior for them to behave the way that they did? The marine environment is part of our backbone and it's key to who we are as Belizeans and it's something that we are prideful about. So we so we can know."
"I just I just want to send the message to all the people that we don't need to be afraid to get back in, to get back into the water. And I've heard that today, actually, somebody said that somebody saw me today and they saw the logo and asked about it and they commented. Oh, I'm now afraid to go into what we don't need to be afraid of."
"We think about how often these incidences occur. They're extremely rare and oftentimes the media don't. But what are some of the behind some of what is what had led to it? And it's not to blame them because behind this may not be related to any out or the particular tour or the tour operator, but it's something that may have been brewing over time."
"So we need to look at all of those factors when we know is it safe? Can we go back again? Yes."
We'll keep following the story as more is known.
