Taras Fomchenkov
for EcoToutism Expert 
The recent fatal incident in Hurghada, Egypt, when a shark killed a man, brought to the fore the question of whether it is possible to defend against attacks by these marine predators. EcoTourism EXPERT has collected facts and myths and tried to answer this question from an expert point of view. Moreover, Egypt remains one of the most popular destinations for vacations abroad in the tourism season of 2023.
The writer of these notes is an amateur diver who made nine trips to Egypt, two dozen dives and took the international PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course to be certified as an Advanced Open Water Diver (level 2) and improve his skills in amateur scuba diving. At the same time, it’s worth saying that I have never seen sharks while diving. Moreover, my Egyptian colleague, Usama Fathe, the owner of a scuba club in Sharm el-Sheikh, who made over 5,000 dives, once said that “if you want to watch sharks, you need to specifically look for them”.
The statistics
However, there is a problem: from 2010 to 2023, there were 16 cases of shark attacks on humans, according to official data, 6 of which were fatal. It turns out that the probability of becoming a victim of a shark attack is 0.0000129 percent, and the probability of dying from shark teeth is 0.00000483 percent.
Should vacationers be afraid of a shark attack? On the one hand, taking into account that over 120 mn tourists visited the Red Sea resorts during this period, the probability of being attacked by a shark is less than dying from a meteorite. But on the other hand, if you calmly swim in warm water and suddenly see a shark fin 10 metres away from you, you forget the statistics at once.
Perhaps, I should mention that six species of sharks live in the Red Sea, but most of them approach the coast very seldom. So, you are unlikely to be ‘lucky’ to see a great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvieri), bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas), and a hammerhead shark (Sphyrna). By the way, this is very good because, for example, the last two species are very aggressive and ‘curious’. But whitetip sharks (Carcharhinus longimanus) and sharp-nosed mako sharks (Isurus oxyrinchus) are much more likely to be seen off the coast. By the way, the mako sharks are suspected of most attacks on humans.
Various equipment is of no help
How to avoid becoming a victim? It should be said right away that no technical protective equipment has been invented so far to completely protect against a shark attack. Shark proof cages protecting against the sea predators, in which thrill-seekers dive, should not be taken into account because they were created specifically to ‘tickle’ while being completely safe. So, if shockers, ultrasonic generators and other devices against sharks are offered on the Internet, just close the site page at once.
And shark nets protecting against these marine predators and used to equip the coastal waters of some hotels, on the contrary, often attract sharks because small living creatures get entangled in the nets, die and attract sea predators.
However, one way of protection (so to speak) against these marine predators still exists and has even been tested ‘in practice’. The thing is that the nerve endings are concentrated on a shark’s ‘nose’. If you have the opportunity to hit the shark in the ‘nose’ with anything, even with your hand - and really hit and not just ‘stroke’ with your hand - there is a chance that the shark will leave you alone. I emphasize that it is necessary to hit as strong as possible because sharks have thick skin and they have no pain receptors, which makes it possible to distract attention with a real blow, not with just a flick on the nose. I emphasize it once again - it is possible to distract the shark’s attention but it doesn’t guarantee that the shark will really leave you alone.
There are no sharks in Taba or Nuweiba
As for the resort cities, Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh, the most popular among the Russians, are exactly the places where the attacks by sharks on humans were registered. Therefore, if you are afraid of coming across these marine inhabitants, you should think about buying a tour to Taba or Nuweiba - these places are the safest in this regard, no shark attacks have been reported there so far.
In my opinion, if you spend your vacations in Hurghada, it will be more difficult for an ordinary swimmer to escape from a shark. The coastline of Hurghada is characterized by a gentle entry into the water, so if you don’t just swim near the beach but swim far into the sea, it’s more difficult in case of danger to get into shallow water where a shark cannot reach you, and it takes longer to get to shallow water.
In Sharm el-Sheikh, ‘classic’ swimming makes absolutely no sense. In these places, all vacationers enjoy snorkeling at a distance of half a metre or two metres from the coral reef. The depth can reach 5 metres or more under a swimmer. A swimmer can just stretch out the hand, grab onto the coral, ‘roll’ onto it - and a tourist can stand on the coral reef knee-deep in water. No shark will be able to attack the tourist.
But in general, unpleasant incidents with sharks happen most often either in the open sea far from land or during excursions to coral reefs. Therefore, people should be as careful as possible during sea excursions. As for the rest on the coast, it is an ideal situation when the hotel is not located close to the places where ships are secured in roadstead. The fact is that dead animals can be dumped from them (in this regard, the end of the Ramadan month can theoretically pose a greater danger to vacationers). This ‘food’ is very attractive to marine predators.
Calm down, just calm down
As for specific recommendations, in no case should you go into the water with an open bleeding wound. Sharks have the sharpest sense of smell and they feel a drop of blood dissolved in water at a distance of hundreds of metres.
In no case should you swim at night (it is strictly prohibited in Egypt). You should not swim on a mattress or something that can resemble a fish when looking from the water. By the way, the surfers on their boards hold the lead in the sad statistics of fatal accidents when they were attacked by sharks.
It is best to swim in a group. Yes, this is true - for a shark, a person in a normal situation is outside the sharks’ diet. However, if there is a person in the group who is in panic and beats the water with the hands or, on the contrary, lies on the water surface, this person has supposedly less chance of surviving, because the person is already a weak prey - trying to stay afloat - who can be eaten. Or, if you calmly drift with your arms extended along the body and you do not move your legs, then you (seen from below) can resemble a calm big fish, which is also not the best way of behaviour.
By the way, if a shark gets interested in a group, the fish starts moving in circles around the group. If these circles are narrowing, it is better to get out of water and stay on a beach because the shark’s interest can develop into a gastronomic one. But unfortunately, it is impossible to predict the shark’s behaviour.
Ideally, the group should become ‘bigger’ in size. Every person should ‘stretch’ vertically, visually increasing the area. It is an instinctive animal law - something big and unknown, maybe, will not be attacked by a shark.
And, finally, the most interesting advice. Try to lose weight. This strange tip really works. Sharks’ taste and smell are ‘tuned’ specifically to fat, since their main food is large fish and pinnipeds. If a shark feels fat when biting a victim, the sea predator can keep on attacking. And it will be much more difficult to save your life.
