Israeli police scour Mediterranean for swimmer feared attacked by shark

Belfast Telegraph - 15:43
Israeli police were scouring the waters off the country’s Mediterranean coast for a swimmer who they fear may have been attacked by a shark, in an area that for decades has seen close encounters between marine predators and beachgoers who sometimes seek them out.

A shiver of endangered dusky and sandbar sharks has been swimming close to the area for years, attracting onlookers who approach the sharks and drawing pleas from conservation groups for authorities to separate people from the wild animals.

Nature groups say these warnings went unheeded and on Monday, police launched a search after receiving reports that a swimmer had been attacked by a shark on a beach near the Israeli city of Hadera.

A shark swims past people in the Mediterranean Sea near Hadera (Ariel Schalit/AP)

On Tuesday, the beach near Hadera was closed off as search teams scoured the sea by boat and underwater equipment for the swimmer. The man’s identity was not immediately known, but Israeli media said he had gone to swim with the sharks.

Israelis flocked in large numbers to the beach during a week-long holiday, sharing the waters with a dozen or more sharks. Some tugged on the sharks’ fins, while others threw them fish to eat.

Dusky sharks can grow up to four metres (13 feet) long and weigh about 350kg (750 pounds). Sandbar sharks are smaller, growing to about 2.5 metres (eight feet) and 100kg (220 pounds).

Yigael Ben-Ari, head of marine rangers at Israel Nature and Parks Authority, said it was n...
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