Diver in chummed waters dies after shark bite

Story Highlights

Diving enthusiast in waters baited with bloody fish parts fatally bitten by shark

Man was in open water without cage on commercial dive trip

Man bitten on leg, later taken to hospital where he died




WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) -- An Austrian tourist died Monday after being bitten by a shark while diving near the Bahamas in waters that had been baited with bloody fish parts to attract the predators.

Markus Groh, 49, a Vienna lawyer and diving enthusiast, was on a commercial dive trip Sunday when he was bitten about 50 miles off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, said Karlick Arthur, Austrian consul general in Miami, Florida.

Groh was in the open water without a cage or similar protection.

The crew aboard the Shear Water, of Riviera Beach-based Scuba Adventures, immediately called the U.S. Coast Guard, which received a mayday from the vessel, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Nick Ameen.

Groh was airlifted to a hospital, where he died. Groh was bitten on the leg, Ameen said, but he could not be more specific about the extent of his injuries.

It was unclear what type of shark was involved in the attack. The shark got away before anyone could identify the species.

The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation by the Miami-Dade Police Department. A telephone message left for police was not immediately returned.

A woman who answered the telephone at Scuba Adventures on Monday said the company had no comment.

The company's Web site says it offers the opportunity to get "face to face" with sharks. The site explains that its hammerhead and tiger shark expeditions in the Bahamas are "unique shark trips ... run exclusively for shark enthusiasts and photographers."

To ensure "the best results we will be 'chumming' the water with fish and fish parts," the Web site explains. "Consequently, there will be food in the water at the same time as the divers. Please be aware that these are not 'cage' dives, they are open water experiences.

Jeez, what kind of legal "release of liability" did this guy have to sign? A 49 yo Vienna lawyer probably leaves behind a wealthy widow, even under conditions where life-insurance would be unlikely to pay.

This is a slide show from someone who went with the same outfit on a shark dive. It's the ones you don't see that end up killing you.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scotts101/sets/72157594234...show/with/213115919/

Anybody see the "how they made the movie" bit that accompanies Open Water? They actually chumned the water and encouraged the sharks to bite, somewhere in the Bahamas as well. I guess you just have to hope Jaws brother doesn't show up.

Grizz

You don't need the brother of jaws. those Tigers will make a meal of you right away! I wouldn't share a wet sponge with one of them!

sounds like a dodgy operation being run. Check out the sharks board in umhlanga, south africa

what a idiot. who gets into chummed waters with sharks. That is just asking for trouble.

stupid hurts

Willingly getting into water where sharks are prevalent is just plain death wish

quote:

Originally posted by SGraves155:
This is a slide show from someone who went with the same outfit on a shark dive. It's the ones you don't see that end up killing you.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scotts101/sets/72157594234...show/with/213115919/

I just looked at that slide show. A lot of the photos show a pretty decent sized tiger shark. I've logged over 300 dives at depths up to 150 feet. The only thing I've ever been scared of in the water is tiger sharks. We used to run into a fair number of them when I was stationed in Hawaii. Deadly beasts.

Anyone that would swim in chummed water with a tiger shark has a death wish. Period. It's kind of like putting your hand in a fire and hoping you don't get burned too bad. It's a sucker's bet.

quote:

Originally posted by SGraves155:
This is a slide show from someone who went with the same outfit on a shark dive. It's the ones you don't see that end up killing you.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scotts101/sets/72157594234...show/with/213115919/

Wow, wow wow and finally wow.
These guys are on the tippy top of the food chain, you've GOT to respect them especially when you're in their house.

quote:

Markus Groh, 49, a Vienna lawyer and diving enthusiast

Perhaps he was expecting some profeshional courtisy?

quote:

Originally posted by Tailgunner:

quote:

Markus Groh, 49, a Vienna lawyer and diving enthusiast

Perhaps he was expecting some profeshional courtisy?

That's funny right there!

When I was diving about 30 years ago I was on a formation of "rills" at about 80ft. As I swam up the "hill" I swam over a tiger about 7ft long no more than 6ft below me. H was swimming "down the canyon" so to speak. I made a rapid ascent. When I got back on the boat the divemaster asked"Did you see that BFTS?"
When I told him how close I saw it he got white.
I never liked sharks. I saw a 7 foot tiger bite a 15 foot nurse shark in half years ago.

That's a foolish thing to do for anyone.

quote:

Originally posted by Tailgunner:

quote:

Markus Groh, 49, a Vienna lawyer and diving enthusiast

Perhaps he was expecting some profeshional courtisy?

He got some pro-fish-onal courtesy instead.

This was a product recall by God.

No lost to the gene pool as I see it, we have moved up a notch hopefully

This was a common practice in the Bahamas for years. It was practiced to such an extent that an anchor chain and anchor hitting the bottom was literally like ringing the dinner bell. I belive the practice has been outlawed, however the sharks have yet to forget their Pavlovian response.

Jeff

Two observations.

1. I can get as "up close and personal" with a shark as I ever want at the Texas State Aquarium just a couple of hours away in Corpus Christi.

2. Mother nature does not suffer fools gladly. Too bad the moke had already bred.

Sharks just do what is natural for their species, yet rarely harm their own species.

Lawyers, arguably, are in a profession, by choice, to serve their fellow species.

OTOH, terrorists and other extreemists are lower than either sharks or lawyers, because their choices are against nature. Over ideology, they choose to harm and lack empathy with their own species, their fellow man. Not even snakes do that.

KB

Some people just can't accept the fact that once in the water you simply are not at the top of the food chain any longer and neither the ocean itself or the creatures in it give a shit who or what you are. No matter how important you think you are you are inconsequential or worse yet you appear to be a food source.

i have been diving in a place where they do these chum dives in the bahamas, but it was all white tips and black tips, which are pretty inofensive.... Im not sure I would be in the water with a chummed up tiger shark..

I was on a surfboard in Hawaii and a big one swam under my board. It looked the size, and width of a small submarine. They get HUGE, and will bite, and or eat anything. Boat propellers, license plates, etc.
The girls in the guys pictures are REALLY good sized sharks.

Why is it people don't take sharks the size of big dogs seriously? Reef sharks have much bigger mouths for their size then a rott, but you don't see people screwing with them.

Guess people were gettin tired of Treadwell getting all the glory. Took a little bit to outdo him, reckon this about does it. I think..
Good news is, Ron White is gonna have more material for his next show..

snakes eat other snakes and bigger sharks eat smaller 1's and there are extreamists on both sides of the fence both kill and maim, coyotes,boar eat other dead/sick animals of the same specie...
once your dead your nothing but food for somthing else specie or what specie you may belong to dosnt mean shit when your dead.

lawyers are smart 1's they feed on the weak and the weak minded oh well nature at work

When the USS Indianapolis went down in 1945 wasn't it tiger sharks that killed a bunch of the sailors?

This is an old thread but I had to laugh at some of the comments.
I would have to say that most of you would pay to hunt in Alaska if you had the money and chance to do so. Killing game in Brown Bear country is fricken nuts, it's like chumming in Great White shark infested waters and carrying dead fish on your belt.
Would I do it, hell yes I would, (hunt in BB country, not chum up GWs') and I do swim and spearfish with sharks around in Bahamian waters every summer. I've also run many "Shark Dives" when I worked the Nekton Pilot, a live-aboard dive boat in the Bahamas.
Some people don't like to be in conditions where they are not alone at the top of food chain, some people thrive in those conditions.
One side will call you a pussy and the other side will call you stupid, depending on what side of the fence you are on.

My opinion on this:
Diving in bottomless water "Bluewater" and chumming for sharks is pushing it. It's to hard to defend yourself and you just don't know what will show up on any given dive. Shark dives in shallow water makes it much easier to defend yourself if a sea monster shows up. It's not something for the faint of heart.
I'm more worried to walk the streets of Miami, or any big city, than I am to swim with sharks.

quote:

Originally posted by Tailgunner:

quote:

Markus Groh, 49, a Vienna lawyer and diving enthusiast

Perhaps he was expecting some profeshional courtisy?

The normal price for a mistake of that kind is an arm and a leg.

Guess that makes it a half-off discount, eh?

Vienna lawyer?

These jackasses couldn't get a couple American lawyers?

quote:

Originally posted by Swordfish:
This is an old thread but I had to laugh at some of the comments.
I would have to say that most of you would pay to hunt in Alaska if you had the money and chance to do so. Killing game in Brown Bear country is fricken nuts, it's like chumming in Great White shark infested waters and carrying dead fish on your belt.
Would I do it, hell yes I would, (hunt in BB country, not chum up GWs') and I do swim and spearfish with sharks around in Bahamian waters every summer. I've also run many "Shark Dives" when I worked the Nekton Pilot, a live-aboard dive boat in the Bahamas.
Some people don't like to be in conditions where they are not alone at the top of food chain, some people thrive in those conditions.
One side will call you a pussy and the other side will call you stupid, depending on what side of the fence you are on.

My opinion on this:
Diving in bottomless water "Bluewater" and chumming for sharks is pushing it. It's to hard to defend yourself and you just don't know what will show up on any given dive. Shark dives in shallow water makes it much easier to defend yourself if a sea monster shows up. It's not something for the faint of heart.
I'm more worried to walk the streets of Miami, or any big city, than I am to swim with sharks.

Surfing between the Bay and Lanis (HI) got pretty adventurous in 93/94. The tigers still eat someone pretty regular each year.