By Prior Beharry
THE $10,000 bounty on the head of the bull shark that attacked a British tourist on Friday in Tobago has been retracted.
This was revealed in a press conference late Friday evening by Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Farley Augustine.
He said, “The bounty was offering $10,000 for registered fishers who could help us ‘capture’ the bull shark.
“In some jurisdictions they refer to it as rescuing the bull shark, meaning being able to remove it from where it can cause harm to individuals and put it in a place where it can’t cause harm to individuals.
“Because there was so much confusion over the bounty that is out, I have asked for the ad to be retracted effective immediately and I have asked that the fishers work along with the Coast Guard, world along with the divers and other stakeholders and experts to man the area.”
Viral videos on social media show bull sharks at No Man’s Land and Buccoo on Friday with one video with a dead shark which was claimed to be the one that attacked the English tourist.
Around 9.15 am on Friday, Peter Smith, 64, of Berkhamsted England, was reportedly bitten by a bull shark about ten feet in length and two feet wide.
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The shark attack occurred at Courland Bay also known as Turtle Bay by the popular Starfish Hotel. He was in Tobago vacationing with his wife and friends and was taking his last swim before his flight back to England that same day.
Augustine reported that Smith’s left hand was severed from the elbow down. He also suffered injuries to his left thigh and stomach.
The Chief Secretary said beaches from Plymouth, where the incident took place, to Store Bay will remain closed on Saturday.
Augustine said, “When I had conversations with the Chief Administrator she pointed out that the recommendation and the conversation (for the bounty) came about with actual divers and fishers in the space.
“Somebody didn’t just think of this out of the blue from out of the THA, but the suggestion came from among the stakeholders.
“THA already has experts in the space doing the monitoring and evaluation to ensure that people will be safe.”
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He said there was constant monitoring of the area during the day along the affected areas in the coming days.
Augustine said, “There is a need for persons to always be cautious whenever you go to the beach. When you go to the beach to bathe there is always the likelihood that shark, barracuda can always pop up… we are actually in their habitat.
Smith is heavily sedated at the Intensive Care Unit of the Scarborough General Hospital.
Augustine said that bull sharks were usually solitary hunters, but sometimes hunted in pairs.
He said, “It’s not a case where they are 10, 15, 20 bull sharks roaming in group.
“So after they attack this (Friday) morning at Courland Bay we had some additional sightings because the bull shark was being trailed.
He said bull sharks can move through shallow waters with quick acceleration and were highly aggressive to animals and humans.
Augustine said bull sharks were sometimes known to make their way up river courses and in fresh water, so they operate in both salt and fresh water. He added, “That’s the nature of bull sharks. They tend to operate along coastlines and in shallow areas.”
He said they were agile and aggressive and could be unpredictable.
Augustine said, “All sharks are not the same. (We) don’t want people thinking that there are sharks all over. That’s not the case.”
He said the Tobago Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) will do education for stakeholders – the lifeguards, tour boat operators, divers and fishermen – operating in the spaces where the shark was present.
Augustine said this will ensure the stakeholders know how to identify a bull, how they behave and how to respond to them.
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