A NEAR-FATAL SHARK ATTACK BY A MAKO IN THE NORTHERN RED SEA

Abstract

ABSTRACT On 7 September 1974 a girl swimmer, aged 20, and a male companion swam about 500 m offshore from North Beach, Hat, Red Sea. At about 5 p.m. the girl was attacked by a shark of about 2 m length. She was bitten approximately 12 times by the shark before being rescued. Most of the wounds were on the distal half of the limbs; surprisingly, almost no tissue was removed by the shark. The girl barely survived; ultimately it was necessary to amputate her lower left arm. Two days later a shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus), 2.33 m total length, was caught in a wier at Elat. Mako teeth are long and prong-like without serrations. Comparison of an imprint of the shark's teeth in plastic to the tooth marks from a bite on the victim's right thigh revealed that a mako of the same size, very possibly the same shark, had bitten her. Three shark attacks which had been attributed to makos are shown to involve other species. Two other incidents in which mako identity seems certain resulted in contact with humans...