On a beach in Israel, the dangerous face-to-face between sharks and humans-Liberation

With its golden sand and blue waters, Hadera beach, in the center of Israel, looks like any other Mediterranean beach, but to look more closely, something unusual emerges from waves: shark fins.

Slipping elegantly into the waves, the sharks usually come to this area from November to May, attracted by hot water discharges from a neighboring power plant. What create a cohabitation rich in adrenaline between ever more daring predators and ever more curious, even imprudent humans.

Unprecedented, a man who had approached a little too close was Mortally attacked in April Under the cries of dread of onlookers on the beach. It only remained his bones, told AFP.

Bathers, authorities, environmental specialists and shark experts wonder: how could such a drama have happened? And what to do to prevent him from repeating himself? « Sharks are harmless and never attack in normal times, unless they feel threatened or if someone encroaches on their territory »explains to AFP Irene Nurit Cohn, member of the diving unit of the Zaka rescue organization. “I have been diving since 1982, I have seen a lot of sharks in my life. It is a magnificent and impressive experience (…) but they are not dangerous ”, she adds.

The diver participated in the research launched to find Barak Tzach, father of four 45 -year -old children, killed in the attack in April. It is the humans who « Do not behave as they should » towards sharks, she believes. « People touched them, bored them »she explained, adding that recent media coverage on the presence of the Squales had attracted even more curious.

Immediately after this episode, the local authorities erected metal fences with « danger » panels and blocked the access road to the adjacent nature reserve with a concrete barrier. But two weeks later, everything was withdrawn, and life resumed its course. Einav and Carmel, two teenagers, say they came specially to see the sharks. This « Are my favorite animals, so I really wanted to see them, but we will not go in the water »says Carmel.

Matan Ben David, underwater hunting and diving instructor, continues to enter it, but insists on compliance with the rules. “Sharks are part of nature, something we have to respect. We must respect the ocean, we are only visitors here ”he said, deploring having seen people surrounding the sharks to take a picture of them. This « Are incredible animals, very majestic, but they are super-predators »he adds.

Like all not monitored beaches in Israel, the one in which the deadly attack occurred was prohibited for swimming – a largely flouted ban. Leigh Livine, a researcher specializing in sharks, has been studying this area for four years where gray sharks and dark sharks have flocked. According to her, research initially shown that « Sharks avoided direct conflicts with humans ». But, she adds, « There is a very, very limited area where this conflict between humans and fauna becomes really apparent at certain periods of the year. »

In Israel, the sea bathing season usually begins in June, but with global warming, where in the favor of heat waves, bathers throw themselves in the water always earlier each year, even if it means falling face to face with one of these seas predators. Leigh Livine says he is also surprised « That such a drama (the April attack, editor’s note) did not occur earlier ». « This often comes down to a conflict of space : Food or territory resources. And we have seen humans harass sharks, really provoke them ”she said. “Sharks get used to the human presence, but it is their habitat. It is essential to show them the respect they deserve at home ”.