Shark Attack

On-line translation to English:

"What happened in the Seychelles"

First, I would like to express my sincere condolences to the family of French tourist died from a shark attack in Praslin (Seychelles, Anse Lazio) August 1, 2011.

Let me emphasize that:

this is not due to an accident caused by a boat propeller

the tourist was not scuba diving. It was about 40 or 50 m from the edge, maybe he had a mask and snorkel. We think not. He swam just as would a woman, a child, my wife or myself or a baby with his parents.

The ambulance took nearly 40 minutes to arrive at the scene. No aid station nearby, no stretcher.

Just two Seychellois in a boat that has been very brave (they deserve national recognition) and some people whose particular a woman who tried to help. The bite was so large that there was probably nothing more to do.

Here is my testimony:

We were on the beach, before the "Bonbon Plume" renowned restaurant on the corner. There were dozens of tourists on the beach. Around 3:30 p.m., it was like from morning beautiful. If there had been a flag, it would have been green. Shortly before the attack, we were in the water within 20 m which was found shortly after the tourist. The sea was beautiful, clear water, pleasant. Anchored in the cove several catamarans and even a kind of cruise ship and some boats.

The man was swimming in front of us, about 50 meters from the beach. It was not fishing underwater. There was no boat nearby. It has therefore not suffered as I read in the press of a sudden propeller. It seems to me that he had no mask or snorkel. In any case certainly not flippers.

For my wife and I just swam it. It was a little further away from other swimmers but not very far from the edge. At one point he started screaming and even have some sort of nervous laughter bordering on hysteria. We thought he was an idiot.

He ended up calling "for help" and he clearly said "shark". Then for a very short time we did not seen. He was caught as to the bottom. Water has become all red around him. He then reappeared. Two Seychellois in a fishing boat came to his rescue. The poor wretch has had the strength to lift an arm. The two Seychellois who have been exemplary courage have managed to go and took him back on the beach. My wife like many others went to see the boat. The victim had almost no belly. I went to the restaurant and asked to call for help. Someone else had already called an ambulance. The victim remained more than half an hour in this boat. Both legs and feet dangling over the side. That's how I saw it had no fins. We were a couple looking for a doctor. A lady can be a doctor, finally got into the boat and it has an umbrella to protect the poor man of the sun. This gesture seemed ridiculous at the same time full of humanity.

A tourist back of the boat said there was nothing left to do. The swimmer was dead. There was evidently no one in the water. People were standing on the beach, staring. Some cried, others were prostrate. I thought about my son, the fragility of things. We came back right after the hotel. The taxi driver who brought us had also witnessed this terrible scene. For him it was a shark can be "lady".

He had never heard of such an attack much less in Praslin Anse Lazio. He told us that the shark was be there because of the boats anchored in the cove and waste their occupants could leave behind.

Dominique Pothin


Original:

"Ce qui s’est passé aux Seychelles"
7
Clicanoo.republié le 4 août 2011 13h59

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Tout d’abord, je voudrai présenter mes sincères condoléances à la famille du touriste français mort suite à l’attaque d’un requin à Praslin (Anse lazio-Seychelles) le 01 août 2011.

Je voudrai insister sur les faits suivants :

ce n’est pas suite à un accident occasionné par une hélice de bateau

le touriste ne faisait pas de plongée sous-marine. Il était environ à 40 ou 50 m du bord ; peut-être avait-il un masque et un tuba. Nous pensons que non. Il nageait tout simplement comme l’aurait fait une femme, un enfant, ma femme ou moi-même voire un bébé avec ses parents.

l’ambulance a mis près de 40 mn pour arriver sur les lieux. Aucun poste de secours à proximité, pas de civière.

Juste deux seychellois dans une barque qui ont été très courageux (ils mériteraient une reconnaissance nationale) et quelques personnes dont particulièrement une femme qui ont essayé de venir en aide. La morsure était tellement importante qu’il n’y avait sans doute plus rien à faire.

Voici donc mon témoignage :

Nous étions sur la plage, devant le "Bonbon Plume" restaurant renommé du coin. Il y avait plusieurs dizaines de touristes sur la plage. Vers 15 heures trente, il faisait comme depuis le matin très beau. S’il y avait eu un drapeau, il aurait été vert. Peu avant l’attaque, nous étions dans l’eau à 20 m prés où s’est trouvé peu après le touriste. La mer était de toute beauté, une eau limpide, agréable. Dans l’anse mouillaient plusieurs catamarans et même une sorte de bateau de croisière et quelques barques.

L’homme nageait devant nous, à peu près à 50 m de la plage. Il ne faisait pas de pêche sous-marine. Il n’y avait aucun bateau à moteur à proximité immédiate. Il n’a donc pas été victime comme j’ai lu dans la presse d’un coup d’hélice. Il me semble même qu’il n’avait ni masque, ni tuba. En tout cas c’est certain pas de palmes.

Pour ma femme et moi, il nageait tout simplement. Il était un peu plus éloigné par rapport aux autres nageurs sans être très loin du bord. A un moment, il s’est mis à crier et même à avoir une sorte de rire nerveux proche de l’hystérie. On a cru qu’il faisait l’idiot.

Il a fini par appeler "au secours" et il a clairement dit "requin". Ensuite pendant un très court instant on ne l’a plus vu. Il a été comme happé vers le fond. L’eau est devenue toute rouge autour de lui. Il est ensuite réapparu. Deux Seychellois dans une barque de pêche sont venus à son secours. Le pauvre malheureux a encore eu la force de lever un bras. Les deux Seychellois qui ont été d’un courage exemplaire ont réussi à le remonter et l’ont ramené sur la plage. Ma femme comme de nombreuses autres personnes sont allés voir dans la barque. La victime n’avait presque plus de ventre. Je suis allé au restaurant et ai demandé d’appeler les secours. Quelqu’un d’autre avait déjà fait appeler une ambulance. La victime est restée plus d’une demi-heure dans cette barque. Les deux jambes et les pieds pendaient par-dessus bord. C’est comme cela que j’ai vu qu’il n’avait pas de palmes. Nous avons été quelques un à chercher un docteur. Une dame, peut être médecin, est enfin montée dans la barque et elle a mis un parasol pour protéger ce pauvre homme du soleil. Ce geste m’a paru dérisoire mais en même temps rempli d’humanité.

Un touriste revenant de la barque a déclaré qu’il n’y avait plus rien à faire. Le nageur était mort. Il n’y avait évidemment plus personne dans l’eau. Les gens étaient debout sur la plage, hagards. Certains pleuraient, d’autres étaient prostrés. J’ai pensé à mes fils, à la fragilité des choses. Nous sommes rentrés tout de suite après à l’hôtel. Le taximan qui nous a ramené avait lui aussi assisté à cette terrible scène. Pour lui il s’agissait peut être d’un requin "demoiselle".

Il n’avait jamais entendu parler de telle attaque à Praslin encore moins à Anse Lazio. Il nous a déclaré que le requin était peut être là à cause des bateaux qui mouillaient dans l’anse et aux déchets que leurs occupants pouvaient laisser derrière eux.

Dominique Pothin

http://www.clicanoo.re

On-line Translation to English:

A French teacher died from injuries resulting from a shark attack in Seychelles.

After hesitating between injuries with a boat, it is the track of the great white shark attack is confirmed after examination.

On Monday, the professor of English at Rodez (Tarn-et-Garonne) holiday in the large island of Mahé went snorkeling at the nearby island of Praslin, especially the beach of Anse Lazio.

If the Seychelles and the ocean are friendly Indian, the waters are just as usually, but that day, the idyllic scene is not appropriate. Then he swam about thirty meters from the beach, the unfortunate teacher, Nicolas Virolle, 36, shouted the " Shark "and then disappeared under the water is colored red morbid as people on this famous beach and many attended (200 people were there). It is a mortal body torn stomach and legs back to earth as a fishing boat and when the relief reaches the beach, it's too late. Where tourism is king, the authorities do not accept this version of events and express the possibility of an accident with the propeller of a boat! But we must recognize now that the incident stems many a shark attack, probably a great white shark Carcharodon carcharias . Another surprising fact in this unfortunate case is the inertia of sunbathers, the tourists during this tragic event: a sort of stupor crippled the crowd. While the fact is rare, attacks by sharks , for reasons poorly identified, there everywhere.

Original:

Un enseignant français est mort des suites des blessures consécutives à une attaque de requin aux îles Seychelles.

Après une hésitation entre avec des blessures causées par un bateau, c'est bien la piste de l'attaque de grand requin blanc qui se confirme après examens.

Lundi dernier, ce professeur d'anglais de Rodez (Tarn-et-Garonne), en vacances dans la grande île de Mahé est parti faire de la plongée à l'île voisine de Praslin, en particulier la plage d'Anse Lazio.

Si les Seychelles et l'océan Indien sont accueillants, les eaux le sont tout autant habituellement, mais ce jour-là, la scène idyllique n'est pas de mise. Alors qu'il nageait à une trentaine de mètres du bord de plage, le malheureux enseignant, Nicolas Virolle, 36 ans, crie au "requin" puis disparaît sous l'eau qui prend une teinte rouge morbide selon les personnes présentes sur cette plage connue et beaucoup fréquentée (200 personnes étaient là).

C'est un corps mortellement déchiqueté au ventre et aux jambes que ramène à terre une barque de pêche et quand les secours parviennent sur la plage, c'est déjà trop tard.

Là où le tourisme est roi, les autorités n'acceptent pas cette version des faits et expriment la possibilité d'un accident avec l'hélice d'un bateau! Mais il faut reconnaître maintenant que l'incident découle bien d'une attaque de requin, probablement un grand requin blanc Carcharodon carcharias. Un autre fait étonnant dans cette malheureuse affaire est l'inertie des plagistes, des touristes pendant cet évènement tragique : une sorte de stupeur a paralysé la foule.

Même si le fait est rarissime, les attaques de requins, pour des causes mal cernées, existent partout.


http://www.aquaportail.com

French tourist died from shark’s bite

Nicolas Francois Virolle, a 36 year-old French tourist, died after suffering a shark’s bite at Anse Lazio, Praslin. The incident happened about 20 m from the beach where he was snorkeling on Monday August 1st.

Other tourists who were on the beach jumped into the sea to rescue Mr Virolle but the bite was so deep that he died from massive loss of blood while he was being pulled onto the beach.

This is the first time that anyone can recall of sharks biting swimmers near a beach in Seychelles. The government has mobilized a number of resources to investigate the incidents; these include the police, Department of the Environment, Marine Park personnel, Fishing Authority and the Coast Guard. The latter will be patrolling and dropping nets in the sea where the incident happened in hope of catching the shark.

Mr. Virolle who was staying at the Britania on Praslin, was about to leave Seychelles for his country on Tuesday August 2.

http://www.seychellesweekly.com/

Experts race to solve shark attack


As we wait for the results of the investigation into the incident in which a tourist of French origin died after he was attacked by a shark at Anse Lazio on Praslin, the people of Seychelles would like to sympathize with the family of the deceased. The news shocked the nation as it was the first time that anyone had died from a shark attack in Seychelles.

As soon as local experts mainly from Environment, Marine Park and the Seychelles Coast Guards learned about the incident they raced to that area to determine what could have happened.
It is very important that the authority establish the cause for the attack.
Some people say it could very well be a migratory shark that has somehow ended up in our waters or while others say the explanation is simple; the shark was hungry thus attacked the tourist.
It is important to investigate the incident thoroughly and get the right explanation and if necessary bring in specialists as the shark or sharks if there are more than one, can cause further attacks, especially that Anse Lazio is one of Seychelles most frequented beaches.


http://people.partilepep.com

French diver dies after suspected shark attack in Seychelles

The 36-year-old diver had been deep-sea diving in Anse Lazio in the arichipelago's Praslin isle on Monday

Victoria: A French tourist diving in the Seychelles died after a possible shark attack, officials said Tuesday.

The 36-year-old had been deep-sea diving in Anse Lazio in the arichipelago's Praslin isle on Monday, police spokesman Jean Toussaint told Agencies.

"Other tourists on the beach tried to help him, but he died as his injuries were serious," Toussaint said, adding: "The injuries looked like a shark bite." An autopsy was to be conducted Tuesday to determine the exact cause of death, which some officials said could have been as a result of being cut by a boat propeller. Shark attacks are rare in the idyllic Indian Ocean archipelago.

"I have been diving for the last 40 years and I have never encountered any problems. Sharks are actually very rare because they are hunted for their meat and fins," said Michel Gardette, a development official in Praslin. "Seychelles is one of the safest countries for diving," he added.

The 115-island Indian Ocean archipelago is a popular top-end tourist destination, with some villa accommodation costing as much as 10,000 euros per night.

http://gulfnews.com/