PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – The Nature Foundation would like to extend their deepest condolences to the friends and family members of the woman who died on Orient Bay beach. It is very saddened to hear about this accident and that the cause of her death is due to a shark. “Human fatalities due to shark bites are very rare and none were recorded before this accident on St. Maarten. No one will know the reason why this shark biting occurred causing the young woman to loose her life, however we do want to stress that sharks are not killing machines. Rare accidents like this one can happen, however most sharks are harmless and an important contributor to the health of our marine ecosystem” stated the Nature Foundation.
The Nature Foundation would like to remind the public that sharks are a protected species in Sint Maarten waters and cannot be hunted, caught or killed. “We have heard rumors of fishermen going out to hunt our local sharks due to this accident, however our local sharks, such as reef sharks and nurse sharks are not to be blamed for this accident. Besides, sharks and rays are a protected species when in Dutch waters and catching, landing and killing will be prosecuted according to our legislation” explained Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern Manager of the Nature Foundation.
According to the French authorities the cause of the accident is suspected to be a large tiger shark, especially large tiger sharks are migratory species travelling great distances in a single day. “It is extremely likely that this shark already disappeared into the deep ocean, besides sharks are not known to re-bite when mistakenly have bitten a human, humans are not food they consume”. The Nature foundation thinks a swimming ban is not deemed necessary and will only create additional fear among the population, of course those individuals who decide not to swim are being respected.
Sharks are still wild animals and top predators, they survive due to their predatory skills, therefore accidents like this may occasionally happen. “However, bites are often mistaken
