This gruesome scene sparked a fiery outcry towards the fishermen involved. Photo: LATimes
When news first broke of a shark attack on an open sea swimmer, there was an immediate reaction of fear and confusion. Then LoudLabs released a video during which it is painfully evident that it wasn’t an unfortunate encounter of happenstance, but rather a largely avoidable conflict that was a result of a perfect storm involving underprepared fishermen, a rightfully anxious seven to 10 foot juvenile shark, and a longtime waterman simply caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. The fishermen captured on camera even appeared to be laughing as a shark attack was happening right in front of them.
The internet being the internet, people were quick to respond. Jumping onto witnesses’ claims that the fishermen were chumming, thereby provoking the attack — claims that the fisherman denied along with the co-director of Roundhouse Marine Studies Lab and Aquarium (at the end of the pier) and policemen patrolling the area — commenters and social media users called for fines or even worse to be levied upon the fishermen they despised as “jokes” who were “ignorant” and “idiots.”
With an influential presence in the area, the surf community also engaged in the conversation, and the most articulate response might have very well come from big wave surfer and fellow South Bay native Alex Gray, who posted a short clip of the longer video to Instagram, with an accompanying caption that read:
Warning: This video shows the true account of how and why the swimmer was attacked by a shark over the weekend at #ManhattanBeach California. This attack would’ve never have happened if it wasn’t for this negligent and disrespectful fisherman named#jasonhagemann. Over the weekend the news told of a swimmer attacked by a shark off the Manhattan Beach pier in California. The truth wasn’t seen until this video came out. This fisherman had a shark hooked on his line when a group of swimmers approached it. As you can tell by the video, he and his friends found it funny. The fisherman continues to keep the shark on his line as the swimmers pass right next to it. Rather than cut his line and alleviate the situation, the fisherman keeps the shark in the swimmers path and watches it attack one of them. Screams are then heard in the video from a swimmer. The fisherman’s friend says oh no someone’s been bitten. The fisherman laughs, and says it jumped right on him! This act of negligence shows a reckless disregard for the safety of people in the water. To#StevenRobles the swimmer who was attacked: Everyone is so sorry you had to deal with this irresponsible fisherman. We all hope you are okay. And I would love to go for a swim with you when possible. To the fisherman: We, the ocean loving#southbay community, encourage you to think of the consequences of your actions. Please step forward and apologize to the swimmer. #Sharks are NOT intentional predators of humans. Like any human being or other animal, when provoked or tormented they will fend for their life. Let’s give sea creatures the respect they deserve and leave them alone. There needs to be a change. I propose we ban near-shore shark fishing all together. It should be common sense to not bring sharks near swimmers on a fishing line. Apparently some humanity has no common sense anymore. Thank you for your time. The entire video is in my bio. #turkeymelt
In his assessment of the situation, Gray rightly identifies the main issue in that “[t]his act of negligence shows a reckless disregard for the safety of people in the water.” Possibly better articulated by National Geographic, the shark attack was simply a circumstance of “no brainer” danger. The ignorant laughing in the video only furthered the fact that these fishermen were not only unaware of the magnitude of the situation they created, but had no place being on the pier fishing in the first place, especially on such crowded and busy beach days as Fourth of July weekend.
Photographer Bo Bridges, whose gallery is also in Manhattan Beach, joined the social media conversation on Twitter (from where you’re able to find many more topical tweets over at Storify). Even though his commentary was short, he efficiently summed up the gist of our raw emotions. The full video is embedded in his tweet.
Finally saw the video of this fisherman and the #greatwhite #SHARKATTACK makes me sick to my stomach! #ManhattanBeach http://t.co/7Mn9rYjlHY
— Bo Bridges (@BoBridges) July 6, 2014
