A sobering look at the risks and consequences of social media stunts in the pursuit of viral fame.
The recent story of shark attack in Maldives should teach Instagramers and other wannabes a lesson. While posing for a video, a bikini model got bitten by a nurse shark.
All for Instagram and other social medias. All for fame.
The girl was lucky. But the accident arises many questions…
The attack happened at a famous nurse shark point located in Vaavu Atoll, central Maldives, called… “Shark Point”.
The video was posted on Instagram a few month ago and has now gone viral.
Shark Point, where – as expected, Instagramers would flock to be photographed or filmed with go-pros or drone for a chance to be popular on the wild wild web.
A simple search on the platform with the hashtag #sharkpointmaldives will give you plenty of this :
The main question is not if, but when.
Who’s to blame ? the Instagram girl who doesn’t respect nature
or the shark who’s bothered on his own territory ?
Will it be again sharks to be blamed and hated for irresponsible human behavior, profit and vanity ?
What were you expecting people ?
What can you expect when you run or simply walk amongst a group of wild dogs or cheetahs ?
That they will happily and quietly pose with you for social medias ?
Dealing with wildlife is risky. Period.
To the question : Is there any shark attack in the Maldives ?
In Maldives you might get this famous reply :
– Maldivian saying
there is a much higher chance that a tourist get hit by a falling coconut in Maldives than a shark attack.
Which is TRUE.
Again : the Maldives ARE NOT a shark attack destination.
Unfortunately, with this new trend, it is now not true anymore.
Thanks to fame seekers who have the ability to mess up with the reputation of a destination for selfishness.
About Shark Point
Nurse sharks have a hotspot in Vaavu Atoll where they unfortunately now seek food from tourist attractions.
They are known for their non-aggressive behavior, but still : Nurse sharks are still sharks and should be treated with respect.
They might be aggressive if provoked or disturbed.
They are wild animals. And this is why we love them 🙂
“There were a dozen of nurse sharks weighting almost 200kgs.” – says the local diver who was filming the bikini girl swimming among the sharks.
See more videos here .
Congrats to you fame seekers ( sorry I cannot use the word diver, because divers simply DONT DO IT LIKE THAT ), you’re now everywhere, on FOX News, TMZ, Daily Mail, Twitter, YouTube, ( and more…)…Well done !
And even better, the Maldives will now be associated with shark attacks.
There is a difference between swimming with nurse sharks like this :
YES !
Diving / observing other sharks like this :
Dreaming of Maldives channel : Subscribe to our Channel for more videos !
and THAT :
NO !
Dreaming of Maldives channel : Subscribe to our Channel for more videos !
Why is this activity still authorized ?
It is still time to stop it before the worse happens.
Nurse sharks are still sharks and should be treated with respect.
The question is not if but when ?
The Maldives should take other sharks destinations as example, like Compass Cay for example, a very similar nurse shark hotspot in the Bahamas.
The beautiful island destination is a vivid and sad example :
In 2022, Compass Cay witnessed two deadly attacks by nurse sharks. The first was a woman killed during a snorkeling excursion, and the second was on an 8-year old boy who was also snorkeling. In the latter incident, three nurse sharks were involved.
Other similar nurse shark attacks in other countries have occurred to Instagramers meanwhile floating amongst them.
Food for thought :
Recent research indicates that shark attacks in some parts of the world appear to be on the rise.
“Shark bites are strongly correlated to the number of people and number of sharks in the water at the same time…The more sharks and people there are in one place, the greater the chance of them bumping into each other.” says Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research. Source – BBC.
Find out more about Sharks in Maldives
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