Some theories were less convincing, with one being that the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad was behind the attacks in an attempt to wreck the Egyptian tourist industry. The governor of South Sinai, General Abdel-Fadeel Shosha announced this theory at a meeting (and no doubt went on to bitterly regret it). As witty observers noted: ‘Whether this was an Israeli agent in a shark costume, a specially indoctrinated Zionist shark, or a remote-controlled cybershark, the General does not elaborate, but he does say the theory needs investigating.’ Speaking on the public TV programme Egypt Today on 5 December 2010, a specialist introduced as ‘Captain Mustafa Ismail, a famous diver in Sharm El Sheikh’ said that the sharks involved in the attacks are ocean sharks and do not live in Egypt’s waters. Asked how the shark entered Sharm El Sheikh waters, he replied: ‘No, it’s who let them in.’ Urged to elaborate, Ismail said that he recently received a call from an Israeli diver in Eilat telling him that they had captured a small shark with a Global Positioning System (GPS) planted on its back, implying the sharks were monitored to attack in Egypt’s waters only. On the Sky News Middle East blog Dominic Waghorn retorted: ‘Israelis get blamed for a lot in this part of the world, but Egyptian officials have plumbed new depths of pottiness with their latest Zionist conspiracy theory.’ Meanwhile, Israeli officials rejected the notion as ‘ludicrous’, with Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Igal Palmor telling the BBC: ‘The General must have seen Jaws one time too many and is confusing fact and fiction.’
On 9 December 2011, Egypt’s ministry of tourism confirmed it would offer $50,000 (£31,000) in compensation to each of the Russian tourists attacked by sharks. The money came from private tourist companies in Sharm El Sheikh. A spokesman confirmed: ‘The payment will be made by private Egyptian companies, such as hotels and diving clubs, not the Ministry of Tourism.’
On 11 December 2010, the committee of experts, which as well as the Americans included Moustafa Fouda of the Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs, Mohammad Salem, Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, and Nassar Galal, Chamber of Diving and Water Sports, presented its findings, which still did not contain the definitive reason for the attacks. The report summarised several theories:
The illegal dumping of sheep carcasses by animal transport vessels within 1.9km (1.2 miles) of the shore.
The unique underwater topography of the area – i.e. deep water very close to shore allowing pelagic sharks and humans to swim in close proximity.
Although fishing is restricted in the Sharm El Sheikh region, uncontrolled fishing in the Red Sea has depleted fish stocks and reduced the amount of natural prey available to sharks.
Shark and human population dynamics; five million people visit Sharm El Sheikh annually and numbers of sharks migrate through the area each year.
Feeding of fish by glass-bottomed boats and swimmers drew the sharks close to the beach.
Elevated sea temperatures resulted in higher metabolic rates in the sharks and increased their energy (food) requirements.
Although prohibited, it is believed that some dive operators have been feeding the sharks, which could have habituated the sharks to humans as a source of food.
Nevertheless, the report recommended that the beaches at Sharm El Sheikh be re-opened. There was a list of conditions, including the erection of 6m- (19ft) high watchtowers manned by trained lifeguards at regular intervals, swimming being restricted to designated areas – and a total ban on ‘recreational shark feeding’. Dr. George Burgess, who headed up the investigation, said that his team believed someone ‘accustomed the sharks to being fed and whoever did it has stopped,’ but he added: ‘The sea is a wilderness, just like a jungle. It can never be made entirely safe for humans, in Sharm El Sheikh or any other resort – we can only try to reduce the odds.’
That same day, Olga Martsinko’s daughter Elena spoke of how ill her mother still was. What was left of her arm had had to be amputated and she had undergone emergency plastic surgery to her thigh and buttock. Her body was swathed in bandages from where surgeons had taken skin from her hip to try and cover the hole on the buttock. Another operation was necessary. Said Elena: ‘My mother can only lie on her tummy because there is a hole instead of a left buttock. Inside the hole you can see the base of her spinal cord. It is impossible for her to move around with such a large hole in her body. I told her we should go back to Moscow to a hospital there. She said she would try to stand and walk a bit, but she lifted herself up and fell back, unconscious from the pain.’ Six weeks on, Olga was still in hospital.
A week after Elena’s statement came the official announcement: ‘Tourism in South Sinai has absolutely not been affected’. Indeed, the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh had actually seen a rise in tourists booking for the Christmas and New Year season. The authorities introduced $50,000 (£31,000) fines for hotels and diving centres feeding the fish and fines of up to $15,000 (£9,000) for tourists who also did so. In addition, there are penalties for diving boats throwing waste into the sea or allowing clients to feed fish. These include suspension of the diving business from one month to six months and a withdrawal of their licence in the case of reoccurring violations.
Not everyone shared the optimism that all this would bring back tourism to the area, however. Hamdi Abdelazim, economy expert and former president of the Cairo-based Sadat Academy for Administrative Sciences, perhaps shared the thoughts of many: ‘It is only natural that tourism, especially resort tourism, would be impacted following a string of shark attacks.’ And, as one tour guide noted: ‘Tourists come just for the sea, so if there is no opportunity to go to the sea, there is no reason to come here.’
In fact, the massive numbers of tourists entering the Red Sea every year could even be part of the ever-growing shark problems. ‘Population dynamics are one of the primary factors in shark-human interactions. The fewer the people, the less likely chance you are going to have of encountering a shark. The more people you have, you increase that probability. Now you have interactions between the animal that is hunting and humans, especially when you look at the number of people who utilise the resort over the year,’ said Ralph Collier of the Shark Research Committee. Until the 1970s, Sharm El Sheikh was a remote Bedouin fishing village with an empty, unspoiled coastline. Now it is the most popular resort in Egypt, with just a 8km (5-mile) stretch of beach to accommodate the millions of swimmers, snorkellers and divers. Hotels, keen to cash in on the allure of the water, coral reef and prolific sea life, all have their own jetties and pontoons from the beach.
On 14 December, the CDWS issued an update announcing that although beaches were open, there were still restrictions on diving and watersports in the Red Sea ‘while safety assessments continue following the shark attacks.’ The Chamber said that it wanted ‘to reassure its members that it is constantly monitoring the situation and gradually hopes to lift the restrictions in the near future. However, the organization has underlined its priority in any decisions in the safety of visitors and its members.’ Any divers still wishing to enter the Red Sea now had to be fully qualified with at least 50 logged dives and could only enter the waters with CDWS members in the area of Tiran, dive sites south of Naama Bay to Ras Mohammed National Park and the park itself. Diving was still completely banned between Ras Nasranie to the north of the Naama Bay jetty and no shore diving permitted anywhere in the