Case study reveals unexpected fatal predation by non-traumatogenic Carcharhinus obscurus due to feeding frenzy and competition.
The fatal shark attack on a male tourist in Hadera (Oriental Mediterranean coast) in 2025 involved several Dusky sharks ( Carcharhinus obscurus ), a species not considered to be traumatogenic to humans. Artificial provisioning in the area has resulted in habituation with behaviors including begging, potentially resulting in a bold shark displaying a first reflex/clumsiness bite targeting the camera held by the snorkeler, unintentionally wounding him. The sound and olfactory stimuli have likely triggered a feeding frenzy leading to multiple sharks engaging in predation bites. In this case study, extreme competition between individuals has probably overridden the non‐instinctive prey nature of the human victim.
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Clua et al. (2025) studied this question.
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