SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, co-host:
But we begin this half-hour with a deadly
shark attack
in the
Seychelles
. A honeymooner was killed as his bride watched in horror from shore. This is the second fatal attack there in two weeks.
NBC
's
Stephanie Gosk
is on the island and joins us now by phone.
Stephanie
, good morning.
STEPHANIE GOSK reporting:
Good morning,
Savannah
. Well, the
Seychelles
is a stunning place. It's made up of about 115 islands in the middle of the
Indian Ocean
. It's basically your ultimate island getaway, exclusive, difficult to get to. For many people that come here, it's really their dream vacation. There hasn't been a fatal
shark attack
here in more than 40 years. Then in the last two weeks, two tourists have been killed and the hunt for a killer
shark
is on.
Ian Redmond
, 30 years old, was on his honeymoon. He and his girlfriend of nine years had just gotten married. Far from their cloudy and cold home in
northern England
, they were in paradise. His wife,
Gemma
, was on the beach sunbathing.
Ian
was snorkeling just off shore when the
shark
attacked.
Mr. ALAIN St. ANGE:
Around 3:34, she heard the scream as everybody else did.
That's when
he screamed for help.
GOSK:
Witnesses say people on the beach dragged him to dry land, but couldn't save him. The
shark
bit off his arm, took a large chunk out of his leg and left multiple wounds in his stomach and chest.
Mr. RICHARD ANDRE:
Looking at the severity of the cuts, of the wound, you know, it was clear to me that he had no chance whatsoever of surviving, really.
GOSK:
The shocking death would be unbelievable if something similar hadn't happened just two weeks ago. A French tourist snorkeling off the same beach was also attacked and killed by a
shark
. Experts suspect it may have been the same bull or
tiger shark
responsible for both fatal attacks.
Mr. LINDSAY HOLLOWAY (Shark Expert):
It's quite likely it is the same
shark
because there have been cases of
sharks
that are known as sort of rogue
sharks
that stay in a particular area. They're opportunistic, they stay in a particular area while the feeding is good, and then when the
food supply
runs out, they move on.
GOSK:
It's unknown if
Ian
or
Gemma
knew there had been a recent attack. Island officials said there had been some warnings to make tourists aware. But it was an incident so rare there was little concern that it would happen again. Now after a second death, the beaches are closed, diving trips are postponed and officials are trying to find the
shark
. There is now terror in a place known for its beauty. Chosen by
Prince William
and Princess
Catherine
for their tropical honeymoon in May, they stayed about 30 miles away from where the
shark
attacks took place. For a new wife, now newly made a widow, there is unimaginable grief. In a statement,
Gemma
wrote, her husband was brave and her best friend. "We were having so much fun and we were so excited about our future together. I want to thank him for nine years of joy."
Gemma
and
Ian
were supposed to leave on Sunday. Instead,
Gemma
's parents and
Ian
's parents have flown here to help her deal with this tragedy and arrange to have her husband's body flown home.
Savannah
:
GUTHRIE:
All right.
Stephanie Gosk
, thank you.
Andy Dehart
is the
Discovery Channel
's
shark
adviser.
Andy
, good morning.
Mr. ANDY DEHART (Discovery Channel Shark Advisor):
Good morning.
GUTHRIE:
This story brought a concept to my attention that I had never heard before, this theory that this is a rogue
shark
. This is the idea that certain
sharks
have developed a taste for humans?
Mr. DEHART:
Well, certainly is a very tragic case and being a
shark
biologist, I still feel for the family. But the likelihood of
shark attack
is very rare. But there is this thought that some
sharks
might develop either a taste or understanding that humans might be easier to hunt. And most
shark
experts will kind of dismiss the idea that this would be a rogue
shark
looking for humans.
GUTHRIE:
Yeah, because by and large,
sharks
do not want to eat humans, that's not what they prey on.
Mr. DEHART:
That's right
. There's over 500 species of
sharks
and not a single
shark species
has humans as part of its regular diet. When these attacks do happen, we believe it's an accident, where different cues are factored in and they unfortunately sometimes bite humans.
GUTHRIE:
There's a hunt now in the
Seychelles
for this
shark
. I mean, are you even convinced that this is the work of a single
shark
, even though it obviously -- these two incidents happened in proximity to one another?
Mr. DEHART:
I would find it highly unlikely that it would be the same
shark
, after two separate weeks. But it is possible. We know that
tiger sharks
and
bull sharks
do come into this area
from time to time
. They're probably the likely culprits in this case. We know that
Ian
, unfortunately, sustained a lot of serious damage from the bite and that kind of leads to one of the bigger
shark species
like a tiger or a bull.
GUTHRIE:
They're looking for this
shark
now. I mean, how difficult a task is that? The ocean is huge.
Sharks
are fast, they can cover a ton of terrain.
Mr. DEHART:
Sharks
do move quite a bit but they can stay in one certain area if there's a lot of food present, food being their normal prey items like sea turtles or fish. So it is possible the
shark
's in the area and there are methods to get the
sharks
out, by fishing with rod and reel or by long lining. Hopefully, the country will not use nets, nets are very destructive to not only the other
sharks
in the area but other marine species.
GUTHRIE:
Were you surprised to hear of these fatal
shark
attacks in this particular area in the
Seychelles
?
Mr. DEHART:
Certainly this area is not known for
shark
aggression, aggressive
shark species
. This area is most well-known for
whale sharks
which are very large, planktonic
sharks
, and they're beautiful to swim with, and in most cases there hasn't been a lot of reports of dangerous
sharks
in this area.
GUTHRIE:
You got any theories about why this may have happened?
Mr. DEHART:
We never know. I mean,
sharks
statistics are fun to look at. We know that there's less than 100 attacks per year worldwide, of those only about five or six are fatal every year. But it's hard to know from year to year what's bringing
sharks
close to shore.
GUTHRIE:
All right.
Andy Dehart
with some good perspective this morning. Thank you.
Mr. DEHART:
Thank you.
“ ”