Posted on 04/11/2002 3:48:02 PM PDT by What Is Ain't
A famous shark researcher who said his knowledge of sharks kept him from being bitten lost part of his leg to one on Wednesday as he led a class on the predators' behavior.
Erich Ritter, 43, was in waist-deep water with four students at Walker's Cay in the Bahamas when what was thought to be a big lemon shark bit off a large portion of his left calf. He went into shock and was flown to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach. Hospital officials confirm Ritter was treated there, but would release no further information.
Ritter, who lives in Miami, has told the media he can keep sharks away by modifying his heart rate. In August 2000, he told The Associated Press he had never even been nipped, attributing that largely to his ability to understand sharks' body language. Ritter could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Shark scientists in Florida were saddened to learn that Ritter was bitten. But they said they put little credence in his ideas on shark behavior.
"That was an accident waiting to happen," said Samuel Gruber, a University of Miami professor and director of the Bimini Biological Field Station in the Bahamas. Ritter taught classes with Gruber in Bimini for about five years, and Gruber said Ritter is a good lecturer, but does not rely heavily enough on the scientific method.
"Erich takes certain chances based on what he thinks he knows about shark behavior, but there is no evidence to support his theories," he said. "He's more like a philosopher than a scientist."
He has seen Ritter on television, standing in shallow water in the midst of bait and lemon sharks. "Seeing him in the water with those animals swimming around his legs like that, that just bothered me. Frightened me, actually," said Gruber.
But the pictures were beautiful, Gruber said. "I would be frightened to do what he did, but he had gotten away with it for several years."
According to Ritter's Web site, he is a dive instructor and a professor at Hofstra University and the University of Zurich, where he received his doctorate in behavioral ecology.
Arthur Myrberg, also a marine science professor at the University of Miami, said Ritter has great belief in his ideas, but they "have never been reviewed by experts in the field."
Myrberg studies animal behavior and said anyone who does recognizes certain patterns than can help predict what an animal will do. However, these patterns are far from foolproof. "You would be lucky if it would work 50 percent of the time."
Of the accident, Myrberg said: "It does demonstrate that a shark specialist can get bitten like anybody else."
Shark bites remain rare, scientists say.
George Burgess, the marine biologist who is director of the International Shark Attack File, said so far this year, seven people have been bitten by sharks in Florida, two others in Hawaii, and 14 worldwide. This does not include what happened to Ritter.
Ritter had been conducting the class at a dive site where tourists commonly feed sharks, a practice that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission last year outlawed.
Both Ritter and Gruber testified against the ban. Ritter said there was no scientific evidence to support a ban.
Burgess did not testify, but considers shark feeding dangerous. Normally, sharks fear humans and swim away from them, he said. But feeding teaches sharks to associate human beings and the noises they make with food.
At least the shark only took one.
Alas, a legend.
Obviously a foreign shark.
BWAAAAAHAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAAHAAAAA!
Or a joke, apparently!
Looks like an "expert in the field" reviewed his idea and found it tantalizng.
Man, the OTHER 199 must be TOTAL duffeses.
He just contributed a little evidence.
Mmmm ... Doofus ...
The other white meat.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.