‘When Adventure Tourism Kills’
Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 03.06.08 | 11:11 AM ET
With that over-the-top headline, Time magazine begins addressing the safety of adventure tourism in the wake of the death of 49-year-old Austrian Markus Groh. He died last month during a shark-diving excursion off Great Issac Cay in the Bahamas. A shark bit his left leg, and he bled to death. Scuba Adventures, the Florida company that ran the trip Groh took, chummed the waters to draw sharks and eschewed cages for its clients.
From Time:
Every year hundreds of people die while living life to the fullest—battling white-water rapids, climbing the world’s tallest mountain peak, descending to the depths of the ocean. These extreme sports are inherently dangerous and you take your chances. Or do you? “One of the things about these high-risk activities is that if you’re going to participate in them you assume a certain kind of risk,” says Prof. Lyrissa Lidsky, who teaches tort law at the University of Florida. In the case of Groh, the question is whether the tour operator failed to use reasonable care when he took a group of tourists diving for sharks without using cages. “Is the thing that killed him something that you normally associate with shark watching?” Lidsky asks, “Or, is it something that could have been avoided had the company used reasonable care?”
Wildlife experts and attorneys predictably tell Time that travelers’ best bet is to avoid risky behaviors and obey the laws. And, at a minimum, “check out the tour operator’s safety record and whether the company adheres to proper safety standards,” Time’s Siobhan Morrissey writes.
All good common-sense tips to be followed. But I hope we don’t collectively try to strip some of the adventure out of adventure travel.
A little edge can enhance a travel experience—even one involving sharks.
Related on World Hum:
* Weighing the Thrills and Ethics of ‘Shark Safaris’
Photo by Jeff Kubina, via Flickr (Creative Commons)
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Michael Yessis is the cofounder and coeditor-in-chief of World Hum.
Kelsey 03.06.08 | 2:10 PM ET
“Every year hundreds of people die while living life to the fullest—battling white-water rapids, climbing the world’s tallest mountain peak, descending to the depths of the ocean.”
And every year countless people die while showering, crossing the street, eating, and every other mundane activity. If you are going to go, might as well go with your boots on.
I think that it’s an individual’s decision to decide how much adventure is too much adventure in their adventure travel.
Patrick 03.07.08 | 8:39 AM ET
First, it’s unfortunate what happened to Markus Groh. I wish his family well during this time of sorry. But let us not forget that this is the first EVER death involving a shark dive. These kinds of dives have been going on for some 25 years. There is NO evidence that these dives “trains” sharks to associate people with food. These dives help educate the public that sharks are not the demons of the oceans as depicted in “Jaws” but predators, that yes, do deserve respect. Now, I like shark diving. I do it responsibly and assume any risks that may be involved. Those risks are slight when diving with a professional dive operator. Yet, when I go shark diving at least we make it a point not to endanger the shark. See attached a CNN video link of a 14 foot hammerhead shark recently killed by a fishing boat somewhere off Florida. They claim it will benefit science but I’m not so sure. The worst that would have happened had a shark diver encountered the hammerhead would be a few pictures taken and that’s that. Link attached here:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/03/06/dnt.fl.hammerhead.caught.wpec
Kelsey 03.07.08 | 9:51 AM ET
I guarantee Markus Groh signed a waiver that warned about the possibility of death and dismemberment resulting from a shark attack. Shark attacks may be rare, but why do we act so surprised and taken aback when one happens? It’s in the waiver because it has happened.
I would love to see a great white or tiger shark while diving, but not while swimming in buckets of chum. Cage please!
josh 03.16.08 | 10:18 AM ET
too many people in the world anyway. if people want to swim with sharks, let em! if they die, so be it. its like the running of the bulls. a great way to thin out the overpopulated human race by taking out the dumb bastards first, who voluntarily put themselves in harms way. and at the hands of the animals. beautiful!
bill 03.16.08 | 10:20 AM ET
his friends summed up his personality with two words…
“Good chum”
-Bill Maher
Kevin 03.20.08 | 7:37 AM ET
Let’s just use common sense for one minute here. Look at shark bites this way, a burglar comes into your house, YOUR house not his. What happens? Exactly! Sharks have been king of oceans for millions of years then us humans decide to crash the party. You get what you pay for!
Ireq 05.16.08 | 6:38 PM ET
Kelsey, I couldn’t agree more. It is our personal decision how much we are gonna take from life. How can we be sure that we will survive another more day? You can die in unexpectadely in quite “plain circumstances”.