Shark Attacks in Primorye: How to Stay Safe

On 7 July, fishermen captured a large shark on video in Paris Bay near the Primorsky Oceanarium on Russky Island. The predator sensed tuna in the boat and pursued the vessel for a long time while people swam in the bay.

Since the beginning of June, more than a dozen encounters with sharks have been recorded in the region, including at popular tourist spots — Triozyorye Bay and Cape Tobizina. Scientists count 12 species of sharks in the waters of Primorye, but only three are capable of attacking humans: the mako (shortfin mako or grey-blue shark), the great white shark, and the hammerhead shark. According to the Federation of Fisheries Sports of Primorsky Krai, over the past three years fishermen have most often encountered the mako.

Mako is one of the fastest sharks, capable of jumping several meters out of the water. Its usual length is 2.5–3.5 meters, but individuals up to 4.45 meters have been found. It feeds on fish — mackerel, tuna, sea bass — but may also attack dolphins and other sharks. Alexander Olifirenko, a candidate of biological sciences and director of the Center for Environmental Initiatives, explained that mako sometimes mistake boats for whale or seal carcasses and bite them. «She likes to feed on cetacean carcasses floating dead on the surface. That«s why mako sometimes attack boats, trying to bite them — they mistake them for a whale, seal, or dolphin carcass. It»s typical for them to test everything with their teeth. A shark attack on a human is a very rare occurrence, at least in our waters. It attacks not intentionally but by mistake. However, its teeth are very sharp, so it can cause serious harm,» the expert noted.

The great white shark, known as the man-eater, reaches 5–6 meters, lives at depths up to 250 meters, but may approach the shore in warm years. The hammerhead shark, with its characteristic head shape, grows up to 4 meters, feeds on crabs, shrimp, and fish, and migrates in summer from southern areas of the Sea of Japan into Peter the Great Gulf. Both species are rare in Primorye, but cases of attacks on humans are known.

Olifirenko emphasized that the main dangers on Primorye beaches are not sharks but cross jellyfish (a venomous species) and swimming while intoxicated: «At sea, the first thing to fear is the cross jellyfish, which has killed incomparably more people here in Peter the Great Gulf than any sharks. Yet for some reason many ignore it. Even greater danger is swimming while intoxicated.»

The first appearance of a shark this year was recorded on 2 June — a mako was caught off Putyatin Island (about 50 km from Vladivostok). Then the predator was encountered near the village of Avangard outside Nakhodka. «The shark is heading toward us, right at us. Huge! Skimming the surface,» comments a witness in a video. The most spectacular encounter was at Cape Tobizina, where a shark leaped out of the water. Sharks were also seen in Tikhaya and Kaplunova bays, near the village of Amgu in Terney District, and next to the pier of the Nakhodka Base of Active Marine Fishing.

Specialists from the Pacific Branch of the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (TINRO) note that in the near future a high probability of encountering sharks remains in Ussuri Bay, off islands south of Russky, in the area of the Empress Eugenie Archipelago, as well as in Sobol and Tikhaya bays, near Cape Tobizina and Putyatin Island.

The reason for the abundance of sharks is an abundance of food. A large amount of sardine (iwashi) entered the area, followed by bluefin tuna, and then the predators. Olifirenko explained: «Two processes have coincided now: natural long-term cycles in the abundance of species like iwashi, and major climate fluctuations such as El Niño in the Pacific Ocean. They are precisely what cause forage fish to concentrate en masse near our shores for several years, followed by large predators. Sharks come not so much for the tuna as together with the tuna. As an element of this subtropical biocenosis. Apex predators, including sharks, come to us together with other tropical fish.» In addition, Konstantin Drozdov, director of the Green Cross organization, noted that the number of fishermen who have gone out to catch tuna has increased, so more shark catches are being recorded. «We are recording so many catches of these sharks for one simple reason: the tuna arrived and everyone went to catch it en masse. The gear for tuna and for sharks is the same. Accordingly, if we didn«t have so many fishermen with large gear capable of catching a shark, they would be caught much less frequently,» said Drozdov. He also confirmed that there are noticeably more sharks in the waters.

• swim in groups and don«t go far from shore;
• don»t enter water at dawn, dusk, or night (when sharks are most active);
• avoid swimming with open wounds or bleeding;
• don«t wear shiny jewelry or glittery clothing in water;
• don»t swim in murky water;
• stay away from fishing areas and sewage outlets;
• upon seeing a fin, immediately leave the water.

If an encounter does occur, it«s important to stay calm. Panic and erratic movements attract the predator. Don»t slap the water or strike the shark first. Look it in the eyes, swim slowly to shore or a boat, and if in a group, stay together, e.g., back to back. If the shark bites, hit it on the gills — this is the most sensitive area and may make it let go.

As the sea warms, schools of fish move north, followed by tuna and sharks. The last time a shark attack on a human was recorded in the region was in 2011.