Initial reports just coming in – apparently on Saturday 2 July, a young woman was splashing in the shallows at the lagoon at Dahab, when she was attacked by a black-tipped reef shark (a species not normally known for their danger to humans), which bit her hand off. The woman was NOT windsurfing at the time, and there have been no recorded attacks on windsurfers at this popular venue. The Happy Surf centre in Dahab was closed for the day, but there have been no further incidences, and normal service has since been resumed…

Which all goes to show that shark attacks can happen anywhere in the world, but in general, those actively windsurfing are at considerably less risk than those just frolicking in the shallows. From a shark’s point of view, a windsurfer is a very large, brightly coloured and probably dangerous animal best avoided. Whereas someone splashing in the shallows looks and sounds like a creature in distress…