A single shark has been linked to at least three out of five attacks on tourists at a popular Egyptian Red Sea resort, and is still in the area, an expert helping investigators said on Thursday.
Three Russians and a Ukrainian were attacked off Sharm el-Sheikh in the space of two days last week, suffering severe injuries.
On Sunday a 70-year-old German woman snorkeller died after a shark tore a piece out of her thigh and severed her forearm.
It was the first death from a shark attack in Egypt since 2004. Officials had just lifted a ban on swimming in the area imposed after the first attacks.
Sharm el-Sheikh is a major Egyptian tourist attraction, with a busy airport that brings in package tours from Europe and offers a warm and quick escape from frigid winter temperatures on the continent. Divers are drawn by the steep drop-offs of coral reefs just offshore that offer deep walls of coral with a rich and colorful sea life. There is also an observatory to view wild sharks.
Shark attacks in the area are rare and authorities were scrambling to prevent them from cutting into the crucial revenues that Red Sea tourism brings to Egypt.
An Oceanic White Tip seen minutes before the first attacks on two of the Russians has been identified as the shark photographed when the German woman was attacked five days later, said Elke Bojanowski, an expert on the Red Sea's White Tip sharks.
She said the shark still appeared to be in the area. The resort's 30-miles of beaches remain closed indefinitely.
Multiple sharks involvedA top Egyptian official said Wednesday that he believes a different shark responsible for the other attacks has been caught.
Governor of South Sinai Mohammed Shousha said according to initial findings from U.S. and Egyptian experts a Mako shark caught last Thursday mauled two tourists last week.
The scientists drew their conclusions based on the pattern of bite marks on the victims and according to witness accounts, Shousha said.
As for the Oceanic White Tip, "Instead of briefly grabbing for testing or tasting purposes, this female apparently considers human swimmers as a potential food source," Bojanowski said.
An international team of scientists was interviewing witnesses, studying the environment and gathering data from local divers to understand the shark's behavior.
Speculation has centered on the practice of luring sharks with bait, or chum, to film them, causing them to associate humans with food, or a depletion of fish stocks that could force them to seek alternative food sources.
Theories, 'but few facts'
Some experts suggest that sheep and cattle that died while being shipped in for last month's Muslim feast of Eid el-Adha might have been thrown overboard in the Red Sea. If they had drifted to shallow waters, this might have encouraged sharks to bite anything unusual floating on the sea surface.
There are also accusations that tourist boats are illegally dumping meat into the water to attract sharks for passengers wanting to photograph them.
"There are lots of rumors going around here in Sharm but few facts," said Jochen Van Lysebettens, head of the Red Sea Diving College in Sharm. "My personal view is the behavior of the sharks must have been triggered by their feeding off something unusual in the water — chum, fish or carcasses."
Egypt's government said on Thursday it would pay $50,000 in compensation to each of the Russians who were attacked.
The resort at the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula has boomed since the 1980s. There are some 100 hotels, long stretches of sandy white beaches, desert safari excursions and a vibrant night life.
Beach tourism is believed to contribute about 66 percent of Egypt's total income from tourism, which is expected to reach $12.3 billion by the end of the current fiscal year in June, Tourism Minister Zohair Garanah was quoted as saying in state-owned Al-Gomhuria daily.
