Israeli police have found the remains of a swimmer who vanished in the Mediterranean Sea after heading out into the water near a gathering of sharks. The incident occurred on Monday at a beach in Hadera, and Israeli authorities closed that beach and others nearby following the apparent attack, per the AP. Search teams used boats and underwater equipment to try to find the missing man, who's reportedly 40, per the Jerusalem Post. Israeli media reports that he'd gone to swim with the dozen or more sharks off the coastline, along with others who tugged at the creatures' fins and fed them fish.
A video shared by the media showed a shark approaching some of the swimmers, per the AP. The man filming exclaimed: "What a huge shark!" He then noted, "Whoa! He's coming toward us!" and directed a boy nearby not to move. The boy, however, replied, "I'm leaving," to which the man taunted, "What, are you afraid of the sharks?" Per the BBC, footage shows the victim apparently being attacked, "flailing around" a few hundred feet from shore. "I was in the water, I saw blood and there were screams," one witness told Ynet.
That area off of Hadera attracts dozens of endangered dusky and sandbar sharks between October and May, thanks to warm water released by a nearby power plant. Dusky sharks can grow up to 13 feet long and weigh up to 750 pounds, while sandbar sharks can reach 8 feet long and 220 pounds. Environmental and nature groups have warned authorities about the dangers. "Like every wild animal, the sharks' behavior may be unpredictable," notes the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, per the AP.
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An official with the authority warned that people shouldn't be in the water when the sharks are around and definitely shouldn't try to touch them. This would be only the third or fourth recorded shark attack in Israel. One person died from a shark attack in the 1940s. The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel now says that further measures need to be taken, such as designated viewing zones, to prevent incidents. Swimmers, fishermen, boaters, divers, surfers, and snorkelers all use the area, increasing the risk.
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