May 27 2008
Mexican Navy Secures Coast After Attacks, Jaws IV Scouts Mexican Location for New Film
So this shark thing is getting a little out of hand, and I promise some non-shark related posts after this one. The authorities in Mexico are taking the shark attacks very seriously (especially since the area is so dependent on tourism and surfer tourism). They’ve brought in the marines and the navy (the marines oddly had a strong presence when I was down there a month ago before the attacks in Troncones). From Reuters [link].
The response seems much more tempered and reasonable than their last response after the attack in April which was to go on a shark killing spree. And yes, the title suggesting a Jaws IV location in Zihuatanejo was a joke.
Reuters: The Mexican Navy searched for sharks in the ocean near Pacific surfing beaches on Monday, after two bathers were killed and another maimed in a rare spate of shark attacks.
Three boats and a helicopter patrolled the sea while Navy and rescue officials scanned the horizon with binoculars from popular beaches around the southwestern Mexican resort of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo. They warned surfers not to go far out.
“We’ve been monitoring the beaches; we’ve done reconnaissance flights,” Rear Adm. Arturo Bernal said, adding that no big shark had been detected yet in the area.
