Israel Police Scour Coast For Possible Shark Attack Victim

The unidentified man went swimming in an area that has long seen close encounters between marine predators and beachgoers.

HADERA, Israel (AP) — Israeli police on Tuesday were scouring the coast for a swimmer they fear may have been attacked by a shark in an area that has long seen close encounters between marine predators and beachgoers who sometimes seek them out.

A shiver of endangered dusky and sandbar sharks has been swimming close to the area for years, attracting onlookers who approach the sharks, drawing pleas from conservation groups for authorities to separate people from the wild animals.

Nature groups say those warnings went unheeded. On Monday, police launched a search along the Mediterranean coast after reports that a shark attacked a swimmer on a beach near the city of Hadera.

On Tuesday, the beach was closed off as search teams used boats and underwater equipment to look for the man. His identity was not immediately known, but Israeli media said he had gone to swim with the sharks.

Israelis flocked in large numbers to the beach during a weeklong holiday, sharing the waters with a dozen or more sharks. Some tugged on the sharks’ fins, while others threw them fish to eat. Dusky sharks can stretch 4 meters (13 feet) long and weigh about 350 kilograms (750 pounds). Sandbar sharks are smaller, growing to about 2.5 meters (8 feet) and 100 kilograms (220 pounds).