The body of the teenager who died after a shark attack in Olinda, in the metropolitan region of Recife, was buried this Friday afternoon (30). Deivison Rocha Dantas, aged 13, was bitten by animal this Thursday and arrived at the medical service dead.
According to the State Committee for Monitoring Shark Incidents (Cemit), the animal possibly belongs to the flathead shark species (Carcharhinus leucas), a very common species in the region.
Cemit also reported that the injury that killed the young man, located on the victim’s right thigh, was 33 cm in diameter and the pattern is “compatible with a ‘fork/knife’ type of dentition”.
“This type of teeth is characteristic of sharks of the genus Carcharhinus, especially the bull shark. The environmental peculiarities of the area, close to the estuary and the mouth of rivers, reinforce this hypothesis, since the species has a high affinity with coastal, estuarine and river-influenced environments”, added Cemit.
According to the committee, since 1992, 82 incidents with sharks have been recorded in Pernambuco, with 67 incidents on the continental coast, mainly concentrated in the Metropolitan Region of Recife, and 14 incidents in the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago.
A 33-kilometer stretch of beach in Greater Recife, which runs from the coconut groves of Praia do Paiva, in Cabo de Santo Agostinho, to Praia do Farol, in Olinda, is considered by Cemit as a stretch of attention with the highest probability of incidents with sharks occurring.
A state decree prohibits the practice of nautical activities within these 33 kilometers (km), but does not prohibit swimming in the sea.
The only point legally prohibited for swimming is a 2.2 km stretch of Praia de Piedade, between Igrejinha de Piedade and Hotel Barramares, located next to the Recife Aeronautical Hospital. This prohibition was established by decree of the municipality of Jaboatão dos Guararapes.
Cemit also said that 150 signs are installed in areas subject to shark incidents on the coast of Pernambuco, of which 13 are in Olinda and 4, specifically, on Del Chifre beach.
Monitoring
At the beginning of the month, the government of Pernambuco published a notice to resume monitoring of sharks on the state’s coast, which had been interrupted since 2015. The notice provides for the monitoring of animals using microchips.
The main focus of the actions will be the priority stretch of approximately 33 km of beaches, as established by State Decree 21,402/1999 and Municipal Decree nº 79/2021, without prejudice to the inclusion of other areas of the Pernambuco coast and coastal transition zones. The notice foresees an investment of up to R$1,052,000.00, lasting 24 months.
At the moment, the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE) is monitoring, but only in the Noronha archipelago, with the support of the Government of Pernambuco, through the island’s administration, the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMbio) and Econoronha.
