Is there such a thing as a ‘problem shark’? Plan to catch repeat biters divides scientists

<p>Some experts think a few sharks may be responsible for a disproportionate number of attacks. Should they be hunted down?</p><p>First was the French tourist, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7515961/st-martin-shark-attack-woman-killed/">killed while swimming</a> off Saint-Martin in December 2020. The manager of a nearby water sports club raced out in a dinghy to help, only to find her lifeless body floating face down, a gaping wound where part of her right thigh should have been. Then, a month later, another victim. Several Caribbean islands away, a woman snorkelling off St Kitts and Nevis was badly bitten on her left leg by a shark. Fortunately, she survived.</p><p>Soon after the fatal incident in December, Eric Clua, a marine biologist at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris, got a phone call. Island nations often ask for his help after a shark bite, he says, “because I am actually presenting a new vision … I say, ‘You don’t have a problem with sharks, you have a problem with one shark.’”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/sep/30/fish-killer-problem-shark-dna-caribbean-scientists-cull-aoe">Continue reading...</a>