Shark lover is mauled to death off the island of Reunion

A shark lover who was devoted to warning people about the animals was mauled to death in the world’s black spot for such attacks.

Adrien Dubosc, 30, died off the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean just two months after one of his best friends died in almost identical circumstances.

Mr Dubosc was a member of Shark Watch Patrol, an organisation dedicated to cutting down on shark deaths on Reunion, which is plagued by man-eating bull and tiger sharks.

Despite this, he loved the fish, and regularly posted Facebook pictures of ones he had seen, together with biological details about them.

Just after 11am on Saturday morning Mr Dubosc entered the sea at Pointe au Sal in Saint-Leu with his bodyboard, off a beach where watersports are officially banned.

A police spokesman said: ‘The young man was in the water with two friends, when a shark attacked him, biting his right thigh, and his groin area.

‘The victim was pulled out of the water, and emergency workers arrived very quickly. Despite cardiac massage, he died within half an hour of the attack.’

The beach was packed at the time, and members of Mr Dubosc’s family were among those who watched the horror unfold.

Mr Dubosc, who lived in Saint-Leu, on the west of the island, was an extremely experienced bodyboarder, and would enter the water at any opportunity.

Today France Meteo, the national weather service, had warned of strong swells off Reunion, which is one of the country’s overseas territories.

On February 21st Mr Dubosc’s close friend Alexandre Naussac, 26 and another trained shark spotter, died on a nearby beach that had also been officially closed to watersports.

The island, which is just 40 miles long, has seen some 15 per cent of all the world’s fatal attacks over the past five years.

The French authorities have insisted they are tackling the problem with nets and boat patrols, and by catching and killing about 100 sharks a year.

In turn, conservationists have complained about such culls, saying that there are enough of the fish being killed by pollution

Source: Shark lover is mauled to death off the island of Reunion | Daily Mail Online