A dive guide who repeatedly punched and manhandled a group of nurse sharks, as he tried to retrieve his bait box, has been fired by his employer.
In a video, the guide not only punches one shark but is then seen dragging other sharks by the tail and pushing and shoving them out of the way. What, you may ask, had the poor sharks done?
Well the guide had forgotten to lock his chum box twice, with the inevitable result that the sharks where trying to get to the food inside. This happened while he was busy feeding the reef sharks to entertain the tourists.
When questioned after the dive about his behaviour, the guide replied:
“Yeah, sometimes you just have to demand some [f******] respect.”
Stuart Cove’s Dive Bahamas, the guide’s employer, said this week that the guide had been fired.
Company founder Stuart Cove said:
“We were shocked to see the video of one our shark-feeders punching nurse sharks during the feed. The guide has been released the very same day from all duties, and was dismissed with immediate effect. He himself was shocked by how much he lost control, and was very apologetic about the incident.”
Check out a video of the incident here.