Jason: Thanks for posting this story and doing a great job of presenting the facts. David Cuoio Boise, Idaho

Thanks David - it's a truly rare and unfortunate situation. We send our heartfelt thoughts out to the victim and his family and we also wish Jim Abernathy the best in all the crap he has to deal with at the moment. The mass media has totally blown this out of proportion - but hey, that's what they do for ratings...

There are truths and lessons to be learned from such a tragedy. Don’t blame sharks in general or this one. Don’t blame Jim Abernethy, his dive operation, or his staff. Don’t blame, nor in any way curtail, the unique and rewarding type of shark encounters Jim Abernethy and many other colleagues worldwide provide. Don’t accept the biased, unfounded, envious Bahamian dive industry mouthpiece’s diatribe that Jim’s operation is dangerous unless he uses cages. Statistically, the odds of only one death ever on the entire planet from a shark bite on a marine life shark feed encounter are astronomical! So the last truth is that it would be unforgivable, unwarranted and, in fact, reprehensible to stop shark feeding operations in the manner of Jim Abernethy’s Shark-Adventures. It is no less a tragedy and loss that Mr. Groh has died from the shark bite. It appears that the bull shark did not attack him, but mistakenly went through the bait box and bit him on the calf. It was a bite and release without tearing the flesh. More evidence that the diver was neither prey nor the target. Regrettably, the tragedy is personal for Marcus Groh, his family and friends. Yet, it is not without effect on the rest of us who love doing what he perished doing. I did not know him, but as a fellow lawyer and shark diver, I feel the camaraderie of his reasoned choice to be among sharks in the wild. I am sure such a person with his credentials was well aware of the risks and dangers. Unfortunately, delayed medical treatment is part of the risk of having to travel to remote locations to find the sharks. They are not being baited near human populations. I mourn his loss and the pain that death brings to those who knew him. I have been privileged to be included on Jim Abernethy’s early exploratory shark expeditions, too. I never have felt threatened by the dozens of large predators surrounding me in 360 degrees. Did they come in close and eyeball me? You bet. Are they curious? Absolutely. Jim has always put safety first. He has gained an unparalleled wealth of knowledge of sharks and their behavior in the wild. The nature of his encounters over the years has given him an understanding of individual shark’s personalities and moods. Jim sets the rules, and there are rules. He won’t hesitate to send recalcitrant customers home or order divers out of the water in a ramped up situation. But Jim Abernethy is the most enthusiastic, positive, tireless, and devoted character, and I do mean character, I know in the dive industry. He will try anything to afford peak photographic opportunities for the thousands of professional filmmakers who have come to trust his expertise. Going on these dives is a huge investment of time, money and physical stamina. No one and no business would continue to expend such resources on Jim Abernethy and his company unless his successes were not legendary. This is serious business. People are not fooled or cajoled into a false sense of security. But these are wild animals that have teeth. We all know we could be bitten. The risks we accept are well within sound reason. Jim has a proven track record of uninjured and safe diving with these majestic wild animals. Under that outgoing exterior, he is all seriousness. He breathes marine conservation. His briefings are exhaustive. He does bait the larger predators who have aggressive reputations. Ironically, his detractors support attracting sharks to kill them, but not to bring them close to photograph them. The idea is to bait them without feeding them to keep them around. There is no blood and rarely frenzy. The analogy of throwing people into a lion cage at the zoo is inappropriate. Taking wildlife conservationists and enthusiasts to remote locations to experience, first-hand, the awe-inspiring, admitted predators is more like a big game guided safari. Indeed, if a leopard jumps from the brush and kills a hunter, should all safaris be banned? Hardly. Let us all hope that the instant overreaction against sharks, shark diving and, certainly Jim Abernethy, subsides really soon. Let us hope the Bahamian government and the Bahamas Dive Association do not pull the plug. I would go back out there with Jimmy in an instant. I am a shark lover. I would see sharks on the inside of my eyelids when I finally closed my eyes after a full day on the Shear Water. These trips are some of my most memorable dives in my life. I am alive and exhilarated to be among the sharks. Jay Garbose Producer Jay Garbose Underwater Video & Internet Productions