News

A diver documenting the annual aggregation of Nassau groupers off Little Cayman sustained an “exploratory” bite by a seven-foot-long juvenile tiger shark on Friday, February 6th—and was later named as Berkley White, founder of underwater imaging equipment retailer Backscatter Underwater Video & Photo. At the time of the incident, which occured just after sundown, White was recording grouper activity using a video camera mounted on his DPV.

White, who was working at the spawning aggregation site as part of the Department of Environment’s partner research team, is reported to have received minor puncture wounds in the thigh. He was treated by a government nurse at the Little Cayman Beach Resort, but as there is only a small clinic on the island, he was subsequently flown by helicopter to Grand Cayman for further treatment at the George Town hospital. White is reportedly recovering well.

A press release from the Department of Environment stated: “While this incident was not expected, it is natural for sharks to be attracted to the activity of an aggregation site, and a young shark is less likely to have experience with groupers and divers. Coupled with the poor visibility of the site, the young shark mistakenly bit the diver but since sharks do not consider humans food, it fled and did not pursue.”

In early February each year, following the full moon, thousands of endangered Nassau groupers come together off the western tip of Little Cayman to spawn—and researchers have been studying the phenomenon and tracking fish numbers since 2001. It’s the first time an incident like this has occurred.

We wish Berkley a speedy recovery!