Search ends for missing shark diver

John E. Petty disappeared Sunday during a night-diving expedition at Tiger Beach in the Bahamas; authorities believe he was attacked by a shark

July 16, 2014 by Pete Thomas

The search for a shark diver who went missing during a night-diving excursion on Sunday in the Bahamas ended Wednesday, after authorities determined that John E. Petty was attacked by a shark.

Search crews found only dive gear, but no body after an exhaustive search covering 4,600 miles.

Petty, 63, a chiropractor from Longview, Texas, was part of a multi-day adventure with Florida-based outfitter Jim Abernethy, a famous but controversial figure among the commercial shark-diving fraternity.

Eight other passengers were part of the expedition to Tiger Beach, a renowned location where divers routinely—but during daylight hours—dive among tiger sharks lured in with bait. (Many operations have stopped using cages for protection.)

Petty was last seen by other divers with the expedition aboard the 65-foot vessel Shear Water. A distress call was issued at about 8 p .m., after it was discovered that Petty did not surface with the group.

Coast Guard Petty Officer John Paul-Rios told Chron on Wednesday that the search has turned up a “substantial amount” of dive gear. Outside magazine quoted Coast Guard spokesman Mark Barney as saying the gear included a mask and camera found one mile from where the distress call was issued.

On Wednesday afternoon Petty’s son-in-law issued this statement:

“The family would like to thank everyone for the overwhelming support and prayers on behalf of John Petty. The U.S. Coast Guard has ceased its search as of 11:00 a.m., today. After the Bahamian Government studied the items recovered in numerous searches, it has been determined that a shark attack was the cause. A memorial service is being planned and details will be posted later today. Thank you all again.”

Though thousands of tourists dive with sharks at Tiger Beach without incident each year, the location is what one veteran outfitter describes as “an ongoing lab experiment.”

Patric Douglas, of Shark Diver, stated: “Tiger Beach has been a long running experiment with large predatory sharks and a number of ‘firsts’ for the cageless shark-diving industry. First to night dive with these sharks, first to hand-feed these animals, first to film a woman dressed as a mermaid with baited sharks, first to stand tigers on their noses for paying customers in a controversial shark interaction called ‘tonic shark.’

“There are few animal interaction boundaries that have not been explored at this remote and well-known shark site.”

Tiger Beach is located 20 miles northwest of West End on Grand Bahama Island.

Messages sent to Abernethy on Wednesday were not returned. Among past incidents the outfitter has been associated with include losing a client to a fatal shark attack in 2008.

In 2011, Abernethy was bitten on the arm by what was believed to be a lemon shark while diving in the Bahamas. He was airlifted to a Florida hospital for treatment.

There have been several tense moments involving other divers at Tiger Beach. Many of those were videotaped and shared on the Internet.

But thankfully, for the most part, the sharks are interested only in the chum they’re being fed.