In the protocol for immediate response to a fatal shark bite such as the one that just occurred in Nouméa, I recommend: 1) immediate profiling of the shark in emergency forensic medicine (confirmation of the species and size of the biting shark), 2) NON-LEthal fishing limited to the immediate area of the bite, for 48 hours, which would allow the release of all animals of the wrong species and unsuitable size (based on the evaluation). If the shark is of the right species and the right size (+/- 20 cm compared to the size assessed by autopsy), the animal’s stomach can then be explored, either by making it vomit, or via an ultrasound (portable ultrasound scanner), in order to identify potential human remains (especially bones, which are very visible). In a positive case, eliminate the shark. In doing so, we would release sharks that are too small, too large or with negative stomach exploration. I hope that in Noumea, we do not set up indiscriminate LETHAL fishing, whatever the size or species, probably with a latency time of more than 48 hours after the bite (when the shark has already left the area). This would obviously be ineffective, as usual.
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