American shark experts go in search of Red Sea Jaws targeting tourists

Shark attacks at Egypt's Red Sea resorts, known for their reef diving, are rare. The attacks on snorkellers and swimmers over the past week at Sharm el-Sheikh, on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, are believed to involve two oceanic whitetip sharks, which normally do not get close to beaches.

The attacks became fatal on Sunday when a shark tore the arm off an elderly German swimmer, killing her almost immediately. Days earlier a shark badly mauled three Russians and a Ukrainian.

Authorities have closed the beaches to swimmers indefinitely and barred anyone except professional divers from entering the water.

Environmentalists say overfishing and a declining ecosystem could be driving sharks closer to shore in search of food. There are also accusations that tourist boats are illegally dumping meat into the water to attract sharks for passengers wanting to photograph them.

A third theory says sharks have been drawn to the area by the crew of a ship transporting livestock that dumped dead animals overboard.

The three visiting experts from the United States will give the final opinion on the causes and also on when it is safe for tourists to return to the water, says Egypt's Chamber of Diving and Watersports.

Chamber chairman Hesham Gabr said the patterns of bite marks on the victims' bodies made it appear there were two sharks involved.

Before Sunday's fatal attack, authorities believed they had caught and killed the two sharks that mauled the tourists but Mr Gabr questioned the way the sharks were targeted and said he was against "random shark hunting".

British travel agencies Thomson and First Choice, have advised holidaymakers to stay out of the water until the all-clear is given by the authorities.