We ran a waterski operation off the Tamarind for two years until fairly recently. Part of our boring UK risk assessment was to try and ascertain whether there were any sharks in Tudor Creek and to find out reported incidents. As far as we could discover there had been a bull shark attack in the early nineties on some of the kids on the beach opposite, but nothing since. Sharks are common at English point and surfing there made me nervous, Mombasa Creek gets them most of the time as they follow the ships in feeding off the rubbish. Divers are regularly attacked in Mombasa Creek, though this is not publicised.

People swim the creek every day instead of walking the long way home, and as you say the kids are there most days. We had skiers in the water, wakeboards on etc without any incident for two years, and the fisherman don't think they come up Tudor Creek. There are bound to be exceptions but I think they don't venture in very often and when they do they've got better things to eat than us.

Its interesting to note that aside from the entrance Tudor Creek is very very deep, its possible this may deter bull sharks as its not their prefered setting. Usually if you mix bull sharks and people you will get attempted attacks eventually, though they aren't fatal and often don't involve anything more than receiving a bump or being chased....

For some perspective - recently a Pilot whale was washed up off Dead Mans Chest in the BVI. It was tied outside the main Sir Francis Drake Channel to keep it away from the tourists. Within four hours it had 15 Tiger sharks tearing it up, all bigger than 4 metres; thats in one of the worlds busiest dive and snorkel locations.

Watch out for the coconuts !

Stov:

Thanks so much for your input. You have obviously had far more experience there than most of us.

Welcome to Bushdrums. We hope that you will become a regular reader and contributor. We don't always agree with one another, but we enjoy learning about all things East African!

hi stov
welcome to the club - you will love the exchange here!

regarding the shark attacks:
it`s' somehow strange! i am just reading a book written by an english lady who was raised in kenya in the 30 and 40ies and she writes there was a sloughterhouse at the end of the creek which attracted sharks because they used to drop all these intestines, blood and stuff which attrakted the sharks..................i wonder whether the attacks are still cuased by any sloughterhouse there?????????? but i assume nowadays they have found a way to make use of all parts of sloughtered animals as they do in europe and there won't be any waste to drop!

I havn't been there for many years, but I guess the slaughterhouse is still there and is still - at least one of - the reasons why sharks are attracted. Even if they just wash the blood into the sea, that is more than enough for the sharks.

Mombasa Creek is probably the most shark infested place in Kenya and although there are attacks, I think that this is still an example that shows that we do not need to fear sharks. So many people including children swim, play, surf, dive etc. in the creek every day and still attacks are very few.

Thousands and thousands of sharks are killed by humans every day. The sharks need to fear humans more than the other way around.

Pedestrians still cross the streets every day despite the accidents that happen every day

carsten,
you are just running into open doors!
i know for certain that generally speaking sharks are not after humans - except the tiger and bull which might be a bit difficult to predict -. we are just not on their menue but incidentally there might be an attack but mostly because humans behave stupidely in their habitat ( water) (shouting, splashing etc. as sometimes injured seals or fish do) and this attracts sharks.
the book i am reading is written by a lady who now lives in england and she used to swim back and forth in the creek and nothijg happend to her. but sometimes there were fatal incidents.............but you know shit happens all over the place and mostly it's human's fault if something seriously happens!

When I first got to Kenya we were living with a friend in Nyali. This friend went every morning around 6:00 am by car to old-town to swim across the creek and back. I often joined him. We walked down to Fort Jesus were there is an easy access to the water. Many people do the same. It is like a ritual. You will find business-people, doctors and many other people that are busy all day taking a refreshing swim in the calm sea just as the sun rises. It is a cult. People meet, chat, get themselves ready for the day. Then they go back home for a shower, breakfast and off to work. It is a great experience to swim in the creek so early in the morning. I always enjoyed it.

Never even saw a shark there.