Shark-Feeding Ban Proposed
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AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — A state commission moved Thursday to ban shark-feeding scuba dives in Florida after two deadly shark attacks along the East Coast over the Labor Day weekend.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted, 7 to 1, for the ban on feeding marine animals by people in the water. The proposed rule could become effective after a hearing and a final vote in November.
Commissioners expressed fear that sharks could be conditioned to associate humans with food.
Tour operators told the commission that the dives are safe and that no tourists have been bitten.
There have been more than 40 shark attacks in U.S. coastal waters this year, including 29 in Florida.
On Saturday in Virginia Beach, Va., a 10-year-old boy was fatally mauled in the surf. On Monday, a shark killed a man and gravely injured his girlfriend off a North Carolina beach.
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