WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) -- An Austrian tourist died Monday after being bitten by a shark while diving near the Bahamas in waters that had been baited with bloody fish parts to attract the predators.

Markus Groh, 49, a Vienna lawyer and diving enthusiast, was on a commercial dive trip Sunday when he was bitten about 50 miles off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, said Karlick Arthur, Austrian counsel general in Miami, Florida.

Groh was in the open water without a cage or similar protection.

The crew aboard the Shear Water, of Riviera Beach-based Scuba Adventures, immediately called the U.S. Coast Guard, which received a mayday from the vessel, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Nick Ameen.

Groh was airlifted to a hospital, where he died. Groh was bitten on the leg, Ameen said, but he could not be more specific about the extent of his injuries.

It was unclear what type of shark was involved in the attack. The shark got away before anyone could identify the species.

The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation by the Miami-Dade Police Department. A telephone message left for police was not immediately returned.

A woman who answered the telephone at Scuba Adventures on Monday said the company had no comment.

The company's Web site says it offers the opportunity to get "face to face" with sharks. The site explains that its hammerhead and tiger shark expeditions in the Bahamas are "unique shark trips ... run exclusively for shark enthusiasts and photographers."

To ensure "the best results we will be 'chumming' the water with fish and fish parts," the Web site explains. "Consequently, there will be food in the water at the same time as the divers. Please be aware that these are not 'cage' dives, they are open water experiences."

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Sounds to me like he got what he deserved..I mean swimming in "baited" waters! Thats just asking to be attacked!

Any documentaries I've seen have ususally been with the photographers in a cage, and the cages getting batted by sharks....Diving in chumming waters is one thing, but taking a risk like this doesn't make sense...Fatalities may be more numbered then we know....

I believe this practice has become quite common. The tourist divers are usually situated on the bottom, and sharks circle around, spurred on by the tour hosts. I also believe the practice will be investigated, now.

I dove in the Caribbean, and I was terrified of seeing sharks. I'm a scaredy cat. There is no way in hell that I would get in chummy water without a cage. No way.

I was always under the impression that when swimming with sharks they wear some sort of armor the beasties can not bite through. ...

As far as I know, that is only for the dive masters who are up there with the sharks. The people sitting below are supposedly safe since the chum is in the upper part of the water. If they basically sit still, the sharks won't really notice them. I don't have faith in this myself, though.

I am unsure weather they are saying he was experienced or just an enthusiast?
This practice should be left the the qualified divers and the ones with the certificate that says*insane*

I serious doubt it, shark attack is very rare and there is nothing to suggest anything else.
Cages create something very unnatural and add are proven to alter sharks behaviour due to the electronic field they produce. The problem is deliberate baiting is stupid on two fold, A) you should never feed wild animals it is unecological and can be damaging to the animals B)the animals are more likely to bite accidentally or in defence of there food.
Cage cause unnatural behaviour because sharks are very sensitive to electrical currents and the cage will alter there perception.

It is pretty common and usually quite safe. This was an unfortunate incident but as long as the person is well informed of potential dangers I see it as no more dangerous than when I guided and portered on climbing and mountaineering trips (or things like skydiving, parasailing or hang gliding). The fact is, so long as other people aren't being put in risk and the participants aren't being mislead, then people have every right to put themselves in fairly extreme situations. I do agree that actively altering an ecological system is not right though, and on those grounds I have an issue with it. You want to go out and watch animals in their natural environment with minimum impact then I'm fine with it, but baiting animals and altering their behavior, specifically teaching them to associate food with humans, is irresponsible.

This guys death doesn't count as an 'attack'. All the sharkie-lovers on T.V. always say when this kinda thing happens, it's ONLY because the fine and noble shark just 'confused' the arrogant, human swimmer for something to eat... Sharks are too pure unspoiled and naturally beautiful creatures to intentionally harm a normal, animal loving person (especially if they had a PETA card in thier wallet). THis guy was probably a capitalist oppressor of the down-trodden who had to large a carbon-footprint anyway.....

Idiot.
If you knew about animal behaviour and ecology you no doubt would not make such a ridiculous comment. The guy was swimming in highly chummed water, it is asking to be bit. Any one with half a brain can see that. Chumming the water was banned in Florida for a reason. Sharks can be dangerous, but the do not eat people and attacks are rare and usually are not at random (the no.1 cause of shark attack is pulling a sharks tail, oddly pulling a snakes tail is the no.1 cause of snake bites).

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Just to add a point they dove in Bahamian waters because chumming in this manner is illegal in United States waters because it is very dangerous. One bite from a tiger shark as this case proves can be dangerous.
Oddly enough if they had gone and dived legally in US waters, his wound was not so bad as to led to his death, he was just too far offshore to be able to return back to land quickly enough.

I agree with mattshark. The moron was swimming in baited waters it's the risk he was taking. Sharks rarely attack however on rare occasions they do. Swimming in baited waters is very risking and I don't feel sorry for the fool.

pretty dumb to dive with tiger sharks without a cage, the Company must asume responsability in this