Australia's white shark population: The hunt for answers
A spate of fatal shark attacks in both Western Australia and the eastern seaboard have spurred public debate about sharks. Amongst the opinion and science is one recurring question: Are white shark numbers rising or falling?
This question - or more correctly the lack of an answer - has highlighted the urgent need to discern the population status and trends in white sharks around our coastline.
CSIRO scientists Barry Bruce and Russ Bradford are leading a national research program on white sharks: their movements, abundance, habitats, and their populations, which is being used to develop and implement a monitoring program in Australian waters.
Population estimates and trends are needed to evaluate the success or otherwise of Australia’s white shark National Recovery Plan. This information also provides a scientific basis for policies that attempt to balance conservation and public safety.
The current program builds on existing knowledge pioneered by Barry Bruce and CSIRO. It has covered shark movements and habitat use (in particular the location of nursery areas), and the understanding that white sharks are structured into eastern and western populations in Australia, separated by Bass Strait.
The techniques that are being developed through research in eastern Australia will be applied in the west as juvenile aggregation and nursery sites get identified. A national monitoring strategy will also be designed, enabling population estimates to be refined over time.
This research is led by CSIRO along with scientists from WA Fisheries, NSW Department of Primary Industries, and the University of Technology Sydney, as well as Tag For Life in Victoria, who are undertaking or assisting with components of the program.
CSIRO have developed a unique genetic and statistical method to measure for the first time the size of Australia’s two white shark populations – eastern Australia and western Australia - using electronic tagging and aerial survey techniques as well as DNA fingerprinting.
To measure white shark populations, scientists need at least one count of shark abundance. They also need to know when they first breed, how many pups they have, how often they breed, and how many young and adult sharks die each year.
Shark research is very much in its infancy. You may not think so judging by the media column space given to sharks, yet very little about them is actually known. Information such as measures of abundance, and breeding and death rates have never before been included in white shark population estimates because no-one has been able to provide them before. This has limited the reliability of past population models.
At present CSIRO are very close to unlocking the numbers in the east of Australia, and with the template developed have now begun work in south-west Australia.
Juvenile sharks
A question I'm often asked is why we focus on juveniles and not adult sharks. That's because establishing population estimates is a process that requires numbers not individuals. Locating the nursery areas offers researchers the opportunity to tag many sharks in a short amount of time, relatively speaking.
So far around 50 juvenile sharks have been tagged with acoustic transmitters in eastern Australia. This will allow researchers to monitor their survival and long-term movements, with more being tagged every season. Aerial surveys of the clearer waters at Port Stephens, combined with the acoustic tag data, have been providing local estimates of total juvenile white shark numbers.
The sharks are tagged in the two known east Australian nursery areas: near Port Stephens in NSW and the Corner Inlet/90 Mile Beach area of south-eastern Victoria on a seasonal basis. The tags currently have a battery life of five to seven years, but new-generation tags will shortly extend this period of monitoring to 10 years. Acoustic receivers deployed along the coast keep tracking the sharks when they grow too large to return to nursery areas.
Historically, most of the sharks tagged in these nursery areas have been in the range of 1.6 – 2.7 metres, but on recent trips we have noticed fewer sharks present in the Port Stephens nursery and those that have been there are slightly larger animals. It's not so much a case of population decline but it's probable they have reached a size where the nursery no longer comes into play on a regular basis and they are elsewhere.
Adult numbers, survival and reproduction
So what about the adult numbers: how do we estimate these? Again, novel genetic and statistical techniques are being used to examine family relationships between juvenile sharks that hold information about their parents.
Adult white shark numbers are estimated by looking at the proportion of juveniles in different year groups that are half-siblings. If the adult population is very large, only a small proportion of juveniles will be half-sibling pairs. In a smaller population, a higher proportion of individuals are likely to be related.
With estimates of the number of juveniles, and their survival rates, the annual newborn pups can be calculated. This in turn offers further clues to the number of adult female sharks and the population as a whole.
The western population: finding the nursery areas
The methods outlined will be used to determine the size of the western white shark population once the nursery areas have been identified. Three approaches will be taken to locate these areas: coastal aerial surveys in South Australia and Western Australia, opportunistic tagging of juveniles from vessels, and satellite tracking of mature female sharks.
Areas of the South Australian and the southern Western Australian coasts where juvenile white sharks have been previously caught by commercial and recreational fishers will be aerially surveyed during spring to autumn. Tagging expeditions will be conducted to internally-tag juvenile sharks and acoustic receivers will monitor how sharks use the area, as well as to guide future research and monitoring requirements. Tissue samples will be taken for genetic analysis. Some juveniles will also be fitted with satellite tracking tags as these have proven useful in eastern Australia for leading researchers to nursery areas.
Satellite tagging mature females
Mature females, some thought to be pregnant, appear in low numbers at the Neptune Islands, SA, in winter, a few months before what is generally assumed to be the pupping season. These females will be satellite tagged to try to locate a pupping ground – which is assumed will be near to the nursery area – within the approximate six-month lifespan of the satellite tag.
Adult females will also continue to be tagged opportunistically as part of other white shark tagging operations by CSIRO and WA Fisheries.
So where to now?
As part of its contribution to developing new research, White Tag's Tag For Life program is holding a fundraiser event at the Melbourne Aquarium on March 13. All proceeds from the night will go toward supporting projects and initiatives that will compliment and enhance CSIRO's overarching body of work.
Barry Bruce will be speaking about CSIROs new initiatives and unique techniques as well as the pathway ahead for white shark research in Australia. Other special guests will include Rodney and Andrew Fox from South Australia.
For more details click here.
Comments
See you there Kent.
You don't need to be a scientist to figure out if the number of whites are on the rise or not.
Look at a few main factors:
The ban on fishing for white sharks. (less sharks killed = more white sharks still swimming!)
The ban on whaling. ( more whales = more white shark food = more white sharks!)
Human discrimination makes for an unbalanced ecosystem, Every critter and organism is just as important as the next.
But blackdog you forget that some critta's bank accounts are more important than any other organism.
I think it's fantastic research is being done to silence the punters in surfing forums who because they surf are automatically marine biologists with majors in shark behavior and breeding patterns.
It's easier to be critical than correct.
Here you go ACB, taken from the Facebook link to this article: "Fucking get rid of the greenys the commos they let massive super trawlers in to fish or waters but you can't decrease the number of large sharks get fucked surfed all me life."
Right on!
"Get fucked surfed all me life"
Hahah classic!
I've surfed all my life.
Why am I not CEO of this Tag for Life business?
I have the prerequisites......
Its interesting reading and a shame it wasnt started at the beginning of the protection for whites but better late than never.A lot of guess work though and i wonder if the real stats will be shown if it comes to pass that theres a lot more whites than predicted.
these shark threads just keep morphing from one to the next. Although I'm sick of them it may be a good way to keep the line up numbers down . The WA reefs and beaches have been clogged with crew lately, perhaps the above article could have been titled "Pointers increasingly looking to travelling surfers with poor manners and below standard ability as new food source":)
CSIRO should get Mike Rutzen on board -
Growing up on the SW coast I have definitely seen a decline in the numbers of fish when spearing which would have a negative effect on the seal population on Penguin, Seal and Rottnest island's where they breed. Surfing any south of north point can get sketchy, I guess its because less surfers in the water and the history with sharks along that stretch of coastline...
Living in SE QLD now the only real threat is the crowds, miss the waves over west at least the sharks sorted out the crowds....
This subject is the most important subject to hit swellnet in terms of its impact upon every one of us, Its funny that we protect the only animal that eats us and we let our cats kill so many small things. I know top of the food chain is important. The Orkas disagree with that anyway ( see recent incident in Port Lincoln. ) I don't think they would be missed if a few were taken out. They are not royalty!!. Its not so much how many people they eat but how many people they keep out of the water. A vote for protection of them is like a vote for Abbott. Kill em.
thumbs up!
I'm yet to see a cat naturally catch an Australian salmon, striped tuna or a long tail tuna, stupid cat wouldnt even know how to reverse the tinny down the ramp let alone use a baitcaster with unweighted pillie. So why the fuck do we allow for tonnes and tonnes of these fish to be taken out of the ocean and turned into cat food!!!!!!!!!
FUCK the cats off, should be made illegal to own one in Australia and a bounty put on every cats head. They are not cute pets, they are raping both our land, our bluey lizards, other reptiles, native bird species and the marine environments for pet food.
The only good cat in this world is a dead one.
"A vote for protection of them is like a vote for Abbott. Kill em. "
who....Abbott?
If no one knows how many Pointers there are , then why were they placed on the endangered list ?
It seems to be a double standard to protect an apex predator but not the smaller fish species that are its prey. Surely this will eventually create an imbalance that will cause large shark species to become increasingly desperate and cause them to attack human surfers, swimmers and divers etc. when they normally probably wouldn't. If we can't decide to protect all marine species then to maintain a proper balance we should be prepared to cull large sharks in a controlled manner in order to prevent an increase in lethal shark attacks on humans. If not perhaps the acoustic / satellite tagging of large sharks can be increased and their locations monitored so that the public can be made aware when a dangerous sized shark is currently at their local beach.
I dont get it sharks are here to stay they are not going anywhere knowing there numbers might shine a light on there behavior but that's it as far as I'm concerned. Intersecting sure but what are we surfers to do? Stop surfing... No cull the sharks? Fat lot of good that does. Let's just face it that's the chance we take. Just go surfing and use your brains to minimize your chances of getting chomped.
Good to see that finally their is some scientific research being done into understating the White Pointer. Hopefully the CSIRO get the funding needed to continue their study.
Blowin makes a good point- "Why are Pointers on the endangered list if no one knows how many there are?".
Good point that Yewwwww makes about double standards. Other fish need protection too. It would follow then that some of this research is correlated to their food sources. For example in WA matching the white population to seal and snapper populations.
It would also be interesting to know how these populations compare to white shark populations in Northern California and South Africa - as far as I recall surfers have had realistic fears of shark attacks since surfing has been popularised. Can the scientists tell us what sort of numbers we should expect to see once this data settles? I would be interested to know if the Australian hysteria is disproportionate to these established populations. I remember reading a story about a north Cali surfer who had been attacked by a white twice, about 5 years apart, at the same surf spot. He didn't want his name published as he thought his wife would stop him from surfing. An interesting reaction to risk?
Let's start the cat cull. Horrible killing machines are nothing but a menace to native wildlife.
And they leave their turds in random spots.
Let's start the cat cull. Horrible killing machines are nothing but a menace to native wildlife.
And they leave their turds in random spots.
...and their turds are toxic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis
Gotta cover up the kids sandpit every night cos the neighbours cat lays its toxic little cables in there.
Stu, get an outdoor dog ... no more cat problems ;-)
Yeah same. Our dog considers these hidden parcels like truffles!! Hideous!!
Personally i lose respect for people the moment they say they own a cat .
Its okay though , they probably think ( probably more so hate ) the same thing about me because i dare to hunt , kill and eat wild animals .......
Who would of thought that some people are daft enough to hate other humans for naturally and selectively hunting . When hypocrytically , the pets they love so much , wait on hand and foot , indescriminantly slaughter so much native and important wild animals . Worst still the cats have their owners " shop out " oceanic slaughter to the lowest bidder ..... Some peoples natural awareness is fucked .
I think Culling all idiotic humans in this blog is a better idea....
That's a bit rough, they can't be that bad, I am little bit drunk, but soucasa, can't remember the rest.
Its all the CATS fault, Blame the cats..... get a brain... stop hating...
hang on ....
i need to get a brain .... your the who bothered answering to veiled cynicism .
I've also noted that cat owners love the word " hating " ......
should that be catboarder420?(shout out to the Porkers)
I don't understand the resistance to research throughout replies above? The only concrete thing I took from all of the speculation/informed commentary/conjecture/opinion/bullshit in the 2 recent shark related sets of forum replies is that we know fark all about sharks. Surely a better understanding of an apex predator is worthwhile/not to be derided as filling someones bank account?
Guess that last line is to do with my comment, I didn't make my point very clear.
I'm more than happy for the research to happen & stoked Kent takes the time to keep SN informed on goings on.
I just hate it how there is rules for some and not for others.
Parts of the fishing industry kill white pointers. I'm not talking by-catch either. Don't think it's any deep dark secret either, have seen it in the paper & TV. These poor multi multi million aires might miss out on a few bucks... But you, me, kent or anyone else look at one the wrong way & look out, we'd be in deep shit.
A month or two ago, some young fishermen came across one in upper Spenser gulf, filmed it & put it on FB, didn't see the footage, don't know if they were teasing it or not, but was hearing all that day on ABC radio that fisheries where thinking of fining them... Don't know the out come of that one. Yet a couple of hundred k's south they are allow to tease the fuck out of them ... We have all seen when they pull the tuna on the rope away when the shark is about to take a bight.
And what about the chumming? Am I allowed to chum to watch a pointer? (this is a question.)
If anyone can set me straight, I'm all ears & don't have a closed mind on this topic, but at the moment it feels to me like if you have a lot of money and/or power you can bend & break the rules.
mothart, agree that there will always be two sets of rules and that having 2 sets of rules is shit.
I interpreted your earlier comment to mean that you thought the research was being conducted to line someone's pockets, so apologies.
A highlight of my childhood was seeing my sisters cat get harassed by a willywag tail to such a level that the cat wouldn't leave the house.
Unfortunately for the willy wag tail he chased the cat inside and the dog promptly ate it.
A sad day indeed.
There hasn't been a single great white spotted off the Neptune Islands since the orca attack six weeks ago. How does that happen? How could all of the sharks in the area be aware of what happened? If there's a chemical signal in shark blood that causes mass evacuation it could lead to a really effective great white repellent. Alternatively, go surfing with your Free Willy hanging out.
Maybe orcas singing/communicating being pumped through under water speakers out the back.
But who knows, the dangers might then become getting mounted by a horny orca, which could be worse than the original problem.
This site is gold, I love you guys . Mwaaah
Ahhhh... surfing in Europe. Never have to worry about this stuff ! I'll tell you though, with all the stories and media focus of recent years, when I come home I'm almost to afraid to go in the water!
In saying that, Victoria hasn't had a fatal attack since the mid 70's(someone please correct me if I'm wrong). I wonder why that is as we do have shark populations and one of the GWS nurseries is at Corner Inlet next to Wilsons Prom. Not to mention the seal colony at Phillip Island which is also visible from the Mornington Peninsula so both surf zones certainly do have a food source that draws sharks into the area.
Any Cats around there ?
There all in the cray pots over here in the West.....
omg mounted by a horny orca!gnarly flashbacks!!!
20yrs ago heading west stopped in lincoln on a sat nite.fat chick(white girl in black clothes) @pub was keen,i was drunk.back 2the hiace.caught the cat,attacked the cat but doubt i did much damage to the furry feral feline??they're tuff little.....
watching the fat jiggle after every speed pump,it was like travelling swell lines being generated from a deep(small) low pressure!......
Troppo, you're a fucking champ... Fat chicks need love aswell!
we should be spending more money on breeding fish. we take from the oceans but dont give back. it would create industries, creates jobs- hockey and abbott would be happy and we feed the ocean critters and people as well, Aquaculture should be a real focus for australia's future
as for the rogue whites, the one around the byron/ballina area is an old bastard that has lost his speed and nose radar so he attacks what he can to survive. They have to be culled. Cause of all the cage diving and burleying, the whites now associate food with human
As for cats, i remember an art teacher who hated my guts and failed me- he was a homosexual and we did not get on\
so one night we caught his two cats and tied them to the clothes lines and started spinning them around and tied bolts on to some cane toads and threw on his roof who them started jumping round making clanging noises.
Her burst through the front door and stepped on a package that was filled with a lovely brown substance meant for a toilet. He transferred the next semester.
sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind. I dont have pets, i prtefer to see them live their lives in nature, but sometimes a cull has to happen to keep things in balance. We ought to start at the superbank lol
Nobody weaves homophobia and animal cruelty into a yarn quite like Dave the Rave.
mothman,ur comments bout playing orca noise's got me thinkn whilst i was surfing today.lightbulb ignited!!!need 2 make lifesize orca's n have a bunch of them semi submerged dropped around quality surf zones with the music blasting!
Meet Bruce and his little mate - Dorsalwatch
Holy shit.
A Google Earth aerial view update of the Great lakes has that much glare, that all I see is the surface of the water. Strangely enough thou, the area's to the North and South have incredibly sharp crystal clear water. My guess is the tourism angle on this one, as a large White is clearly visible close to shore towards Hawks Nest. How pretty would the view of Wallis Lake have been on that day.
I saw one of these buggers while I was surfing Northern NSW a couple of days ago.
Big !
Close Blowin?
Maybe 15 metres away.
Crystal clear water with a very slight onshore ruffle of the surface. Cruising deep in 5 metres of water. Mid morning.
North of Crescent Head.
Hey Blowin,
I reckon I spoke to you on the beach as I was getting ready to go out for a second surf that morning and you got out of the water?
I gave it an hour and then went out anyway with eyes wide open!!
Waves stayed good with light winds until I left about 2pm
G'day CMC
That was me. Nice to meet ya !
Just got out of the water at the same spot. Fun little shories.
Might catch ya out there again .
Small world eh?
Won't get there again in a while as that was a 9 day surf trip me and my mate where doing up and down the coast getting away from work, kids, job and the general madness of Sydney.
We ended up surfing that beach 4 days out of the 9 and got the best waves there over the whole time. My mate used to surf there 30 years ago and this was first time back.
Real gem of a spot, will definitely get back there when possible.
Cheers
Completely agree with both of you gents, did similar last year.
The ocean did feel alive! & yes, best waves on whole trip
Well the tagging has reached 90 around Ballina /Evans Head area in a fairly short period of time and im sure they are only tagging a percentage of whites it so it begs the question what happens in a few years from now when it becomes to dangerous to surf,when are they deemed not endangered?Be nice to hear from Kent Stannard if hes available.
A fair few of that number were tagged at Tuncurry/Forster, and a handful at Boambee and Crowdy.
I rushed straight home to grab my fishing gear for a low key cull when I saw that thing skulking around the surf the other day.
I wasn't sure what a pointer would be tempted to swallow , so I asked a local bloke and he said nippers were the best all round bait for East coast beaches.
But when I went looking for some I couldn't find a single one , which is surprising cause they're usually pretty thick on the ground down at the surf club.
I'll Probably have more luck at the weekend patrol down near the red and yellow flags.
I love hating pet/feral cats . Uncle leroy , if your still out there I'm with ya on the cat hating topic, Sorry to any cat loving oddballs for what I'm about to state here but if you have a feral cat problem in your area here is a possible "solution". . . . . . .bowl , milk , antifreeze.
Maybe they could start a cat tagging program?
The first whales have come through...the stories of sightings and encounters have started...the politics and summits and talkfests have started...we shouldn't be too far away from our first attack now.
And I'm sure nothing will be done again...
Another day another tagging...ho hum...no. 91
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/861455962040750081
We used to simply trust the trawler men to look after our shoreline for us and they would just put a bullet in a white shark that was hanging around swimmers and surfers. That would be that. The others would rack off. No need for expensive surveys and bullshit. Trust your local fishos who sail past the sharks everyday while at work and stop all the nonsense. There are too many whites at present, just ask the boys who work out there. We only want a few hundred metres of a huge global ocean to play in so let the fishos do their job without threatening them with massive fines. To all the well paid so called scientific Govt. fund sucking experts, get a proper job.
Too right, and where did all the trawlers go? Tuncurry and Crowdy Head were cram packed with trawlers in the 80's. I loved the fact they trawled our beaches.
blowin, maybe its because the parents are being overly protectionist. standard fair for this modern age id say. and who knows, maybe the man hunting killer Esperance shark is on its way to your local beach right now. BOO
just joking.....carry on.
"interesting claims", I agree..It's a crock of shit. If anyone thinks commercial fishermen are going to 'target' whites specifically , then they have little knowledge of how a 'financially viable' commercial pelagic shark fishery works, As for the cull , can't see it happening.
"I,m on the conservation side and I,m not going to pretend as if I didn't jump the first time a 6m female swam under my board when I was about 13 years old",, B.D.. I rest my case.
Haha, that last call from her is the funniest thing ever..another dellusional greenie stir up!!
I just meant the articles mentioned . was hoping to see the story , couldn't see anything on google search.
Don't worry Clam , there is no story. I think she's a little out of touch. I just had to re read it for a laugh though,,"Australia loves to use the word cull as a short, sharp and stupid way to deal with wildlife . Native or not. Sharks, kangaroos, dingoes, koalas you name it ,They either want to put death trap like nets up , shoot everything, or lay out horrific baits",
yeah too right love , plenty of beer ,bait , ice and ammo here, and those drop bears aren't as cuddly as they look
yeah she would be a little out of touch living in Port Lincoln , and actually knowing some GWS victims , now that really is something to laugh about , out of touch on the front line in Port Lincoln , damn greenies!
Sharkman, thank god your'e here. "front line" now? I hardly think she's working the coal face in Port Lincoln on the shark front. "In a world where its become fashionable to be a shark lover,[ which I think is great], I have to be realistic with my conservative angle at home, as boasting about loving sharks and saying their "pretty" gets you nowhere to the fisherman and to the people who have the power to change things in Australia"
"I,ll be keeping my eyes out on anything further and be sure to be getting whichever crew onboard possible if things move forward in any direction",,,. Well thank fuck for that , I,ll sleep much better tonight
ah the old thank God chestnut , great to see you have spiritual grounding and use it so wisely,
By frontline I mean surfing in an area that has GWS's as their apex predator , as is the Port Lincoln area and has nothing to do with "loving" sharks but understanding that they are just part of the environment as we all are.
how they look to each individual is personal , as some of us see fisherman as parasites of the ocean , raping and pillaging to the point the politicians at the bequest of the "greenies" had to bring in legislation , create bureaucracies to control the fisherman from decimating the oceans , we all have an opinion based our facts , but happy to hear you are sleeping well at night!
Stumbled upon this on You Tube. I don't know anything about this person's credibility but he has made some claims about the current status of GWS in Aussie waters. Here is the link if anyone is interested
&t=24sI'm confused by Brinkley and her thoughts 'I personally think they are beautiful, I have huge respect for all sharks, especially Great White Sharks.'"
I also respect sharks (all of them equally incl. Wobbegongs) as I respect Sugar Gliders. I respect them equally, I don't respect animals more just because they are bigger and stronger than others or because they eat a few humans (I might if I had a dislike for my fellow mankind). A question for Brinkley: Why respect an animal more than others when it kills human beings?
I really wouldn't have too much faith in anything Brinkley Davies says
You seem to have a personal issue tubeshooter ?
personal issue? Hardly. , hopefully she learns from it all, and contributes something sensible in the future. Her passion for the ocean is admirable and should be encouraged. But what's that they say about the road to hell? .. I think she just needs to grow up a bit more before I take her seriously, . If I was really on the girls case, and wanted to tear her apart personally, I,d go a hell of a lot harder than I have, Apart from posting some links regarding the credibility of a so called ,self confessed professional, and some slight jabs regarding some of her dialogue, I thought I went pretty easy on her. So the answer to your question Clam is it a personal issue ?no. a credibility issue,, yes. As far as the reported gofundme scams go If she wants to rip off some gullible greenies then more power to her,. But she has obviously pissed off quite a broad range of people along the way as well. When it comes to questioning someones credibility and motives behind what they are preaching , exposing some part of it as negative doesn't always need to involve a personal issue. I have an issue with bullshit. I look forward to reading her scientifically peer reviewed studies in the future , until then,..I don't follow instagram
http://www2.padi.com/blog/2017/06/13/brinkley-davies-aussie-native-padi-...
This recent article might settle you down tubeshooter . Where did you get the idea to dig up the dirty old
trash ?
That big fucken bastard, I was spearfishing, diving, I was in the water anyway. She came lazily, out of deepwater and passed me by. Anyway it was a dream.
Less food for sharks .
http://www.magic899.com.au/news/local-news/70778-new-restrictions-to-be-...
"Port Lincoln’s Shark Cage Diving operators have been rocked by new restrictions on burley use and a total ban on feeding Great White Sharks.
Advertiser journalist Nigel Hunt broke the story yesterday with the new restrictions to be put in place within a year.
The amount of burley able to be used by the two dive companies that utilise burley will be cut from 120kg to 100kg."
http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/plan-to-tag-white-poin...
“For it to be successful, it requires sharks to have tags. It is just the reality of being able to tag every shark, they don’t even know how many are out there. We are concerned for our safety, I have got 22 divers who are not entirely comfortable at the moment.’’
Mr Woolford said the increasing number of white pointers being encountered by abalone divers was “a constant threat’ and measures were needed to monitor them.
“While it is illegal for anyone to berley and bait great white sharks, it is permitted by our state government ...” the submission states.
“Our number one concern is the use of teaser baits which sole purpose of use is to lure the shark closer to the thrill seeking tourist divers in the cage hanging from the boat.
“We believe this practice is leading to great white sharks associating people in cages with food.’’
“Our number one concern is the use of teaser baits which sole purpose of use is to lure the shark closer to the thrill seeking tourist divers in the cage hanging from the boat.
“We believe this practice is leading to great white sharks associating people in cages with food.’’
Of course it is, anyone that's ever had a goldfish could tell you that. But although there's a shitload of cash behind the cage diving, don't forget the tuna farms. And all the 'science' they gathered. 'Science' that will tell you different.
Shitloads of cash. Granite Island was never in doubt.
Dive with the tuna. What a fucken farce. Hindmarsh River pissing out brown murk. Might even be the Inman. Whatever. Can't see fuck all.
Where the sharks at?
The sharks are celebrating shats, like they do. Still hope though. Its been scientifically proven that a twenty odd foot pointer is no match for a dog paddling zebra. Its not hard to find. Just google zebra takes out pointer. Container loads of quivering zebras are on the move as we speak! And for those who like their scientific bent:
The dive companies' burley allowance has been cut from 120kg to 100kg , SFA really. And if a shark bumps a cage, all burleying and bait teasing must cease for 15 minutes. Good luck policing it. Dive company says the changes are 'workable', obviously. They're charter operators , period., and their primary concern is getting punters onboard , not the welfare of the sharks or anyone else who uses the area for diving or surfing.