what do people think about sharks and should they be culled in the south west

After readings yorksurfers thread the other day, I pondered the same question. What would people think if the record books were re opened? I live and surf the South West, and can't help but think about the blokes in grey suits more than usual! places like , The womb Big rock, Cobbels and Gillos seem a hole sharkier than before especially when your one of the first out! I still think a cull is not required and instinct could play a big part in avoiding an attack. For example avoid surfing small onshore slop on overcast days! Also there seems to be a pattern where attacks and or sightings are occurring more during the months of say september through to mid december. Two things are happening during that time frame , one the migration of whales and the snapper spawn.

Good luck!

I think you have to put the lives and safety of humans before the wellbeing of sharks. We put humans before animals in our diets, and when we have pets; why should this be any different? If it's not a cull, then at least radical new measures should be implemented such as large shark nets/rerouting shark movement patterns (I don't know anything about things like this but surely it's possible). Interesting issue for sure.

It's a little different ftl as we are intruding in their territory and domain, not the other way around.

If the sharks were coming on land and taking lives, then sure we could cull etc.

We as humans don't have to enter the water, and we don't have to surf, it's simply our choice for recreation purposes and hence our risk.

More research is definitely needed but a cull is a knee jerk reaction.

We need sharks,as we all know they are a crucial part of the oceans ecosystem.In saying that I can fully understand a relative of those who lost their life while surfing thinking something different altogether.At the very least they have stopped the classic breaks down south from being overcrowded.As a New South Welshman I've done some travelling and think the best surfs I've ever had are down south and this topic is the exact reason I won't surf there again.Great news I'm sure for surfers down south wishing no one bothered to go not just me as I do appreciate wanting surf breaks to stay relatively unknown and not Noosa like with crowds.For me personally for the amount of surfs I've had down south which wasn't many,I had way too many sightings.Now as I'm older with kids I can't justify going there and am quite happy to surf the east coast.

I think a better approach would be to cull seals. Seals are a major food source for adult great whites (the specie responsible for most of the recent attacks), and because seals have been protected now for many years they have had a population explosion. Areas where once there were very few seals now have established colonies. It's obvious that the more seals we have surrounding Australia, the higher the population of white sharks that can be supported.

As areas where seals congregate are well known it would be a simple proposition to go there and cull maybe 25-50% of them. This would also benefit the fish species that seals prey on, such as tuna and snapper.

Wouldn't culling seals just encourage sharks to look for other food sources ( humans)??
And whites follow the snapper schools so culling seals to increase snapper and tuna numbers wouldn't really work either IMO.
Not saying I've got the answers but I don't think a seal slaughter is the right way..

You're all missing the big picture, Global Warming. Can't you see that global warming will increase planktons in the ocean? More planktons means more fishes, more fishes means more seals, more seals means more penguins, and more penguins means more crocodiles. Also, with global warming the crocodiles will migrate further south. Crocodiles are natures way of culling great white sharks and we should assist nature by abandoning the carbon tax.

You're all missing the big picture, Global Warming. Can't you see that global warming will increase planktons in the ocean? More planktons means more fishes, more fishes means more seals, more seals means more penguins, and more penguins means more crocodiles. Also, with global warming the crocodiles will migrate further south. Crocodiles are natures way of culling great white sharks and we should assist nature by abandoning the carbon tax.

By: "reillygregson"

You honest mate? Surely your taking the piss...

Kill kill kill a couple of dumb apex predators off the top didn't hurt before. Although a few more fatalitys will likely keep the crowds down. Catch 22

I'm pretty sure the sharks have noticed the ever increasing numbers of surfers entering the waters and decided they need to be culled.
But in all seriousness, no I don't think we should cull the sharks.

I don't want to be eaten by a shark but I also don't want to show up in someone elses environment and bully them out of it. To sharks, we're the kooks.

My first response is a resounding "no." That being said, I grew up in southern California and don't have to deal with them the way you guys do in Australia. Perhaps if I did, I may have a different perspective. In 25 years, I have never seen a large shark in so Cal. Seen some harmless leopard sharks, but we're pretty lucky here.

I still don't think we should mess with them. I think it's best we try to minimize our impact on nature. Humans come first, but sometimes messing with nature can have an impact on us as well.

scoopmaster wrote:

I think a better approach would be to cull seals. Seals are a major food source for adult great whites (the specie responsible for most of the recent attacks), and because seals have been protected now for many years they have had a population explosion. Areas where once there were very few seals now have established colonies. It's obvious that the more seals we have surrounding Australia, the higher the population of white sharks that can be supported.

As areas where seals congregate are well known it would be a simple proposition to go there and cull maybe 25-50% of them. This would also benefit the fish species that seals prey on, such as tuna and snapper.

Then we'd have a bunch of hungry great whites roaming around? Are you daft? What would they then eat? US.

http://theconversation.com/how-to-prevent-shark-attacks-20890