Shark Attack Esperance
A sad end to the weekend.
Tragic news.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/teenage-girl-attacked-by-sha....
Same story with some anecdotal evidence for electronic shark deterrents.
https://amp.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/shark-attack-at-esper...
Terrible behavior from a fish .
Vic hislop burleys up shark debate
https://amp.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/shark-hunter-vic-hisl...
Gotta love Vic Hislop.
BTW. hows how in WA when there is an attack it seems people are more likely to die than elsewhere.
Maybe its a distance from hospital thing?
Or?
(Cut and pasted from link above )
WA SHARK ATTACK VICTIMS SINCE 2000
November 2000
KEN CREW, 48
Fatally mauled in knee-deep water at North Cottesloe beach.
July 2004
BRAD SMITH, 30
Killed while surfing at Lefthanders surf break near Gracetown.
March 2005
GEOFFREY BRAZIER, 26
Killed after being attacked by a 6m shark while snorkelling off the Abrolhos Islands, off Geraldton.
December 2008
BRIAN GUEST, 51
Killed at Port Kennedy as he snorkelled with his son within 30m of the beach.
August 2010
NICK EDWARDS, 31
Killed while surfing off Gracetown.
September 2011
KYLE BURDEN, 21
Fatally bitten while bodyboarding at Bunker Bay, near Dunsborough.
October 2011
GEORGE WAINWRIGHT, 32
Texan killed while diving from a boat about 500m off Little Armstrong Bay at Rottnest Island.
October 2011
BRYN MARTIN, 64
Disappeared while swimming at Cottesloe beach. The WA Coroner concluded he was taken by a shark.
March 2012
PETER KURMANN, 33
Killed by a 4m great white while diving about 1.6km off Stratham beach, 230km south of Perth.
July 2012
BEN LINDEN, 24
Killed while surfi ng with a mate near Wedge Island on Saturday.
November 2013
CHRIS BOYD, 35
Plumber Chris Boyd, 35, originally from Queensland, was fatally attacked off Gracetown.
December 2014
JAY MUSCAT, 17
Died after he was mauled by a 4-5m great white off Cheynes beach.
May 31, 2016
BEN GERRING
Surfer is mauled by a shark off the coast of Falcon. He died from his injuries in hospital.
June 5, 2016
DOREEN COLLYER
Killed after being attacked by a large shark while diving off Mindarie.
Shark sizes also would have a lot to do with .
Indo it's to do with not applying a tourniquet straight away and the distance to shore, victim usually bleeds out before reaching shore that's for a missing arm/leg .
The other issue is the size of the white a 5mt white will bite around the torso so hard to control bleeding.
Thats heavy,RIP mate...another one.....
Those stats are chilling indo, I have to ask during the Margs comp the WSL had a shark beacon set up yes ?
The boys had to exit or chose to possibly during a heat due to possible shark activity around the main break area.
I havent seen anything written about weather that beacon actualy worked or not, my view is that it did not work otherwise the boys would have stayed put right ?
Rupiah for your thoughts O wise ones........
JK, I'm not sure about the beacon, I know there have been heaps of salmon schools running in SW for a while now, and during the margs comp I heard there was a heap out the back during one of the heats, and it appeared they may have been chased by something. Word is the officials let it run unless the surfers felt uncomfortable, one in particular wanted to get out so they let em come in. I think one of the jet skis has a monitor of some sort to scan the surrounding sea area for "large fish". I also have not seen anything in writing.
http://www.rodneyfox.com.au/faq/
Copied from article :
"During the last 30 years of our history, we usually find the mid year months of April to mid-July to produce the most numbers, and most reliable shark activity. However the months of October to February have also delivered record high numbers of sharks in more recent years, if not perhaps quite as much reliability. The calmest, and brightest sunny weather at the Neptune Islands is experienced between the months of October and April. It is predominately male sharks that we see at this time. The warmest water temperatures for the Neptune Islands lag behind this a little and found between January and May. Offshore currents maintain temperatures from 15-20C throughout the year.
The very largest sharks seen are usually mature female sharks, which can measure over 5m long. These giants are most likely to be seen between April and mid July. Females in general can be seen as late as September. Large adult male great whites ranging from 4-5m arrive year-round at the Neptune’s and these old boys are often more consistent and "photogenic" than the typically more cautious giant female sharks. Apart from the month of August in some recent years, overall March has proven to be the most unreliable month for shark sightings. A regular seasonal influx of shark numbers usually starts in April. Water visibility usually ranges from a spectacular 15 - 30m at the offshore Neptune Islands, and although usually very clear, this viz can fluctuate quickly throughout the year. The clearest waters are often found in September and October"(Unquote ).
Numbers of sightings have been up over the last month according to the cage dive operators.
Another one at Trestles an hour ago.
Today's Cull Island Shark fatality {rip} comes off the back of uneasy events...
Mid December a surfer was rounded up by White Shark in same Area.
Jan 2nd Swimmer goes missing off Twilight Beach
Jan 5th @ 9:39am SLSWA twitter reported - White Shark off Cull Island township
pause:
Who else knew of this alternate WA frontline shark spotting site.
https://www.mybeach.com.au/safety-rescue-services/beach-safety/shark-saf...
https://twitter.com/slswa?lang=en
Also is 'Cull Island' named for obvious reason, sounds like a good name for spot X.
Jan 5th @ 1:12pm White Shark Fatality off Cull Island
Local Dive President was only in the water for 3mins... (see similar below)
Investigators might consider if Shark Shield was fitted or turned on.
Being a Dive President...knew not to activate it on-board!
3 minutes is not long for equipment check ...shield may not have been activated.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/search-under-way-for-f...
Oct 2010 WA similar Midday attack with diver entering water & hit from beneath.
Worth noting if Shark is "attracted" to boat/s + Shark Shield delay...eerily similar!
The confusion of on / off in this report changed in another of the day! (Alarming!)
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/shes-tough-shark-attack-vic...
Tragic news, 21 degree water again.
https://seatemperature.info/esperance-water-temperature.html
No way are Esperance waters 21 deg...
BTW look at that current line/temp change at Jervis Bay
http://www.bom.gov.au/oceanography/forecasts/idyoc300.shtml?region=NSW&f...
I’m in Albany, water temps are not that high. Most of us are still wearing steamers or long leg spring suits.
There has been higher than normal white pointer close encounters along the coast from Peaceful bay through to beaches east of Albany in the last two months. Large pointers breaching close to surfers, and on one occasion shark displays intentions of attack after breaching. These are accounts first hand from those involved. Not Chinese whispers.
Stay safe crew.
Fatality percentages 1988 to2018 - TAS 40%, SA 39%, WA 22%, QLD 11%, NSW 5%, VIC 0%
Victoria is an interesting one!!!
Did check on Ocean Temp readings...
Wave/Temp Buoys are positioned in cross waters for maximum readings of all sort.
1991-Esperance Buoy is 9kms out
https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/imarine/esperance-tide-and-wave.asp
Temp measures (200- 600mm down) = X-waters temp 10m down (Floods as one)
US 2 Bipolar Sats also read out SST from infrared pulses every 90min' loop.
These NASA Sats were deployed for > Fire Readings so sea Temps are secondary.
Surface readings magnify when clear & lower reading if cloudy but cover more sea.
Both readings are calculated to update temps.(Some Buoys are Sat compliant)
Purplepills is right that current Esperance 20-21* is in the (+1 Ocean Temp range)
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDYOC052.SW_WA.SSTAnomaly.shtml
http://oceancurrent.imos.org.au/sst.php?regiontype=2
tbb surfed 3hrs in boardies @ 19* Ocean Beach/Denmark (Early Dec / am 2010)
Alone / basher with sharp Seaweed kept clasping my ankle > Surf was pulling out.
Seas were rising fast, longer rides & swim back out...fast becoming shark bait...
Elevated fear of Sharks brought tbb in! Water Temp was brisk but fine.
Surf Club was closed and only 2 beachcombers each hour ...not enough backup!
Busy coastal tourist regions with 7day beach crews still take daily inshore readings.
I know for a fact GCCC Lifeguard Service + no doubt Sydney do as well.
So Lifeguard records Temp @ Main Beach for all GC Patrol's Chalk boards.
This year Oz launches Cube Bots which bounce readings down & back up!
Hot Tip! These are geared to roving Fire Flames but that also resembles Waves.
The whole waves deal was just an add on last minute freak bonus...it's full on!
100% accurate real time override everything direct to customer Surf Reporting.
Get back on that as it's news to them! So yeah...All this said here will grow mould!
Victoria has Gary G.
I heard anecdotal of near miss Abolhos last yr with the shark coming up underneath...
TBB I surfed midwinter Ocean Beach once mid 90's with two groms out in boardies (!) - they were ripping and bred tough obviously
soggydog I surfed east of town once, very alone walked halfway along the 'nana' beach, had a school of fish following my bottom turns, ocean felt really alive!
Also got lined up by a school of salmon when out alone near Augusta, put my head underwater to watch them, glad they weren't kiting anything big!
Such a beautiful coast down that way.
2011 - was that a year of high water temps? I remember fisho mates saying they were getting usually unheard of pelagics off Rotto and whale sharks reported off Albany. Was that '11 or '13?
Diver Gary Johnson R.I.P.was wearing a SharkShield..
And 6 drumlines just set Palm Beach Goldy to try and catch 4m +GWS
"The couple had just entered the water off their boat near Cull Island and had descended to a depth of about 7 metres when he was attacked."
"Diver Gary Johnson R.I.P.was wearing a SharkShield.."
I wonder if he had switched on the Sharkshield in this short period of time? Being an experienced diver I would assume so but it would be interesting to know.
Even more evidence to ban the berleying and baiting of these wild animals through cage diving. They are very smart animals which have survived for thousands of years but we poke and tease them with food and they learn to associate the next boat or jetski for something to eat. Plenty of interactions occurring along SW WA atm, boat pulls up to dive or fish, its being circled by a pointer.
Condolences to the Johnson family.
agree completely with this observation leroy
[deleted duplicate]
Agreed, Leroy. Bit of a worry.
I couldn’t quite follow the above. Is the suggestion that there is a link between warmer than usual ocean temps and the presence of whites in this part of the world?
I don't know where the warmer than usual water temps call is coming from. I was in the water last week both south and west coast and pretty normal for this time of year
Looks definitely warmer especially just offshore, but inshore around 1+ degree warmer.
There you go, I wonder if that has some influence.
How accurate are these water temps...+ or - 3deg C ?
There's an old saying "1020 fish a plenty" regarding the high pressure system and fishing.
never heard that saying before.
They're anomalies, difference from long-term climatological average, very accurate.
Bit hard to compare a 1 degree change in water temperature viewed on a map that is zoomed back on a scale of all of Australia (still green against the coast so zero change) especially this time of year, it's summer and a variable leeuwin current which would have to be one of the most variable currents of any ocean going, as said evidence to water being warmer. The body of water offshore more the Bight than Esperance or SW would be 100+km offshore and over 4km deep according to the SST Map above, most likely a weak leeuwin current cut off caused by the front that came through in last weeks solid swell and strong SW winds which brought in some nice welcomed rain.
For reference I got cold after an hour in a 3.5mm spearing suit so it was 20 or below. I'd say that is normal temps this time of year and I would expect it to start increasing in the next week or two as leeuwin current picks up and brings some warmer water down as it does every year but always variable to strength/temperature.
Are these SST compared historical on a daily or monthly?
1st of January in WA would be a big difference to 31st in temperature change once the leeuwin current kicks into gear
Yeah is hard to tell on such a big scale. Here's a nother one with the temps.. looks about 20.5?
And daily compared to historic 6 day composite for that same time period.
A while ago some one had a look at water temp and great white attacks (in WA) and it was following < 20 degrees for attacks dont think the sample size was that big and not sure it still holds.
There is some sense to a warm pocket of water pushing towards the coast, thus entrapping species like a pointer up against a coastline until the warmer water becomes unbearable and they have to make a swim to cooler water. But in saying so, they aren't phased by warmer water, Exmouth in the west and Swains in the east, all GWS haunts.
Body of a missing 21yr old pulled from water at Esperance yesterday, 2 x 3.5m pointers close by, some news quoted as attacking the body in front of beach goers but believe anything the news outlets say at your own peril.
Not sure whether water temp has much to do with it. But pack attacks are becoming more common as the GWS multiplies. Brad Smith was one of the first God rest his soul, poor fella. Sean Pollard lost both his hands to 2 GWS a few years back in Esperance. The GWS numbers are rising since it was listed for protection back in the 1990s. This was to be expected. We were warned back then.
As someone who frequently dives , dealing with a White is something I hope never happens...
This spearo was a little more fortunate.. A 9 minute standoff
Jesus Farkn Christ no way - that cunt would have worn a Powerhead blast from me..Bang!
Udo a 357 hollowhead magnum would have fuked him...easy to carry when diving cause the powerhead is only a few inches long .Guys were soo lucky but were asking for trouble carrying there fish on them as it shows in one shot...never have your fish anywhere near you,trap for young players.....also wonder what happened to one of his flippers?......shark looked about 10-12ft so lucky again it wasn't bigger cause it propbably wouldn't be hanging back.....Joe,go and buy a book of lottery tickets....and put your fish on a float line 70ft or so away,it helps.
That's terrifying. Simba what happens if the shark gets caught in the float and takes off and starts dragging you. Cut the line?
http://www.news.com.au/national/western-australia/woman-believed-to-have...