Shark tagging in the Southern Ocean
Late last year the documentary Shark Harbour played on Australian television. The documentary makers followed a Sydney-based research team who were responding to a surge in local shark attacks. To gain information the researchers tagged and followed 25 Bull Sharks in Sydney Harbour. A common response to the show, both in the comments to the Shark Harbour website and also here on Swellnet, was surprise at the number of sharks swimming in popular waterways. Surprise because a common belief is that sharks and humans can't mix together. That any encounter leads to an attack.
Such a view fits with the popular understanding of sharks as irrational animals; mindless killing machines with behaviour that's impossible to predict. It's ironic then that this superficial understanding of sharks manifests itself as irrational behaviour in humans. Little wonder so many viewers of Shark Harbour were surprised - sharks and humans had been safely co-existing for a long time without any of us being aware of it!
The study of sharks and their behaviour is a burgeoning field. Relatively little is known yet there is a lot to be gained from a more accurate understanding of their behaviour. Recently a research team set sail from Port Lincoln, South Australia, with the goal of adding to the bank of knowledge. The team included scientists, Dr Rachel Robbins and Andrew Fox from the Fox Foundation, marine biologist Dr Will Robbins, and Russ Bradford from the CSIRO. Also aboard were a film team plus Kent Stannard of Whitetag, and lastly, Wayne Lynch and his son, Jarrah, both ambassadors of Kent's not-for-profit environmental program, Tag For Life. Wayne is the subject of an upcoming film and the research trip will be one component of it.
Wayne and Jarrah were more than just token surfers, however. Both were actively involved in the research and data collection which increased their own understanding of how shark science is performed. Wayne and Jarrah's involvement served a twin purpose: Of all ocean users surfers have one of the highest incidents of shark encounters, so having surfers involved in a research program helps the scientists while the benefits of gained knowledge ultimately flow back to us - surfers.
Much of the information we do know about sharks is gleaned from acoustic listening devices. On trips such as the one undertaken scientists apply tags to selected sharks. When the sharks move within range of listening stations they are detected and the data recorded. In Australia the listening devices form a network that identifies sharks and records their relevant information. The information helps shark scientists determine residency times and seasonal abundance patterns that form the basis for population modelling. Also, by plotting paths and frequencies scientists can ascertain types of shark behaviour.
Many different research agencies have placed listening devices around Australia and coordination of the information received is achieved through a national group based in Sydney known as AATAMS (Australian Animal Tracking and Monitoring System). AATAMS is also partnered with a global network that all use the same receivers to form a comprehensive network of tagged animals. Although researchers and agencies maintain their own smaller networks the information is shared co-operatively between agencies world wide.
In December 2011 a series of listening devices were deployed at four of the sites to be visited on this trip. One of the primary purposes of this trip was to revisit those sites and retrieve the data from the devices.
Taking advantage of calm weather the team's first stop was Dangerous Reef in Spencer Gulf. The aptly named Dangerous Reef is where most of the underwater sequences for Jaws were filmed, yet despite its infamy the team didn't see any sharks there. Curiously no research work had been done at Dangerous Reef for ten years yet it was one of the sites where a listening device was dropped in 2011. The scientists were keen to retrieve and download the data.
After the trip they found that a 5 metre white shark nicknamed Noah (scientists: clever folk, not always creative) had been detected. Noah was tagged in 2008 at North Neptune Island where he has been frequently detected since. The team found it interesting that he swam up the gulf to Dangerous Reef but what was far more interesting was that he was the only tagged white shark detected.
The simple explanation of science is that it is a search for answers, yet the process always begins by asking good questions. In this instance the question 'why was only one shark detected when more were expected?' will have to be suitably framed and ventured.
The next stop was Liguanea Island, south of Fishery Beach near Port Lincoln, to retrieve listening stations and to tag sharks. Four sharks were seen and tagged at Liguanea. The region had never previously been worked by researchers though it's thought to be on the 'shark highway' leading up the west coast of South Australia. For this reason Liguanea has become very important to researchers for the information it may hold. It is also very near to where the abalone diver Peter Clarkson disappeared last year.
After Liguanea the team moved south to the Neptune Islands. At North Neptune Island the team redeployed a CSIRO VR4 listening receiver. The VR4 is a more advanced unit than the other listening devices retrieved on the trip. It communicates directly via satellite to tell researchers when a tagged shark is present. This device was first deployed at North Neptune Island in 2008 as part of a joint project between CSIRO and the Western Australian Department of Fisheries and was the first of its type. It is similar to the models currently in use off Perth's metropolitan beaches (and which detected a five metre shark off Cottesloe last week).
Compatibility between tags and listening devices is essential due to the migration of sharks. The tags put in sharks in South Australia can be detected by the receivers in Western Australia, and in fact they have been many times.
At North Neptune the team saw two sharks and tagged one. At South Neptune Island they attempted to retrieve acoustic listening stations but the their run of good weather was over and they had to abandon their plans in the face of an increasing south-west swell and strong southwest winds. The team were forced to find shelter in the lee side of the island. Still, they saw two sharks and again tagged one.
From South Neptune Island the team motored back to the shelter of Port Lincoln with the majority of their tasks completed. A successful mission, although quite what they've achieved isn't yet known. For now it is up to the scientists to assess and analyse the information they've retrieved - to crunch the data, so to speak – before their findings can be considered another deposit in the growing bank of shark knowledge.
Find out more about White Tag and Tag for Life by clicking here.
Comments
If only one shark was detected at Dangerous Reef in one year the question we need to know is how many tagged sharks are in the area (South Aust)?
One shark doesn't sound right.
That's only one 'tagged' shark. I'm sure there's plenty of shark passing through that region without tags.
Derra, I wouldn't stress too much about the numbers out there. The scientist have probably only seen 5% and tagged 1%. Even at that number they can learn so much more than we known to now. What ever the number you can be sure that if you've surfed in SA, WA or VIC you've most likely shared a good number of sessions with a shark.
watched a GW doing air cart wheels one sunny arvo whilst rock fishing between Blanket Bay and Parker River,
quite a show. Big fish.
Thermalben & Ben,
I've lived in SA my whole life including time (up till last year) at Lincoln. I know fully well how many sharks are about from first hand observation and reliable story. What I meant was how many sharks are tagged? By the sounds of the scientists reaction there must be a few but there's no number given in the story. Even if they've only tagged a small amount only having one visit a site sounds preposterous. I'd be tempted to check the reliability of the data/possibility of error.
I agree derra, there's gotta be more than that pass through.. a LOT more! I'd be interested of find out the actual number of SA-based taggings.
The answer Derra & Ben is elementary. All the sharks have now relocated to West Oz. It's just nuts over here these days. 8 years ago, nearly to the day...we never thought about them.
Then this nice little piece of footage.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/14178047/divers-close-call...
Wow, that is amazing rail2rail!
How they held their nerve and didn't fire off the speargun as the GW got that close is beyond me. Very calm in a heavy situation.
I think the most dangerous part was the last guy getting into the boat, he was prime for the taking :o
Finding out why sharks attack seems a hopeless cause. I reckon if they found the (human) attacker of the kid in KIngs Cross Sydney recently he couldn't tell you why he did it. How do they expect to find out specific information from sharks when they act on impulse and emotion as much as us.
I reckon research should focus on things we can know. For instance why are there so many more attacks in West Oz now? Its got past the stage where defenders can say its an anomaly or a statistical cluster. Something must've changed, like water temps or migration patterns or food availability.
Find out if the population has increased (my bet is it has) and then find out why. You'll ever be able to fuly stop attacks but at least people will be warned and on the defence the same way they are in South Oz.
Theres more people in the water in a tighter area which is one reason why attacks are more frequent and the other major one is less large mesh nets targetting gummy,school'wiskery and whalers in WA waters...dont worry south oz is becoming the great white haven that it was before white man started destroying them and with the loss of all of our gillnetting area {these large mesh gillnets destroy pointers at an alarming rate}...the biomass "WILL' surpass that of olden days because the seal population is exploding in the southern states. Maybe and just maybe attacks on humans may not explode because of the availibility of seals for their food is a real possibility.....Ps. great whites are abundant within 5-8 kms of the port lincoln CBD right now as the tuna harvest and the japanese freezer boats are in full swing processing over 4000 ton of southern bluefin tuna.
and we have another fatal shark attack in w.a. today.
in w.a. a human in lost to a great white every 8 fucking weeks - w.a. waters are now classed as the most dangerous in the world. time to cull.
Don't know about that Victor, but some research has to be done immediately into why there's been an increased interaction between humans and sharks.
This is like a repeat of what SA went through in the early 2000's. All the attention has now moved over but this time the frequency is much higher.
Shocking news about the latest fatality in wa but I'm not sure culling is the answer. Maybe we need to stop wiping out there natural food sources? But it is getting pretty ridiculous over there, no doubt about that
In W.A, yet more sad news of another death due to shark attack. It is definitely time to either cull or/and take the Great Whites off the protected species list.
Goofyfoot said "Maybe we need to stop wiping out their natural food sources?" (Suggesting sharks are attacking due to low food stocks) That only makes sense if there are more Great Whites around than the authorities tell us, as W.A has healthy seal and sea-lion populations as well as the annual whale migrations and salmon runs, not to mention plenty of other food sources such as dolphins, penguins, tuna, snapper and mackerel etc.
Just because researchers don't find large numbers of Great Whites does not mean that they are not there, (just ask local South-west surfers and fishermen) how do you think Great Whites became top of the chain in the ocean? Certainly not through being seen by any other animal looking for them.
Great whites have learnt not to see humans as a threat over the time since the ban on fishing them came into place, this can be seen in the way they have been buzzing, bumping, and biting boat craft here in the west, and I am not just talking wave ski's because larger boats and fishing vessels are regularly victims of this Great White behaviour too.
There are those people that say "it's their environment so we should just let them be.". Well consider this, if your garden became home to hundreds of tiger snakes/brown snakes to the point where it became dangerous to walk in it, and if your family and visitors were being killed then would you not do something to remove that threat? I believe so; I doubt if you would just give up your garden.
When a dog bites someone they put it down. When dingoes have been a threat to humans then they have been put down or culled. Heck, they even cull kangaroos simply for the fact that they annoy farmers. For the sake of saving human lives, it is serious time to look at decreasing Great White numbers here in the West, especially the larger fully grown ones and any that are seen to venture within swimming/recreational distance of the shore (and not just metropolitan beaches either).
The safety of human life should be paramount here, not that of a fish.
couldn't agree with you more hatdude
I'm a born and bred West Aussie and have surfed here for the past 21 years. I've never really considered sharks to be a threat up until the past 2 or so years since all of the craziness started. I totally agree with hatdude, protecting the GWS has served its purpose and it is now time to remove them from the endagered list. By the number of sightings and sadly, fatal attacks, you could say their numbers have certainly increased and it's now time to actively manage their numbers. I'm not talking about blindly hunting them or allwoing shark fishermen to catch them at will but simply take them off the endangered list so the offending sharks can be disposed of when they are threatening lives. I also get a bit sick and tired of the dogooders saying we can't touch them and we are intruding into their environment, yes we are but it is also our environment and one that I want to keep enjoying without the threat of becoming the next victim. Condolences to the family and friends of Ben Linden.
Bite-proof suit.Does anyone know more about these? Seems like something to wear for a little peace of mind.
&feature=player_embeddedHatdude your analogy is too simple.
A situation as explained by you here " if your garden became home to hundreds of tiger snakes/brown snakes to the point where it became dangerous to walk in it " is much easier to control than trying to identify the shark that actually is doing the damage out in the ocean.
You will most likely end up killing the wrong shark for no good reason and this helps no one.
Culling just isn't the way. Although research into why there's been an increased interaction between GW's and the public in WA will take a while I think this is the only way to come up with a solution.
Also this might just be a series of coincidences and there might not be another attack for 10 years, I just think that culling is an easy and barbarous way out.
People change their tune pretty quick when it happens to someone close to them.
And rules seem to change when they start to effect the decision makers wallets.
Perhaps we should get the Japanese to conduct scientific research on the GW
A possible solution that serves multiple puposes would be a massive tagging exercise. Costly, yes, but all research is.
Utilise the shark fishermen and pay them to catch and fit sonic tags. They know how and where to catch them as it is/was their job/livelyhood. I was involved with gamefish popup tags years ago and this was small scale but effective and informative.
This would take years and, yes, you wouldn't get all the sharks, but i'm sure they would start to see habits develop with all the data coming back from the movements of the sharks. This has been proven with the few that have been tagged.
If someone was attacked or a shark was becoming frequent in an area, as long as it was a tagged one, it would be alot easily identified as the correct one rather than a witch hunt and all out slaughter.
This is a simplistic view, but something has to be done and it would be constructive without being destructive.
Just to add to that, look at the billions of dollars wasted yearly by governments on useless shit that serves no purpose eg defence, space etc.
This research and application would cost a small drop in the pond of what they cost/spend. And look at all the useful information that could be gained from it.
"useless shit that serves no purpose eg defence" ha ha spend money on tagging whites to potentially save a coupe of peoples lives in the future but it is a waste of money to equip our defence force who look after the interests of an entire nation (not to mention some of our neighbours)
Drum lines sound like a good idea to me, take a few of the big ones out that have made it their routine to patrol metro beaches.
Yeah OK, it didn't quite come out right. I meant the amount spent. I'm sure you've witnessed the wastage.
Would be interesting to know where all the people saying protect the GWS actually live, if the issue isn't on your doorstep then it's easier to make comment? The GWS have thousands of square kilometres of ocean they can roam in why do we have to put up with them hasseling us so close to shore? I'm not sure a bite proof suit would help when you get bitten in half as he did on the weekend, these things don't mess around.
I'm from South Australia quokka and have had solo surfs at many remote spots across the coast. There are also whites over here where I now live in NSW and I think it's a bit rich pulling out that card.
Nearly every surfer I've talken in and out of the water with about this issue thinks that culling is just a knee jerk reaction and unjustified. I don't have a solution but culling is not the way to go.
Fair call Craig. It's interesting then why all the fatals over here, not even SA has had a fatal since Feb 2011, I can't accept that it's just conincidence...too regular. Also interesting that a number of surfers I've spoken to over here want something more than just tagging done. An intersting article, doesn't provide any answers simply some opinions http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/opinion/post/-/blog/14253158/fatal-shif....
Had quite a few experiences with big whites both in and out of the water, and more encounters with tigers than I'd care to remember quokka. I just don't see hunting the shark responsible will ever work unless it is sonic tagged, as it is a million to 1 shot that you will get the right shark. As you said, its a big ocean out there.
Not if you are on the scene straight after it happens, as in a few of the cases over here, the offending shark has been tracked in a boat but nothing could be done because of their protected status. I'm talking about the general population being affected now not just surfers and divers. Nowhere in Oz has seen anything like this before. Not even South Africa which used to have the forgettable tag as the most dangerous place for GWS attacks, we have that now. Your view is your view and you are entitled to it but I'm over people dying and the authorities agree it will keep happening if nothing is done, so my call is something needs to be.
So those on the scene are armed with rope , wire/chain, hooks and bait and thats assuming the shark will actually take the bait before getting into deep water and disappears.
Look, I really sypathise with all those affected by these terrible and traumatising events. As a long time skipper of commercial and charter vessels, I have dealings with a great number of different sharks from GW's down and some things I am not particularly proud of. I've also worked with Dr J Pepperell with pop-up tags of marlin and sharks, researchers off Raine Is with pop-up tags in tiger sharks and the great marlin race with pop-up tags off Hawaii.
Pop-ups are short term and provide incredible amounts of data. Sonic tags, if applied correctly, can stay in for long periods and are a locator so they can be purely tracked.
There is so much we don't know about sharks and I respect your view quokka,I am just putting forward a suggestion as to how knoweledge and benefits could be gained with this type of application. Its no quick fix.
No one knows why this is going on and lifting the ban isn't even a quick fix solution. Its a short term solution with no benefits other than decrease numbers and that is why the ban was introduced in the first place.
"I'm over people dying and the authorities agree it will keep happening if nothing is done, so my call is something needs to be".
People are also killed at a much greater rate in vehicles weekly, have been for decades, and what is being done there?
G'Day Fitzy,
I had a great chat with Michael Burgess, manager of WA Fisheries, yesterday. In May this year the newly formed Shark Research Unit were given funding money to conduct research into shark populations and also set up an acoustic tagging network (amongst other things). They've laid chains of receivers from the shoreline to 200m deep at Albany, Walpole, Geographe Bay (I think), Rottnest and Ningaloo. Any tagged sharks passing by will be tracked.
At present any statements that GWS populations are on the increase is anecdotal and speculative. Fact is, there may be many other environmental factors causing the spate of attacks, and the sudden increase in attacks suggest that is the case. Some of the funding money will go toward that research (associated environmental factors).
As for killing the shark after the attack: it's rare for a shark to hang around and it's also rare that there are people on site immediately afterward to carry out the killing. Chances are very high you'd be killing another shark. I believe the urge for revenge is a misplaced emotional reaction. It satisfies a primitive part of our brain but does nothing/very little to further protect humans.
hmmmm.... every old ab diver I know had a shoot first / ask questions later policy.
old being the key adjective.
I agree with your last paragraph Stu and that is the point I was trying to get across.
Really good news about the research and I hope they have adaquate funding. I will assume they are using a type of sonic/acoustic tag to work with these receivers. Did he indicate the number of tags and if they will be targeting specific sharks for these? I look forward to seeing the data coming back from their movements. With the recievers feeding info back in real time, I think the saying is "forearmed is forewarned".
Sid, thats why bans are in place. I once had a similar mentality.
and thats why more people are getting chewed, more frequently.
these fuckers aren't endangered, there is shit loads of 'em, breeding exponentially.
and I reckon they learn, so those shark cage wankers aren't helping, neither are shark fisho's who berley/chump the water close to shore. A number of attacks in Vic have happened within days of fishing Tournys (13th & juc, or might have been Bells.) Just like they learnt to hang at Byron in abbatior days.
Where as say @ Straddie, they used drum lines and I can only remember one fatality @ boulders on Moreton.
fitz, would you rather be attcked by a GW...or have a car accident??
think of those that have been attacked, would you change your mind if you were??
START CULLING NOW!!!
I am with you all the way Sid...of course the GW's are used to people, they say there is a GW that patrols the same beach in metro Perth now!!
Where does that leave us??
Something needs to be done
"would you rather be attcked by a GW...or have a car accident??"
I'd rather not have you on my debating team, that's for sure.
To all the folk who are against culling, I wonder if your opinions would change if one of your own loved ones got taken. Very easy to take your stance when its not directly affecting you.
While surfers and divers are most at risk, the fact that a bloke got taken in knee deep water at Cottlesloe (circa 2001) means that every beach goer is at risk. And as a country that has such a strong beach culture, this has a significant impact on our way of life.
Stop hugging the trees and start thinking practically!
hear, hear Wilba82
"Stop hugging the trees and start thinking practically!"
Hugging trees? You base all your arguments on stereotypes do you?
And from what I've read many immediate families don't condone culling.
anyone remember the current affair footage of juvenile whites at stockton beach.....lots of them .....where the fuck do they go ? south over west ??
Think that's a pupping region, Victor, and the same sharks travel south around Wilson's Prom to South Australia. Don't think they travel across the Bight though. Kent Stannard from Whitetag talked about them in an article on here about a year or so back. I'll try and dig it up.
the Prom, Waratah Bay, Welshpool, Cape Liptrap, hold big nasty sharks.
Not sure what is happening over here (West Oz) can be compared to what has happened in the past around Oz. Very easy to take the protective stance when it's not in your backyard.
Regarding the 5 deaths in W.A to GW sharks since last year I thought the following link is an interesting assumption
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2012/s3548067.htm?WT.mc_id=Innovation_T...|AtTheMoviesInConversation_FBP|abc
Stu, Tagged a juvenile white off Port Stevens in '97 and it ended up off Geralton WA sometime later. I'll try and find the data. There was quite a few interesting movements of the ones tagged back then. Opened alot of eyes.
Tree hugging, hahahahaha, if you only knew.
People in west oz are spooked by what is going on. 2 weeks ago at mullaloo beach a ski rider got his ski chomped in half by a 3 meter GW, if his mate didn’t drag him onto the other ski he would have been swimming around in the water 200m offshore. A few days later we had the Geraldton incident with the two divers, lucky escape, last weekend the incident up at wedge, the poor fella got bit in half then when the jetski rider tried to retrieve the other half that wasn’t eaten, the GW defended it’s catch then took off with it to finish it’s meal. Quite an alarming thing at the moment is they seem to like what we taste like, I though GW’s didn’t like human blood. The 5m GW at wedge made sure it was going to finish off it’s meal and that is sort of validated when it came back the next morning and tried to catch another one “of usâ€. Luckily the surfers out there got sight of it and got the hell out of the water, why they were up there the next day is beyond me.
A thought on why it came back the next day was that it knew where it had a meal the day before, and he saw more of them !!! The diver that got chomped in half by a 3m GW last year at Rottnest (1 of the 5 in the last 10 months), that GW took half the guy and the fellas on the boat pulled the rest of the body on the diving platform on the back of the boat. Word from a reliable source at the fisheries department was that the GW was chasing the boat all the way back to thompsons bay trying to get the rest of it’s meal off the platform. Only when the guys in the boat dragged the remainder of the body into the boat did it stop snapping at it’s heels. The other day I spoke with a 13 year old kid at my local beach who was 5 mins from paddling out on the same bank at wedge. Is it going to take a kid being taken for the government to start taking action. I speak with friends down the south coast of WA and there are so many shark stories and sightings that just don’t get reported, it’s a problem, I think it’s time to act.
Apart from the obvious increase in numbers I think sidthefish's comments about the shark cage diving is also valid. Chum the ocean, attract GW's, put a person in a cage, the GW bites at the cage to get it's meal, creates a nice memory imprint on the GW's brain. Smart work cage diving companies, create a feeding environment and associate a person with it for the GW's to remember. GW's seem to travel from south africa, to SA to WA and who else knows where, i'm sure alot of the GW's cruising the oceans have had the shark diving experience and remembered it.
facts and details.com sharks and rays..interesting reading on the white shark.
Stunet "I believe the urge for revenge is a misplaced emotional reaction. It satisfies a primitive part of our brain but does nothing/very little to further protect humans."
It has nothing to do with revenge...it's about protecting people. I believe we also have a right to be protected and if this means removing a shark hanging around areas frequented by humans then so be it, I'm all for it. If they are as intelligent as the researchers say then maybe they'll learn to stay away otherwise they will have a bullet put in them. Don't construe this as condoning open slather on sharks rather controlled eradication.
quok, LEARN is the key word here.
I need no scientific investigation to convince me that sharks learn. All fish learn. Like the wise old trout that learns to avoid every lure thats thrown in its pond.
similarly, like the sharks that learnt to hang at abbatiors and whaling stations.
it's the 100th monkey principle too.
What is hard, is for them to unlearn. Once that behavourial pattern is in place, they don't turn back in time.
Familiaristion and complacency is dangerous.
up here in the Snowy Mountians ozark mountain daredevil country, wild dogs will run amok over your farm and stock if you don't put lead in a few and hang 'em off trees. I hate it, but it has to be done, cos they too learn from the pack/olders and habit.
Same as I truly love sharks and all their magesty, but they too gotta be nailed unfortunately.
Bout time for sckmuko to butt in on this thread...
Schmucko's busy towing " Mountain's " today , and according to him , ALL the Big boys are in Town ........
from todays SMH - THE HUNTER VIC HISLOP
THERE are a lot of animals and other things that need our protection in this world but the great white shark has never been one of them.
In truth, sharks in Australian waters were never really protected for conservation purposes.
They have been protected wholly and solely for one thing - the new attraction of cage diving.
And this cage diving is putting us all at risk.
Make no mistake: these sharks are being trained every year to eat people thanks to cage diving in the waters at the bottom of Australia.
Sharks, right from when they are little, come across blood scents, whether it be from whales, packs of dolphins or turtles being killed and ripped apart by other sharks.
They follow this scent along the current to the source. As they get closer, their senses get more and more aroused and then they attack whatever is on the end of that line of scent.
So as sharks follow the burley trail left by cage dive operators, the same thing happens - they get more and more excited.
And at the end of this trail what does the shark see? Humans in cages. The shark then immediately associates humans with food and burley.
What cage diving has done has put us right in that particular shark's food chain. When sharks come across cage divers they immediately come up to the cage and rattle it, trying to get to the person inside.
The sharks are being trained by these cage operators in the southern waters and then they travel 3000 kilometres up both sides of Australia every year, following the whales.
I warned people after the second-last attack in Perth that the next attack would be further north and that's exactly what happened last weekend.
The situation is not going to get any better because we love the water - Australia is an island and watersports are a huge part of our lives.
The idea that sharks need protecting has just been pushed and pushed in the media for years, and now many people believe that this is the case.
Ending the protection of shark species would be the best thing to happen to the ecosystem. These animals also eat thousands of large fish in their lifetime, like dolphins, whales and dugongs.
---Vic Hislop is a former shark hunter.---
Alot of armchair experts out there, even the real so called experts don't know what the GW's are up to, more media driven hysteria. Condolences to the families involved.
What does the forum reckon? How many people need to be eaten in the next 3 years for something to change. I say 30.
30 people eaten in the next 3 years? Always good to have a calm, rational debate, eh?
But anyway, 3 for 9, let's address the issue. What should be done and how should they do it?
What would you like to happen 3-for-9?
I can't see anything changing no matter how many people get eaten. Sure they may put up the odd shark net here and there but what do you do on remote beaches?
Who's going to go out and catch these sharks anyway? As the son of a professional line fisherman I know the government doesn't make life easy for him to earn a living and because making a living is dependant on the weather, fish stocks and all the rest of it at the end of the day he doesn't make much money. Once this generation of fisherman retire I can't see the 'now generation' wanting anything to do with it as it's tough work with little financial reward.
So I think we all just need to deal with it. We all know the risks and choose accordingly - why can't we just do things at our own risk rather than someone else's expense?
many of the current/incoming regulations re: sharks are driven by international protocol, not domestic consultation.
---In the wake of mounting opposition, recreational fishers will continue to be allowed to catch mako sharks under changes to Federal Government laws. As has been widely reported, fishing for short-finned mako sharks in Australia was due to be banned because Australia was a signatory to an international treaty, the Convention on Migratory Species.
The UN-sponsored treaty, which aims to protect migratory animals, fish and birds, ordered the ban on mako shark fishing because of a decline in mako shark numbers in the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic Ocean.---
this happened in late 2010, Peter Garrett as then Environ. Min. simply towed the int. treaty line.
Pretty sure GWs are governed under similar international guidelines, so in there lies a disconnect.
was discussing the GW issue ( or more so the occurence of only WA seeing significant attack increases ) apart from Higgo's last Vic encounter .
But i would say that WA being alot dryer in the past how many years( with the exclusion of the Gascoigne R floods ) would have seen less pollutants washed out into the Oceans . As opposed to the Eastern seaboard . This longer term of " cleaner " in close waters , could have seen a disproportionate increase of WA , whales and Seals . And hence GW's . Not too mention that the west's coast's shore lines are still far less developed compared to the East . Sadly the key to this could be that we might have to go bak to the Halcyon days of the 70's / 80's when the water was barely habital for Humans let alone wildlife .... ;-)
and for that i feel guilty that i contributed with a longish stint as a " Clean Ocean " member ..... ?
A link to Jeff talking about today's attack in SA. He was down the beach taking photos when it happened. Sounds like a lucky escape with the shark allegedly being a white. http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/local/northandwest/201207/r981103_10736260.mp3
Now Im no shark expert but things do seem to be getting out of control.
Point number 1, if the government doesnt start doing something about it then I reckon people will take matters into their own hands.
Point number 2, I have skipped through the posts above and was surprised to find nothing relating to shark deterrents of the sensory kind. Why the fuck are they wasting time and $ on tagging and trying to find out movement patterns etc etc. This approach is not going to save a single life and to be quite frank I reckon no one really gives a rats ass about where they are and what they are doing.
We have these things in captivity. Put the money into research into finding deterrents that work, 100% of the time! Not fluffing round going 'wow, one shark went here!". Im not only meaning personal devices but ones that could be laid on the sea floor protecting areas of coastline. Personal devices have been floored as they spank the individual wearing them and if they get tangled they dont work properly. There is no reason why these things can be embedded into wetsuits, boardies...hell even under the fiberglass of your board. FFS, sort your shit out scientists and do something useful with all the dollars and time you spend.
"FFS, sort your shit out scientists and do something useful with all the dollars and time you spend."
I think this is a bit harsh Poncho, scientists are always putting our money to good use and it takes years and years of research regarding any kind of new findings/developments or technologies to filter through.
We can't expect this situation to be fixed overnight, but guaranteed more money will be filtered towards research regarding the recent GW / human interactions.
"I warned people after the second-last attack in Perth that the next attack would be further north and that's exactly what happened last weekend."
Vic coming up with the equivalent of a clairvoyant declaring "I'm sensing you have a mother"....
Why don't wettie manufacturers make more bright coloured wetties instead of the black/grey/dark blue combos that make us look more like the GWS' main course? Red is the universal colour of danger in nature and if these fuckers (GWS) are so intelligent then maybe they'd think twice about nibbling on someone if they think it's going to cause them grief. Who gives a fuck about looking cool, bong start pumping out hot pink wetties!
So Quokka ,
Would that be " Blood red " that custom suit of yours !!!?
Oh and i think everyone got over looking STupid in the Eighteees' , it didn't get any brighter than then . Buzz not riding the Flat , Box railed , pigs from that era again .
And if ya wanna where lycra spandex , just start riding a Bike and sip coffee every coupla k's .....
But seriously , who knows . I know one things for sure , always rinse ya wetty ( don't let it sit wet for hours ), never piss in it , don't let the dog or any other animal lie on it , etc etc ...
In the past i would of added don't surf on a severely overcast day or the day after its been blowing onshore for a week , or at dusk or dawn.....
but judging by schmucko's photos it was near middle of the day/arvo and a pretty clearish sky . go figure ...
they are getting smarter , will even attack a pack of surfers .
I'm no hippie that is all for saving the sharks, it's their territory blah blah blah. but, its surfing, not tennis or cricket! There are risks you take in nearly everything you do, and in surfing the risks are more consequential than most other sports. I mean no disrespect to any attack victims families at all by the way, if someone close to me was attacked I may have a different opinion?? But I just can't comprehend the people that say we need to cull whites when they are finally making a comeback from previous fishing/hunting them. The oceans are running out of sea life fast enough as it is, surely we don't need to speed it up by taking out even more life. Im obviously Gunna cop some shit from this post from people on here for this opinion..
goofy, surfing is a non contact sport. play footie for 10 years in senior grade, get your knees n shoulders put back together. Not Fun. Getting chewed by a shark is terminal, I hope everyone of us avoids it.
ps. Love the hair on your balls.
one of AGs finest.
ee ee.
a father and son fishing had a encounter with a large white shark off a perth metro beach yesterday as reported in w.a. newspaper.maybe someone could put up the link ? a 6 metre beast.
Here it is Vic. The fella involved didn't sound to perturbed by the experience: "I've been fishing for 25 years off the Perth coast and never, ever seen one, always dreamt of seeing one and today was the day," he said of seeing the shark.
He also put a camera on a pole and took photos of it underwater.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/14466754/great-white-suprise-for...
Southey I didn't mention anything about wearing lycra spandex...you got a fettish you want to out?
Sorry Kanga Rat ,
Was a typo , I meant if ya wanna where FLURO lycra/spandex , then perhaps fashionista's , fixies' and coffee is the Sport for you ... Considering your going under the Monika of Rotto's favourite soccer ball , then your obviously into your ball chaffing two wheeled activities .
But all that aside , ya F*$%^ get fit when ya have to lug everything to the water on a Pushie .....ay
I'll stick with Black thanx , wetties that is ...
...... " Sometimes ,Good Guys don't wear white ..... " la la lala
I dunno Craig, since when has monitoring shark species movements ever saved a life? I think they need to look at the bigger picture more clearly and include real life issues into what they are studying rather than just a scientic/environmental approach.
Hey Poncho, what I was trying to get across in regards to tagging was that it can serve multiple puposes. The scientists do their thing with the data results and info which can be usefull for us in the future.
For us it can mean that in a populated and patrolled beach an alarm can be raised when a shark comes within X distance of that area. In an isolated area (the rest of WA or Aus) you could perhaps use your mobile to find out if there are any sharks within X distance of where you want to surf. You then can make the decision if you want to take the risk.
Obviously every shark can't be tagged and you will only know about the tagged ones, but you have to start somewhere and if the initial research proves successful/informative, more funds allocated for more numbers tagged.
Thanks Fitzroy, I guess what I was getting at is the money they spend I reckon could be put to a better use with developing shark repellent technology that works 100% of the time. That way we wouldnt need to rely on alarm systems etc, you could even go out when the sharks are feeding and you would be fine. Then there would be no need for culling or anything like that in the future due to attacks.
Hardly a Feeding Frenzy, but worth a look.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/14533127/sharks-feeding-frenzy-f...
You sound like a top bloke Southey...ha ha ha. Learn to spell tough guy.
Quokka, 'fetish' has only one t.
Touché, épéiste mortelle, Zenagain.
Quock ,
Your right , i can't spell " tuff gye " .....
but i know how to push your buttons though it appears .... ( 8 day delayed reaction , love it )
besides tough guys can't Type not spell .... and my little aussie expat in Japan , fights my wars for me ....
kudos to you Sensai Zen .....
BTW .... you obviously missed the quote meaning ( perhaps a sign of youthful absence ) ,
as it was actually Music lyrics .....
" but pay no mind to us , We're just a Minor Threat !!!!!! " .........
As opposed to a 5M white , that may or may not spend a little more time around your prefered bike riding Island . As its probably about time now that the Whale Oil is reaching back to the water subsurface after being buried in the Dunes close to 7 years ago ?????? How do i know , i was there to help Bury it ....( not my choice ) ....
And the Plot thickens ......
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/14692612/unknown-hero-save...
Yeah, looks like Camel was on the spot again. Although with a good swell running he was always a chance of being in the area!
Cam Cam dnt miss much!!
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/whale-carcass-marks-smiths-beach-for-s...
Any thoughts from the gallery on the shark-attractiveness, or otherwise, of buried whales?