All beaches between Ballina and Lennox Head closed following shark sightings
This morning police and lifeguards closed all beaches between Ballina and Lennox Head following a series of shark sightings. Lifeguards spotted two sharks at North Wall and one at South Wall, each reportedly over 3 metres in length. Around midday another shark was spotted at Boulders Beach swimming towards Lennox Head.
Police then cleared the water at Lennox with the help of Ballina Jet Boat Rescue. All beaches remained closed until 2pm.
Today's sightings follow a spate of sightings last week (see image below) and a similar sighting at Angel Beach which resulted in the Ballina beaches being closed for 24 hours on Sunday. Authorities are on high alert following the attack on Matt Lee at North Wall in early July and the fatal attack on Tadashi Nakahara at Shelley Beach in February.
Image taken from Ballina Shark Reports Facebook page.
Comments
A few more photos...
The police parked up on the hill with lights flashing and siren blaring.
On the way in.
Around comes the Ballina Jet Boat to let everyone know what's going on.
The local constabulary having a chat with surfers.
And.. suddenly Lennox is empty.
And.. suddenly Lennox is empty.
And looking mighty fun too.
Bummer.
Tugs at my heart to see these pics i didn't realise how much i missed that place, I've spent so much time in that top carpark waiting and watching and so much time on those rocks and in the water thanks to two six months Paul Keating surf team sponsored east coast kombi trips in the 90,s.
Hell if the surf jet boat from Ballina is there at Lennox, GREAT!! If I was in the water tell them to let the police know where the shark is and get the surf jet boat to scare the shark away and still keep surfing Christ that what I would have done. They are there a couple of VAROOMS around the point would scare it away. FF Fanning
Fobia!!
hey might pay the Ballina Jet crew petrol money and $200 to come out to the point next time it is classic and warn people out of the water. When it is empty I will just stay in the water and have it to myself HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA :) :)
Is it actual law to vacate the water or is it just a recommendation?
there is no law that I know that you must get out of the water. Get the Jet boat crew to VAROOM a bit around the point where the supposed Shark is to be and stay in the water. that would scare it off. Like I said it is FF(Fanning Fobia)
OooHHHH is that when they go away and have dinner..!
So after 2pm they are full eh...!
UUuuuummmmmmm
Ballina Shark Reports
3 hrs · Edited ·
Update: Beaches in Ballina/Lennox are now closed after 4 x Great Whites around 4m long have been spotted around Lennox Point/Boulders Beach....also a 5m Great White was just spotted at Broken Head.
Great! Never seen one up close especially a 5 metre BIG BOY I would have stayed in the water at Lennox got the boat crew to VAROOM A BIT and scare it or them off. Sighted but was it at Lennox point when the photos were taken?? Maybe I might have become as famous and my mate Mick. Its all Fanning Fobia if you ask me. Sharks sighted on the Coal coast today and there were plenty of guys in the water.
Hard to see this sort of pattern changing. More big GW that have grown up beyond the Juvenile stage, More Whales, (Humpbacks getting close to pre whaling numbers in Aus), more Seals and more people watching out for Sharks and reporting them.
There are more + people see more + people report more + internet gives access to info = the days of being oblivious and / or thinking they are somewhere way out to sea or somewhere else are over.
In the USA seal colonies a re-establishing themselves on beaches that were once empty sand (and popular swimming beaches) near major population centres. Imagine looking up your favourite beach and seeing 100 seals basking in the sun in the middle distance and having half eaten seals rolling around in the shorebreak. Great from one perspective but a worrying inevtability for surfers in Australia as well over the next decade.
We have just been through the safest 30 years for swimming / surfing in the last century. Unchartered waters ahead.
Vic Hislop warned us.
Have to agree. Everyone here is totally rattled.
The surreal sight of head high, warm water Point surf totally unattended is becoming commonplace.
I surfed Boulders the gentlemans hour, had a fish at the Walls and heard on the grapevine about the shark.
Went back around lunch-time and it was empty as my pocket.
"was empty as my pocket."
Due to parking tickets FR....!
Everyones getting paranoid including me and things will only get gradually worse as more whites breed up so the answer is inventing a shark deterrent that is compact and can be worn swimming surfing or whatever.Im wondering if any of the surf companies are looking along these lines because whoever nails it will make a motza.
The answer IMHO is to cull GWS, not 'hope' that deterrent devices will work. Are we so brainwashed by the shark huggers that common sense and preservation of human life become alien concepts?
I understand where you are coming from but if we sit back and look at the big picture and we all know. The ocean is the Great Whites world and life. they swim we float, so do seals turtles, Whales, Dolphins. what floats and swims is food to them. Shark Huggers?? What about the families of the 2500 people who die each year of Hippo attacks. You don't see humans slaughtering the Hippos. All we can do is have preventatives in place like this Facebook page and get on with life. Deterrent devices do work not slaughtering or culling the GW
After reading your preivous comments about FF (Fanning Phobia?) and getting the jet boat to scare the sharks away, I was under the impression that you were a bit of a dick. BUT after reading this comment you have just proved me very wrong. I take my hat off to you. Well said!
theween, I can't work out if you're trolling or not. Cull Great whites! Lol. To start with the past few attacks in Aus involves other species of sharks including bronze whalers and possibly bull sharks, so should we cull them as well? How about let's kill everything that could potentially harm us! You sound like another dumb, knuckle-dragging redneck mate. The world doesn't belong to humans. Animals have as much right to be here as us. If sharks were coming onto land looking for humans to eat, maybe you'd have a point. But we're going into their domain. No one wants to consider the horrendous possibility of being attacked, but it's a fact of life. I'm yet to hear of a shark attack victim/survivor advocating the killing of any shark including the one that attacked them.
Went for a surf at South Wall at 2.30pm on the 23rd (it was completely empty with some nice lefts coming through). Was then called out of the surf at 3.30 (shark report no. 7 in the article) by two cops who then wanted my name, address and D.O.B.
The male cop thought he could see a shark, maybe. There were a stack of dolphins out there and I'd be really impressed if Plod could spot a shark at 400m. To be honest, I thought it was a pretty soft "sighting".
Obviously there're some big noahs around at the moment and it's no surprise that people, these cops included, are really jumpy.
So further to ACB_'s question from earlier today, are we legally obliged to leave the water? When does a suggestion become a police direction?
If there's a genuine big fucking shark I'll be the first to paddle in but what about saying no to a cop if he thinks you should paddle in over a 6ft bronzie?
And finally, what's the deal with police requesting details? When I questioned them they said they just wanted my details to "put into the system" but in my books that's pretty unsettling.
Any comments?
Yeah Andy I agree with you I personally think it is all FF Fanning Fobia. If you see one just punch it in the guts I will. As for a 5 metre Big Girl and its the females only that grow that big. Give it a poke with your credit card it might go away. :) Kerry
We gave to make the sharks scared / wary of us again, boom you come near us it's danger
Someone said that around 2000 of the ielectric field shark deterrent built into the board thingos have been sold in SW WA recently. So the practical testing is now in progress to see how well they work. I reckon they should in routine approaches by sharks. Possibly not in "an out of deep water speed launch from below" style friendly visit from a GW though.
Open ocean training swim all alone anyone?
Since when did boats scare away sharks, plenty o stuff on you tube to show the hum of a mercury don't worry them. We all know they're there. Cant stand the heat stay out of the warm water.
SPOT ON!!!
We had a 6 mtr GW lurking a few years ago that chomped on a rotating boat prop. Not sure how afraid they are of boats
At JBay in the contest with the safety boat sitting there idling away it may have acted to attract sharks as they would think "silly human things in cages and free Tuna" and come in for a visit. I reckon it saved Mick's life zooming in at full speed with lots of noise but may have increased the sharks visiting the area in the first instance.
250 plus GWS tagged by CSIRO with tracking tags. I have heard they share the data with SLSC (don't quote me) do the cops get access to this data as well.
They may be shit scared. Looking at all the 'blobs' on the screen.
Why won't CSIRO make this public like they did in the early "Neale" "Heather" days.
480 tags by game fishermen 1974-2006 12 recaptures - no endangered species there. Only other species that have more distorted figures is the Grey Nurse tagging fiasco.
You mean the highly endangered Grey Nurse shark......
The same sharks that spearos see every single dive in DIFFERENT locations but don't want to speak out for fear of other areas being closed off......
The shark that only occurs at a handful of sites along the whole NSW coastline.......
The same locations that just happen to be popular recreational dive sites......
The same dive sites that operators paid the government to exclude all other ocean activities......
The same scuba divers that flash strobe lights in the eyes all day long of a a nocturnal grey nurse shark.......
In the same sites that are now marine parks.......
The same marine parks and over the top GNS sanctuary protection zones.......
The same sanctuary zone that stop you from catching a whiting off the beach because you are really going to catch a grey nurse with a #4 hook, beach work and 6lb line......
The same sanctuary zone that you can't fish for groper or drummer in because you are going to catch a grey nurse using a crab or peeled prawn for bait......
And all of this occurs in the same marine parks that were ILLEGALLY introduced during the Kevin '07 campaign to win votes of the metro latte sippers..........NO WAY!!!!!
Reckon there would be no urination of wetsuits down there.
You don't need to cull the GWS all you have to do is treat them like any other fish
If you mean to commercially over fish them for use as a food source for humans or cats , then yes this would solve the problem of being rattled when going for a quick late arvo surf in a light onshore wind with no-one out.
Freeride , did any go the early at the ox Tday ?
Regular crew were out. At 8am after most of the workers came in it was looking very uncrowded.
I surfed a cpl hrs and didn't realise till I got home that I'd cut my foot and been bleeding the whole time.
We need a solution that minimises the risk of shark attack and the impact on sharks themselves. See my forum post re Shark Repellant...
Here it is...
Would like to see that test done on GWS.
GWS eat smaller GWS so I'm not sure if the scent of dead sharks would repel those at the top of the food chain...
I'm seeing just as many grey men as I have always seen. But all this reporting etc. is spookin' me out.
Big sharks follow the whales up the coast.
Get rid of the whales and the sharks will go away :)
Just joking :)
...and BAN shark cage diving, what a way to foster unwanted behaviour!
Agree Uncle leroy they are a oceanic shark this was never included in the data. Longline fishermen catch them way out to sea. The marine park close off's are a joke. I think they tagged 500 grey nurse and haven't recovered one tag!
You can't have an environment where the two largest animals in the food chain (sharks and whales) are fully protected, still allow all the other animals to be taken both commercially and by recreational fishers, and not expect some imbalance to eventuate. That's not trying to condone or condemn culling or removing any protections- just stating the obvious.
Another lifetime ago, I was a commercial fisher, driving trawlers in Gulf of Carpentaria. It was pretty common practice for crew to make some good cash on the side by finning sharks. The amount of shit I used to cop from my crew because I wouldn't allow this was unbelievable. But apart from the obvious inhumane practice of it, I used to argue the same idea- you have to try to maintain some degree of balance in an eco-system for it have any chance.
Great comment eastcoast, it's a good point you make about the imbalance. I don't agree with culling, but maybe some sort of quota should be allowed to try and maintain balance in the food chain. Although it might be too late for that
Read my post below about keystone species. There's no need to maintain balance in the food chain by killing them. The sharks are already doing this giving purpose in maintaining ecological balance.
God almighty there are some ridicilous posts on here about sharks.
Its preety clear that the GWS is not endangered anymore. It might be an Idea to just remove it from the endangered list and let people catch them if they want. Its not a cull, just fishing, Not everyone is going to go out and catch one, most wouldn't even have the right gear, but i think people will ony go as far as they need to catch one and this will naturally reduce the nukbers of shark that visit our more populated areas by habit. People fish for, and are allowed to catch all sorts of sharks, I cant see why the GWS is any differant. Maybe sanctuaries where shark fishing is prohibited could also be used. Just a thought.. Im no expert
I agree, not sure why the GWS is protected but others aren't. Maybe someone on the forums knows. I also can't see the difference between fishing for them and other sharks. Although removing the apex predator can have some dangerous outcomes with regards to the numbers of predators below them in the food chain. Maybe we'd end up with heaps of fearless, crazy, medium sized sharks!?
When you say finning: Asian style where the shark was finned and left to die ,or do the aussies kill the fish and then defin ?
Unfortunately, both. Occasionally, the sharks were trawled up as by-catch- usually a poor old slovelnose. But then when they went to anchor through the day, crew would line fish for them in the morning, then set a couple of shark hooks with fish frames and leave them out for the rest of the day. So the bigger ones they got would usually be dead by the time they got pulled in, but the smaller ones were sometimes still alive. Either way, only the fins were taken, and the rest of the shark dumped.
My no means did all of the boats do this, probably not even the majority. But it was common. And unlike most other trawler by-catch which is discarded but does go back into the food cycle, I don't think too many things fed on the shark barrels.
I've tried to have a positive attitude about sharks since, half telling myself that karma would treat me kindly, since I didn't allow this. But I gotta be honest, I was around Ballina just after Easter, and I didn't feel real comfortable paddling at out Flatrock on an overcast day as the only other two guys out there caught one in, or off the beach at Lennox for the early.
http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/forget-jaws-sharks-rock/2631750/
I love how the people spending time in and on the water are being told what to do from people who have only just started to gather life experience skills
Maybe they can, along with Shark Girl, go out and test the shark numbers 800m off the back of Lennox or Flat rock on a nice clear sunny day, sit on a board out there all alone and see what comes in for a look......
Yes, sharks are important to the ecosystem, but this ecosystem is soo fucked up from humans that it is just not natural anymore
From the land to the ocean, man has fucked it all up, broadscale clearing for agriculture, erosion and sedimentation of our rivers, introduced species, bulk fish kills, acid sulphate soils, degraded wetlands, houses ontop of wetlands, tonnes and tonnes of fish, prawns, baitfish, mullet, bream, salmon, tuna, crabs and lobbys removed from the ocean every single day. If you take out all that middle section and protect the top, something is going to crumble...!!!!!
Bingo. If you have a read of "The Future Eaters" you will realise this has been the way for a very long period of time - perhaps it can be argued that Australia has not had its 'natural' ecosystem for 40,000 years +.
If you go back into the history of man as part of the environment, with the technology to fish it; there has never been a time at which one species has been protected from the take, while everything else remains fair game (and now is exploited on an industrial scale in the open ocean). What follows is consequence.
Coooooool! So lets just start by taking out everything that lives in the ocean. Why not start culling whales while we are at it? I mean we humans have already fucked the ocean so why does it matter?
There's always been plenty of sharks in that area. A few years back there was a notorious trio of big GW's who would ambush whale's together as they rounded the headland at Lennox. Another big Tiger Shark used to regularly hang out by the boat channel/reef at the end of the point. And the Richmond River is sharky as hell, which includes both North Wall and South Wall. I haven't noticed any solid evidence that overall shark numbers in the area are on the rise at all, but when it hasn't been monitored properly in the past, how can you make any measurements and draw conclusions moving forward?
The locals know about it and have lived with it for years, but I can totally understand why a tourism-dependant town would want to take a no-risks police-intervention approach to preventing further attacks. Last time there was a series of attacks in the area was back in 07-08 (and also included surfer/swimmer "disappearances" that were suspected but never officially confirmed as shark attacks), and with the help of the GFC this helped to almost kill tourism in the region for five years.
Despite all this, it does feel like scare-mongering and is only serving to spook people out about a problem that has always existed, and to which alternative solutions should probably be explored (eg the shark shield devices).
Ocearch is doing some pretty amazing work:
http://www.ocearch.org
I've had a bit of a search for the CSIRO shark data but there's no online database to speak of (that I can find anyway).
With no accurate historical data on shark numbers/activity it is very hard to judge if I'm at greater, equal or lesser risk than my previous 25 years of surfing the Northern Rivers.
Having been out at Speeds the morning of the Jan. attack.
And then suiting up at Sharpes for the last one, it definitely feels like the risk has increased.
I took a look at Shark Shield but the latest trial in SA shows it to be largely ineffective at stopping a shark from eating a 6kg chunk of Blue Fin Tuna:
http://pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/232235/Risk_Assessment_...
My mate who surfs in Gabon has one, and says they provide piece of mind.
But are a bit of a pain in the arse.
Getting tangled after a wipeout results in a decent whack every half a second until you untangle yourself.
And have significant drag on smaller waves.
Maybe a series of automated drones (water would need to be clear).
Or a mesh of sonars/fish finders with some beach based warning system.
Just had a few fun ones at the Point.....chopper buzzed twice while I was out there. I took a good look from up top with the polaroids. No shapes, but plenty of bait getting busted up just off the back out to the pinnacle.
Hugged the bank paddling back out.
Comment from Nick Carroll -
Does anyone really think an electronic shield is going to stop a big shark if it decides to go you......its like waving a fucking magic wand in front of a truck .
Dosent brother Tom endorse Shark Shield....?
The shark shield research (link above) was sobering. It impacts behaviour but while it seems to reduce the likelihood of attacks it does not do so dramatically. One shark liked it and made 4 x as many approaches when it was turned on that when it was off! It might help combined with the hesitancy of unfamiliar prey but after reading the report you could not paddle out to a sharky spot and feel secure that one would keep you safe.
Nick and Tom just competed in the Molokai race I wonder if they used a Sharkshield
Big Tiger sharks in those waters .
Is kinda embarrassing
People are running instead of fighting for something we love
supposedly because it is "their backyard" or we are too "civilized" to be killing such "beautiful" creatures?
I thought that the shoreline was my backyard too, I also thought us humans were the top predator
When I read the excuses people have for not killing these murderous eating machines I feel embarrassed to be human
Jeez we've turned into a bunch of wimps somewhere along the line
Strrretch I think thats the Pot calling the kettle Black
scottishsponger , no idea what culling means Mate? Rather than throw insults at people with a different opinion to your own let me explain - culling is the process of segregating organisms from a group according to desired or undesired characteristics. I encourage you to try to write your comments from an informed perspective in future.
Sure ween. You mean get informed by talking to the sharks?
"GWS are laughing at us as they now know they can attack humans without fear of repercussions. The do-gooders/shark huggers should wake-up and admit that they are on another planet on this issue." theween
Freeride, whats the chat amongst locals around the ox re the shark situation, cull , nets , any surfers using shark shield or similar ?
Ha, how's the bloke straightening out in the photo cause I assume he's distracted by the 'news' whilst that perfect 3 footer is reeling off...I'd be spewing
Just Sth of Ballina reports coming in of another attack at Evans head.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-31/shark-attack-evans-head-nsw-north-...
So was this yesterday or this morning?
Today (Friday).
Yikes.
Luked80 csiro some data/articles floating about
http://csironewsblog.com/2013/12/17/7000km-and-counting-on-the-tail-of-a...
One shark they tagged in Sth Oz swam to South Africa they never knew they did that and the Americans are getting a migration pattern of west coast USA shark going to Hawaii. Both claims you would have been laughed out of the room 10 year ago.
At least ban all commercial fishing 3 Nm from the coast. Establish new ocean quotas for commercial. Take them off the endangered list we wouldn't see one if that were a representation of true facts.
commercial fishing for sharks or finfish?
If finfish then a bad idea
That's what happened in Reunion, they made the island a marine reserve and no commercial fishing, yet continued to rape the waters outside of the marine reserve. All the sharks outside of the reserve then lost all their food supply and came in around the island to where the fish stocks were healthier and started munching on people as well
Would have been a beautiful Winters morning in Evans as well
Hope old mate is ok
This is seriously getting outta hand now!!!
It's okay Don, I just watched a discussion on the today show, they suggested waiting for the lifesavers to setup and surf between the flags.
I flew over on Wednesday afternoon, between Evans and south wall I saw 2 of the biggest bait balls you could imagine.
Patches of black water at least 100 metres across
Well then they should be well fed right?
The 50 yr old local surfer from Evans head fought this shark and is currently in surgery.
If only they were crocs ....bang bang bang......a percentage of the problem solved.
Tracks just shared a pic of the guys board. Decent size bite mark, hope he will be ok https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=996890537008758&id=116...
Not sure why people love these sharks so much. Not like they are the family dog mans best friend. Wat about the nice seals? We eat all kinds of other sharks and fish but overprotect the biggest most dangerous one that are injuring and killing people? Seems like they are a far way from extinction. People are just brainwashed.
It's not about loving the sharks, but rather that such an animal deserves respect and protection. This is because it is a keystone species and such species play a huge role in maintaining the integrity, health and structure of ecosystems. Considering that oceans comprise 71% of the Earth, then protecting a keystone species like a shark is vitally important. You take the sharks out of the water and our main food source (fish) will disappear.
Except we took nearly all the great whites out 30 years ago and the ocean flourished.
Here it is.. wow. That's not a small shark!
Bite confirmed as from GWS, sizey too the front row of teeth almost to the stringer.
Feeling for everyone in nth new south, stay safe this is starting to get concerning. All these great whites are about the same size from reports. Juvenile 3-4 m, how old would that make these sharks? And why predominantly nsw..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_shark_attacks_in_Australia#Q...
Interesting numbers 1923-1925 a lot of shark attacks aus wide. Lot's of people attacked instantly after falling overboard in those early years. Few of them sound a touch suss but no forensics in those days.
A morning surf at Evans head with no swell 1-2 ft ? this attack happened in very shallow water.
7.30 report fellas - Glen Folkart
I'm not sure if any of you guys have come across the following website or not:
http://www.sharkattackdata.com/
The data comes from this website:
http://www.sharkattackfile.net/
Pretty interesting.
Heaps of work on at present. .fuck never thought of that being a good thing.
Don't forget, they are around on the Tweed Coast too, as Mick Fanning will tell ya, yes, THE Mick Fanning, filmed around here with 60 minutes last weekend, and ...
Take up lawn bowls Mick!
hahaha 60 minutes
Wow, 60 Minutes is a joke!
Note the board is NOT yellow !
Red fins?
Some Tool decided to defy Beach closed orders and surf Evans head today, vision from above from the Chopper or drone shows 2 large sharks cruising very close by to him
unfucking believable ! Mate you are an idiot !
east ne swell its going to be smoking but the only catch is you've gotta share with the not so friendly locals.
Link to the footage Udo?
NBN News Northern rivers.
And where the FUCK are our Fisheries officers tagging them!!!!!!!!!!!
This is just BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!
WA, SA, NSW, VICCO and TAS, where are they after an attack or continuous multiple sightings as been the case in Ballina and surrounds.
Soo soo much money is wasted on a daily basis in this great country of ours from stupid decisions made by our Government, yet we can't even spend $10-15K a day to tag sharks and get more information about an issue that is going to eventually if not already, cost us millions of dollars in tourism revenue
Speak to anyone involved in tourism after the WA round of fatalities and they will all say that they were hit in the back pocket
Just saw the footage on the ABC.. Wow. The shark was only 50-100m out behind the surfer.
Lennox-Ballina beaches closed again today.
Large GWS spotted in close at South Wall and Sharpes.
I went for a drive down to Ballina today to visit friends and drove from Lennox to Nth Wall at about 9am. Not a single person in the water anywhere and there were some rideable waves to be had.
I also talked to a few local mates and they are all spooked. The consensus is none of the older locals have ever seen this many big sharks coming inshore so close and so often.
Most are starting to call for a cull of a few of the bigger ones in the hope it could stop the attacks and scare the other sharks off. Whether it would work is anybodies guess but they are not only worried about more attacks, but also what it's doing to the local economy so anything is worth a try.
One of them was saying that motel bookings are down already and a big longboard comp on this weekend that usually is full, had quite a few vacant spots.
What can be done to fix the problem is something that needs some very serious thought but hopefully somebody can come up with some sort of solution and soon.
Surely the time has come to DO SOMETHING! GWS are laughing at us as they now know they can attack humans without fear of repercussions. The do-gooders/shark huggers should wake-up and admit that they are on another planet on this issue. I suggest we put scottishsponger, Albertinelli, mike hunt and other like-minded individuals in the line-up at Ballina with shark shields to prove their frigging ridiculous deterrent theories once and for all.
Ha ha ha...I heard some of them are even reading this thread.
Stu that takes the cake, tenfold worse than my comments....
Fuck I hope you're taking the piss
.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/ballina-shark-attack-surfer-bitten...
Well this is broken head today by the looks .one guy out in close
Amazing footage.
Australia is so beautiful.
Don't think that will make it into the next Tourism Australia campaign though.
So since whites were protected about 16 years ago this looks to be the first wave of newbies coming thru,frightening to think of what it will look like in the years ahead as they keep breeding.This is the reason why shark nets were introduced around sydney back in the late 30s and for some reason they seem to work.Cant believe no one in authority thought this thru when they protected them.So until they come up with some form of deterrent thats guaranteed to work its going to be nervous surf sessions,just wait when the water goes cold and murky in another 2 months and you cant see the bottom,at least you feel sort of safe when you can see around you when its clear.Personally id like them to shoot the attackers and maybe that would scare the others off as in orca attacks where they leave the scene pronto.
"Personally id like them to shoot the attackers "
Wrong thread Simba, the Nickname thread is what your saying...eh;)
The surge in the adult GW cohort that has grown up under protection will be moving away from fish and stingrays and looking for bigger prey but may be finding this scarce. We don't really know what they may do in such a situation. But hungry sharks (and other animals) get much more aggressive. In the recent book Unbroken the downed airmen in a life raft had sharks way out in the ocean continually rubbing against the raft but not attacking it. One day a guy reached over and stroked the sharks back as it went by. The shark sensed food and a group of them began launching out of the water almost into the raft in a frenzy to get at what they now knew to be food. Mid ocean sharks would get pretty hungry.
So patterns of behaviour are not locked into a single fixed approach that can be seen as typical. We don't really know what could emerge in the next decade. It could be rare encounters or it could be a more targeted interest in all those warmed blooded creatures swimming and pissing in the shallows - especially if the numbers are out of balance with traditonal food sources.
Nothing will be done until / unless tourist numbers start to drop. $$$$'s talk more than lives.
I think Renion island gives a glimpse of the future.
I checked out Hastings Point once a few years ago on holiday. A bit funky as a surf spot and seemed very exposed to any passing sharks cruising the coast so even though it was 5 ft and empty, I went elsewhere feeling a bit of a piker at the time. Now it seems a sensible decison.
The spooky thing is the whites are in so close in such shallow water, even on clear water babyfood days.
From the newspaper article that Simba posted is a list of incidents in NNSW / SEQLD this year including one from March whereby a fella fishing out of his tinny was charged by a Pointer and knocked into the water near Julian Rocks.
That's horrific , I would have shit my pants.
Literally.
A mate had a pointer stick it's head out of the water and eyeball him when he was fishing out of his 10' tinny at Quobba almost a decade ago.
He laughs about it now.
He was definitely not laughing about it at the time.
Its called counting heads
Until an English or Sweedish backpacker is munched on a dive a Julian's or surfing the pass, nothing will happen as sad at that is
I wonder what will happen when the current boom in whites all move south with the first of the east oz current, Coffs, Newcastle then straight to Bondi by early October
Here's the video:
Give him a Darwin Award. I feel incredibly sorry for his kids having to share his genetics.
Is that your new local beach Ben??
Nah, I'm a long way from there. I've checked Evans a few times, but the surf's never been great. Smelt very fishy too (not especially encouraging before you paddle out!), unlike anywhere else I have been. Not sure why.
Checked it a few times on the East Coast missions but never had it any good. Stay safe up there. No sharks in Bali apart from a friendly Tiger at Greenballs
I got buzzed by a large shark whilst surfing solo up past Temples at Uluwatu last month.
It even appeared to still have it's fins.
Haha no way I wonder what flavour it was? Heard there is a few up Balian way...couple of attacks to but nothing much getting reported.
I spent a few days at Balian around Christmas 2013, 2nd last day there were a few sharks jumping clear of the water right in the line up, muddy water. Didn't really bother me too much, but I stayed out of the water on my last day, didn't want to tempt fate.
Freeze the vid @ 30sec and compare the size of surfer and board to the shark.
Thats bloody scary big
couple of sharks around iluka and spooks on sunday from what ive heard
On Sunday? Wasn't much surf around. Were these reports from fishers, divers or surfers?
surf ski group
"..my mate Jason and I came across this eight-foot white pointer in-between Cabarita Beach and Kingscliff. We were only 100 metres off the shoreline when we sighted it. The shark was north of Cabarita and heading north. It was hugging the coast the whole way."
http://www.tweeddailynews.com.au/news/a-cabarita-surfer-is-spending-a-co...
Shit I know they're laughing at us and eating us without fear of repercussions and everything, but they're impressive creatures eh. Beautiful even.
Yeah, I'm sure Matt Lee, Steve(?) at Evans, the bloke at Lennox and the (deceased) diver in Tassie are all in agreement.
I agree benski. They really are perfectly designed hunting machines. I'm in awe of them actually.
Laughing at us? Seriously. Gosh people become completely irrational when fear is involved. Like people who argue we should "teach them a lesson" or install nets!
Let me get this straight, your suggesting that if we go out and cull a few GW's, all the other GW's read about it on Twitter, so they stay away!
Netting is no more rational. Netting in Sydney is only performed part of the week during the summer months. Its window dressing people! Like many others, I do much more surfing in winter, spend much more time in near dark during the early mornings, and wrapped in black rubber looking like a seal. What safety do the nets offer except to offer some sense of mental barrier to an irrational mind!
Just a reference to an earlier comment in this thread mate.
each day - I either surf that stretch or at least go down for a swim. last few weeks there is almost no one in the water mid week in the middle of the day
The increase in sightings has been steady for the last 12 months, plenty of shark pics taken by beach walkers and fishermen doing the rounds
Like you Saltman, that stretch is where I do the bulk of my surfing, and I too have noticed the drop in numbers in the water. Ive not cared too much either, I just thought more waves for me. But its hard to ignore the stories/pics forever.
But now Ive gone and broken the scaphoid bone in my hand, its 6 weeks out of the water for me so I wont be sharing any line ups with our toothy marine overlords any time soon.
Panaitan - I'm not sure if the Pointers were using Twitter to send the message, but when those orcas ate one of their number at the Neptune Islands at the start of the year the entire population made an immediate and lasting exit from the scene .
Totally out of character from all reports.
If you don't think that pointers communicate with each other in a fashion that humans aren't aware of yet then you're selling them short
"Fish are always eating other fish. If fish could scream, the ocean would be loud as shit. You would not want to submerge your head, nothing but fish going "Ahhh, fuck! I thought I looked like that rock!" - Mitch Hedberg, all time greatest comedians. RIP.
What's the activity like up Byron / Lennox / Ballina this week? Many out in the water?
Heard there were a few sighted around Yamba?
Amazing bait balls photo taken by www.facebook.com/www.uniqueimages.com.au
I can see the hand with the big finger, in the middle of the first bait ball.
Saying "There's the Hazard"!
What a phenomenal photo!
Unreal shot.
Salmon ?
Nup.
Seem to be mostly frogmouth pilchards Blowin.
Had a chance to surf a Pointbreak this morning with one bloke out. A big bait ball came around the corner and old mate was all of a sudden in a feeding frenzy. He came in and I went somewhere more crowded to get safety in numbers.
Activity on the run up to this new Moon seems to be spiking. Legs up. Don't let any dark shapes come up behind you on the ambush.
Cheers Freeride.
What's chasing those bad boys ? Tailor and salmon ?
I lose my shit when I see bait balls coming within casting distance of the beach.
Not the sort of scene you want to be paddling through with the resurgence of the pointer in those parts though is it ?
Haven't seen any salmon and I hope those pests and GWS attractors stay away. Plenty of tailor around, jew at night. Heaps of big bream underneath them.
It was the best of times
It was the worst of times
Interesting.
I wonder how many people there were in NNSW that were flat out against a WA cull and have switched sides now they're in the backyard?
There are a shit load hanging close to the coast though. I haven't surfed Nth Wall-Angels stretch since the Evans attack. I had kept surfing there after the Matt Lee and Tadashi attacks but now they're being spotted there every second day.
http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/shark-cull-supported-community-strat...
I'm glad that the Mayor is anti-cull (at this stage) before any knee jerk decisions are made.
Brocky's pro-cull
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/sharks-cull-them-or-be-killed-...
I reckon there'd be a few, though I'm not gonna cast judgement on anyone. The difference between theory and practice is never more vast than when it's yourself or your own kin who are threatened. I admire people who hold true, but also empathise with those who would review their own beliefs in light of proximate danger.
Agree.
The only judgement I cast is for those that are so strong in their opinion of others but quickly retreat when they find themselves in similar circumstances.
I wish the DPI (or a similar body) had some form of register for the state, so people can go on and log sightings of sharks with the ability to upload photo's etc so people can be aware of what's around at the time. You only hear through the grapevine and sometimes, third or fourth-hand. hard to make an assessment of the risk before paddling out
It's being done on this site for the FNC.
https://www.facebook.com/ballinasharkreports?fref=ts
Think it might help for arvo surfs, but come the following morning, no one knows where they are again.
https://www.facebook.com/ballinasharkreports
https://www.facebook.com/AirTG
I wish the DPI would get off their fat arses full of our tax payer money and get out there and tag them satellite tags and then keep on tagging them until the local population has all been tagged
I think they are scared of running out of tags....!!
The effect of all these attacks, encounters, sightings, bumpings etc etc has been deeply traumatic for this community.
Aerial surveillance is constantly seeing 7 large whites ranging from 5 m to 3m in size that can be clearly identified as the same sharks.
That's an unprecedented situation according to marine experts and the feeling here is that while that situation is allowed to exist without some kind of active management including a limited cull in the short term and longer term measures as well the next attack is just around the corner. These sharks are big, these sharks are inquisitive and they are in very shallow water persistently.
That is the reality of the situation here. People don't want to wait until another talk-fest in October when a bunch more theories get hashed out behind closed doors.
They didn't wait for a Government cull order in SA. Only ever seen photos which will never see the light of day. Different location and much easier to get caught up your way but sounds like you have no choice.
Same with Crocs up north.
Stay safe you north coast shark baits
Maybe get a few crew together and go do a bit of angling yourselves Freeride.
Not like it hasn't been done before.
I've even heard the shotgun blasts from the channel next to a right on a beautiful little island a couple of hundred kms East of where you are now.
And that's a World Heritage Listed area that the few locals fawn over.
Didn't stop them from dispatching a tiger shark that was getting a bit intimate with the surfers.
I was thinking that. Surely some blokes would be taking it into their own hands... I bet the boys in blue would turn a blind eye! They've been getting 000 calls for every sighting over the past month. They'd be over it surely!
Ballina Shark Reports
Tuesday 11th of August: 2:15pm A man was knocked off his board by a shark at Suffolk Park in front of the Caravan Park. No reports of injury
This is just crazy.
I had a shark buzz on the burkit, big king hammerhead Blowin
Sign this petition for OCEARCH to be able to start tagging. They are ready to go.
https://www.change.org/p/csiro-ian-macfarlane-australian-state-governmen...
Let's get up Ballina and do some tagging of our own....
......with power head tipped Neptune's tridents.
Jokes people.
Where abouts Nochaser ?
For christs sake I hope that Ballina locals are staying well clear of the local vending machines.
As it's been proved time and time again that you've a greater risk of injury and death via vending machine than experiencing an encounter with a shark, then the local snack machines would surely be blood and gore soaked by now.
The ol' surf north of Lennox point trick doesn't seem to work at the moment.
They're frequenting all the spots.
BOM is calling for an intense , extremely localised low pressure cell to form off the LeBa region in the next couple of days .
Throw in the thick cluster of White Pointers and it can only mean one thing....
SHARKNADO !!!
Ha - i guess they'll be entering the human's natural environment at their own risk.
Another fatality or serious injury would be disastrous for the community down there.. Tourism is going to take a hit already... Measures need to be put into place at a minimum tagging. As for a cull, if you had asked me 12 months ago i would have been against but given current events I'm willing to reconsider...
Yes it's only a matter of time before another attack and what if it's a young grommet this time? Do you reckon there'd be something done then? Funny how the trawlers can catch thousands of fish and nobody turns a blind eye but you can't catch a shark for fear of being fined. I always thought sharks were fish anyhow.
How do you plead Udo...not guilty your honour....the GWS was attacking my inflatable boat ...I feared for my life and the life of my 2 children........
I had no option your Honour but to shoot it between the eyes with my high powered speargun
Judge: my findings in this matter are that Mr Udo acted in self defence and was certain that this 5 metre fish would kill and eat him or at least one of his offspring
CASE DISMISSED -------Mr Udo you are free to go !
Any judge in this country would believe that--time to cull a few.
If a single great white shark dies...an angel will fall from heaven and burn up in the atmosphere.
In great pain .
Screaming.
A beautiful , baby girl angel with large, innocent , beseeching eyes.
That's what a pretty 3rd year marine biology student told me anyway.
I'm pretty sure that's what she said.
I sort of got distracted by this amazing butterfly that flew past at that exact instant.
But then again , maybe it wasn't a butterfly, maybe it was... An angel.
But let's face it, when you're that stoned , is there really a difference ?
Amazing what a few cones can do
Dreamland balangan end
nochaser ...you talkin about Timmy ?
so what was the end result of the meeting last night in lennox about the shark problem,anyone attend?
Surely Freeride did ?
Small Article by Helen Fry in The Lennox Wave Magazine.
Udo, it was a closed meeting for Le Ba and invites only from what I have heard, but the majority are calling for a measured response, cull, for the moment.
It has been established that there are seven resident sharks 1 X 5 mtr the rest 3-4 mtrs.
If the orcas kill a great white and they disappear, I think we have two options,
1, train a pack of orcas to hang around and feed them the odd gw liver
2, kill a gw very 6 months and leave it to rot with the scent keeping other gw'a away
I went. it wasn't a closed meeting but it was organised by Le-Ba pres Don Munro.
As said there are seven resident white sharks patrolling inshore waters between Evans and Byron. My information was 2 around 5m in length and the rest between 3 and 4m.
Very strong support for a limited, measured cull on those sharks that have taken up territory here as a short term measure with medium term and longer term measures to be investigated and trialled.
I wonder if there travelling further south than Evans Head, Distance from Ballina to Evans is much the same as Evans To Angourie...was mentioned somewhere that 10 mile beach sth of Evans could be a nursery area like Stockton ?
Cheers, FR.
Udo, there was a sighting among surfers at Minnie waters a day or two ago. 3m GWS I think I heard.
Udo, mate they roam everywhere there not confined to the evans byron area.
Just had a yak to my buddy in Byron.
Might be time to start talking publicly about the shark incidents over the last 2 years that aren't making the news.
Seriously?
Time for some culling.....boys.
It's coming right for us.....
Hey!
Say hello to one of our friends right here!
Wow!....and G'Day nice sharky!
http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/yes-its-real-monster-shark-hoo...
Wouldnt get too worked up about tiger sharks there's plenty out wide where this one was taken and always have been.Different kettle of fish than the whites of late.
G'Day Mr. simba.
Since the days of '75 and '76 when the local Lennox Boys surfed the Yamba to Queensland stretch it was always "sharky" this is true. But when 30 and 40 year Vets are saying it(risk) is simply not worth their time it may be time for you to test the worth of it all in YOUR TIME, not theirs?
Is there a strap-on short spear/cattle prod/explosive head on the market yet?
Stuff being a passive shark meal.......If it wants to chomp me I want it to pay a price.
I wanna go down fighting, stuff this stay out of the surf bullshit
This could be the perfect opportunity to test the theory of a dead white pointer in an area such as noted Orca attacks on white pointers as in the Neptune islands this year and the Farrallon islands off California incident 5 years or so ago where in both cases a white pointer was killed by Orcas ,both witnessed by tourist boats and every white in that area disappeared for months including ALL tagged ones.Sacrifice one and tie it to a buoy off Lennox,who knows might be enough to send them on their way and if it worked maybe pave the way for a shark repellent.
It is an interesting idea.
I wonder what sort of fall out there'd be if there was an increase in activity somewhere else, say scoffs Coast, and even an attack there after trialling.
Ld that could happen anyway whether it worked or not but you have to start somewhere and i think this is trying to do something instead of nothing.
Old farmer trick...bury a few rabbit traps under the grain piles out in a paddock ready for seeding...cockatoos would land on pile ready to eat every last grain...snap goes the trap...a few dead cockatoos left laying on the grain pile...not a bird in sight to eat any grain...win win all round.
I guess like most creatures, there is an aversion to like seeing like dead.
Oh my God!
Kill it!
http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/filmmakers-spot-deep-blue-capt...
With the technology available in the world re sonars and fish finders, could there not be a way to install bouys, programmed to monitor popular spots? There may be a warning light and siren fitted to alert people in the area of a fish over 6ft, for example. If i can spot a jewy sitting on a reef in 50 meters of water, surely it could be possible. They could work in conjunction with tags on whites, also picked up on the sensors. Could be potentially be a cost effective solution. As much as I just cant believe culling is the answer, I empathize with the need for a quick resolution. A cull takes place, 5 sharks are killed and then what? Firstly the place has a false sense of security, cause there will always be another to take their place, secondly the bulls and whalers move in with bigger numbers. I had a similar discussion with the lads at Cactus many moons ago, they said the local whites were caught and then they had a huge influx of other smaller sharks, which are potentially just as lethal. Tough situation and hopefully one which will involve no more injuries, to any life.
What happened to the Ballina Shark Reports facebook page?