Shark attacks hurting surf business, Ballina shop owner says
A Ballina surf shop has cancelled an order for $70,000 worth of summer stock following another shark attack on the New South Wales north coast, its owner says.
Surfer Cooper Allen, 17, was mauled by a shark at Ballina's Lighthouse Beach on Monday.
It was the fourth serious shark attack along the one-kilometre stretch of beach in less than two years.
The teenager is still recovering from injuries to his upper thigh in the Lismore Base Hospital.
Following the attack, Ballina surf shop owner Richard Beckers cancelled an order of $70,000 worth of summer stock.
Mr Beckers said people were not confident about going into the water and that it was having an effect on demand for surfing paraphernalia.
"We've taken a bit of a hit on the surf hardware side of the business," he said.
"Most of the areas are down 90 per cent, including the wetsuits, surfboards, bodyboards.
"Surf hardware made up 30 per cent of our business, so it's a massive chunk to lose."
Mr Beckers said his shop had to change the way it did business and look at different areas to compensate for its losses.
"We were optimistic going into summer, but I've just had to cancel about $70,000 worth of orders just to cover our butt so we don't get stuck with stock after Christmas."
Cooper Allen, 17, was bitten by what is believed to be a great white off Ballina (image: Shark Smart)
North coast residents 'always on edge'
Mr Beckers said the threat of shark attacks is never far from his mind.
"For me, personally, I see an ambulance roar past the shop and I think shark attack straight away," he said.
"You're always on edge and worried about when the next shark attack will happen."
He said installing shark nets should be a priority.
"People's confidence has been diminished with the failure of the shark barrier," he said.
"We need shark mesh nets to go in as soon as possible to get people's confidence back to go back in the water.
"I never used to be for shark nets, I love my sea life, but I think it's the only way at the moment.
"On the Gold Coast and down in Wollongong to Newcastle they've got shark nets, we need them too.
"We keep trialling things, but there's a solution that's working up the coast."
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has offered to help extend the state's shark nets into Northern NSW in the wake of the attack.
Attempts to install a shark barrier at Ballina were abandoned in August, due to weather and tidal conditions.
Another barrier at nearby Lennox Head, valued at $1.33 million, was scrapped after the design was deemed inappropriate for the beach.
//SAMANTHA TURNBULL
© Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.
Comments
Listen to the people mike baird........
Too many white and bull sharks in the area and the next attack could be someones child just having fun in the surf. People are aware of the risk and understandably, are choosing to holiday an hour north over the border in safer waters thanks to the Qld approach which has had a good record over the past 3 decades or so. Tourism is the backbone of the NSW north coast communities and we need to restore confidence again. The passive green measures to date have failed leaving the Qld approach which should be rolled out now before the next attack.
I live at Shelly Beach and the recent attacks are unprecedented especially with the severity and the involvement of the White shark. There has been many conversations over the last year and a half about solutions. One of them was funded by the State government (2.6million) and supported by our local representatives David Wright (mayor) and (Greens) Tamara Smith to install the Eco net.
We had protests, meetings and forums with the DPI to urge them not to do it (Wrong technology at the wrong Beach) For the people that don't know North Wall it gets consistent medium to large surf all year round with ever changing banks and rips, to install a Eco net was crazy from the start and has now been scraped thankfully.
I personally wrote to all of these people urging them to use the nets that they currently use in Sydney while we pour money into a sustainable system that supports us and the sea life to coexist in a harmonious safe way, then remove all nets. I also wrote to them and warned them it is only a matter of time before another fatality or serious mauling takes place. In my view Mike Baird, Nial Blair (state DPI), Tamara Smith (local MP) and David Wright (local Councillor) have let our community down, victims/families with their inaction and we know best approach. Mike and Nial enjoy nets at their beach while they experiment with their G4 technology but we don't get the luxury, the fucked thing is Cooper was close to losing his life if that shark had come at another angle.
My 14 year old son Darcy and Will were just about to paddle out (thanks for sleeping in Will). Two weeks prior to this 2 young blokes surfing Sharpes were nocked off their boards by a 3m Great White. The analogy is; Mike and Nial are asking Ballina to test drive their new sports car at high speed, they get to wear seat belts and we don't. I don't want to kill sharks or any other sea life but while these non surfing muppets talk, Great Whites are establishing territory and the DPI have admitted they know next to nothing about this shark or the balance of this Apex predator verses other fish species. They have been protected since 1995, is there an imbalance? .
I believe community safety first, local economy and then use the governments pledged 16 million to find a technology that is cost effective and can be rolled out along the East and West coast so we can all live and exist together. I
This whole project has been a debacle. Kinda hard to imagine what their next steps will be given the failure of the eco nets.
Yes sir there is an imbalance. We had two buses cruising Perth's metro smorgasboard overnight with numerous detections on the buoys. Enough to close beaches from Cott to Trigg...for those that don't know that's most of our beaches! Let's stop listening to the noisy minority and take some real action...smokies anyone?
Yep, there's been 60+ sightings off the Perth coast since May or June!!! (I can't remember which month) This shark debacle is such a tough topic. Imbalance there is, we treat fish like food, treat sharks like humans, sharks treat us and fish like food.
You nailed it, treating sharks like humans...fucked up concept that one. BTW billy you look like one sexy beast.
I would be interested to know how this effecting membership for nippers at the local surf club and board riders. Anyone know.
Absolutely wbat, its down by 50%, they are struggling. We still support the club and my son is a volunteer.
Boardriders or SLSC nippers? I bet both are down.
Dear Ballina, We swellnetonians, Gold Coasters/QLDers all wish to help.
I earlier mentioned all beaches are closed for many reasons,more so now than ever before. Here's my best advice for what it's worth.
Firstly towns commerce needs some leeway for flexible go to beach based options.
Weather is fair to ok,you have beautiful patrolled inshore conditions. Splendid for beach or photographic education of unique rocky foreshore and estuarine marine life.
Surf lessons are perfect for close inshore interaction.
Open surfing displays by fearless local boardriders could in-still confidence availing best info,invite celeb contest judges or establish ties with clubbies .Attract Surf club members thru fun chariot races or nostalgic displays,let all know you're long respected as heart of the town.
Kite flying,sand modelling or old fashioned beach gardens/sand castles.
Free double ice-cream and a pretty shell for each esteemed judging gran on femlin/gremmie sittin' duty.
Turn it up a notch beach volleyball, beach golf,beach soccer.(inaugural Beach AFL grand final) and the obvious... (inaugural Beach NRL -grand final).Bound to lure some bad boys .
Always a brumby/billy goat or marine-reptile-farm + shell exhibit draws mums and kidz from miles.
With Prawn fest away in November,let organisers build momentum.
Each new week a Bundjalung ugari feast or our cousins hangi pit.
Maybe let loose luau style or big finish with massive Viking beach feast.
Also utilise towns best assets in ways never before imagined.(free tip...Call in that favour from giant prawn = Should without battering an eyelid appeal to World famous seafood masterchef).Cooking with gas now, world wide live TV audience.
Mr mayor it's time to Reclaim your beach ! That infamous [BEACH CLOSED] sign now a beach banquet table serving up hot battered flake.
Anyhow Richard you get the idea,keep Ballina's focus on the beach- so those missing out benefit from new comers all sporting new surf gear. ps: ( Not an advert!) We're with you Ballina!
Wow.. That's some fascinating insight and forward planning.
As per Blowin's suggestion, let me format that paragraph for you...
Hi uplift,some good insights there that battered flake sounds good.
Hahahaaa ... Trueblue, you've made the fundamental error of assuming the muppets in charge can organise it. First step needed, URGENTLY, is the people, locals, stand up and DEMAND action. Sitting back waiting will only see this situation continue.
Apathy is no longer an option.
URGENT public meeting. Media shit storm.
Watch the political muppets take some action then.
Hey True Blue - I've said it before mate....break that shit up .
Add some paragraphs .
Anything.
Don't even attempt to read your posts anymore mate, which is a shame as you seem passionate about... Fucked if I know .
Well I didn't read it ,did I ?
Hmmm...
Mike Baird "announces" emergency talks, but, 24 hours later and nothing? Not a report, peep, or boo from any of the muppets?
WTF?
More inaction.
In the meantime, the local community, small businesses, suffer ...
I don't know the answer. But I can say that it wont be solved by spending money or by people who don't live on the ocean.
Queensland approach , geez! we have even offered to put em in .
Why do Great White Sharks stop at fingal anyways?
Are they fiercely patriotic to NSW?
C'mon NSW state government, stop f!@#&*g around with experimental technology .
Go with QLD method as a backup, then you can piss arse around without getting more blood on your hands.
Apparently there's record numbers of whale calves heading south this year. The whales are also coming a lot closer inshore (whale caught in nets off the goldy just a day or so ago). This, IMO is one reason I believe the sharks are also coming a lot closer inshore.
Amen Don, I've been saying this for a while now, plus seals being protected. It's not rocket science people you protect a species that has no predator, and you protect their two main food sources...boom a perfect storm. They are thriving and the dogooders won't let us manage them. More attacks will happen, guaranteed.
North Wall was the only surfable spot on the coast this morning when I checked around 6.30. That's more than 90min after first light at the moment and there was not a soul surfing it.
I was there around 8am and there was half a dozen crew on the regular middle bank. They were hugging the inside though, waiting for sets and then paddling out to meet the waves. Don't blame 'em!
Half a dozen in school holidays at the only spot worth surfing. Pretty crazy.
Wasn't unreal but there were a few shoulder high peaks. Probably looked better upwind though.
Lots of duck-diving like this going on.
Yeh, that looks pretty average actually.
wonder if anyone was over south wall?
Not that I could see...
Pollies value their jobs. So nothing will happen apart from more smart this and smart that and more tagging. Only 100,000 more sharks to do. The next shark attack may be fatal and it may not be too far off. If it happens Ballina may as well forget tourism and change its name. The pollies just keep feeding us spin and bullshit that has nothing to do with saving human lives. The amount of Whites being sited around Byron to Ballina is scary and we are called stupid and deserve what we get because we continue to surf. Do we deserve to die doing something we love ? No. Do we deserve to be protected like QLD and Sydney ? Yes.
Para' military word police... fair cop! I do thank you guys..research and hand illustrated histories(with paragraphs) on individually crafted brochures more my angle .Look on the bright side we tech heathens or eco scrollers cram alot more www into tiny devices saving 50% scroll time,batteries,print paper+ink all helps the planet. Eco scrollers surrender their fair share on www... affording toilet breaks for loading time of page after page of whiteout para'space. Glow down in Turtle town where all on the same page,good luck Balina.
You need to get off the stuff mate
Should we start a new thread or even a competition entitled...
Translate this comment [insert anything by truebluebasher] and win a limited edition Swellnet t-shirt and a block of wax.
C'mon Ben...ante up the goods
its a head fark eh
"Culling sharks 'flies in the face of a modern conservation approach': expert"
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/culling-sharks-no...
"Dr Daniel Bucher, a senior lecturer in Marine Biology and Fishery Science at Southern Cross University, says culling isn't a suitable approach."
Ahhh the irony surfshop owner selling chinese made clothes and boards complaining about local sharks eating into his profits.
He could always start stocking shark repellents
Where's Ernest Hemingway when you need him?
Sharkwatch Drone trial at evans spotted a 3.5m GWS today
Look up Bucher online and you will find another idiot with no real life experience. Just another snout in the academic trough. Take a look at the goon and you wouldn't piss on him if he was on fire. Who listens to such clowns! Ooops Fong does!
Just heard some interesting new research presented on ABC which basically said we should expect more attacks and took the increasing population= increasing attack rates theory and threw it in front of a bus.
Did anyone else hear it? I'll try and track it down.
Greens MP says nets are not an option
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-29/ballina-mp-says-shark-nets-not-an-...
Researcher warns of more attacks
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-30/shark-researchers-warn-of-more-aus...
Mike should remove his shark nets from manly so everyone's even and I sure hope there are no vested interests in shark shield around those stupid meeting tables in Ballina. Also, when the nets eventually do go up after a few more deaths you should attach Ballinas mayor to one of the drum lines on a big hook... although nothing would probably eat the scrawny little goose.
"Mr Williams said their needed to be better spotting program, and suggested local volunteer-based shark watch groups and coverage from surf clubs, saying that no-one had been bitten while swimming on a patrolled beach."
Is this dingbat for real? Cooper was bitten at North Wall in front of lifeguards patrolling the first day of the summer season.
Tadashi had his legs bitten off not 50 meters from where the flags are set-up on Shelly beach.
Well judging from what the ABC showed on 7.30 report, the problem is with locals. They don't want nets (as in Qld). Drones are not much use - remember Micks encounter.
So it's not the fault of the pollies since the DPI said it will do as what the locals want, maybe should say some locals, the mayor and the greens, it seems.
Munro from Le Ba spoke, he said drones are not the solution.
Federal Environment Minister, Josh Frydenberg, said this week
"I absolutely put human safety first and foremost in my mind....State governments … can take whatever mitigation measures they like within reason, other than the culling, without needing the federal approval. Now if they were to put a proposal to the federal government I would consider it, but we have to put human safety first.”
So, I don't think shark nets would have the approval problems suggested by the Greens MP. Technically, shark nets are not culling
Who was the genius who came up with the idea to protect white sharks in the first place Before they had a deterrent in place for ocean users,its like bringing back Tyranasaurus Rex and protecting it or opening up Taronga park and let the lions loose...its just bullshit.Now i'm all for a balanced system but this white shark protection plan is going to back fire big time in the near future and you don't have to be very smart to see that those little 2-3 meter sharks now will be 4 meters plus in a few years and breeding like hell so unless they come up with some sort of deterrent for ocean users that works, attacks will become more and more and i suppose all the green muppets will say well its there territory, go in at your own risk....haha why should it be like that.They should bring the nets in that are used in Sydney and the Gold coast and why shouldnt they be used here,certainly be a good test for them.No one wants a shark cull but its all about balance and a lot of these coastal towns have a lot to lose.The Governments should throw a heap of money into developing a proven shark deterrent,stop fuking around with peoples lives and get behind giving people confidence to use the ocean otherwise there will be a lot of coastal towns going broke in the future.
And clowns think that a cull doesn't work? What utter baulderdash! Culling isn't a long term solution? Of course it is. Remove them now and then they aren't here later, cant breed, etc etc. Sheesh, it isn't rocket science.
Noone wants a shark cull? I think Simba you mean all the city living muppets whose idea of real life is rushing from house to café to work to café to work to café to home and repeat.
Discostu I am not necessarily in support of a mass slaughter of these fish and I am not a city living muppet.
Perhaps whether the species is still endangered needs to be investigated. Then and only then should measures of managing the population be determined allowing fisherman to target them would be a start. Blindly culling sharks due to a localised issue would be a hysterical over reaction.
Grey nurse sharks are yet to recover.
It's pretty clear they are no longer endangered and you've got your head firmly planted up your arse if you think they are. The increased sightings and interactions is enough evidence for me. If we wait for someone to do a head count then the problem will worsen as this is will take forever, like anything that is politically sensitive. We need to control their numbers, only option.
Quokka you and I both know thats not how the world works. Now I just had a look at the sharks status and it is "vulnerable".
https://www.environment.gov.au/marine/marine-species/sharks/whiteshark
Going out in a mad Jaws style rush to catch the killer sharks is not right.
Yes but junkie who are the people setting that status, the same "experts" that say they don't know how many there are out there?
I'm not advocating a mad jaws style rush, rather a controlled management of numbers. There are emotions on both sides of this argument but the only people being listened to seem to be the minority. A kid will get taken and then the real emotion will start to kick in. Let it be on all you shark lover's heads.
Quokka I dont disagree with that I don't know who set the status but thats what it is. Regardless of that I do believe only through personal observations and these are mine only that shark numbers have increased.
I know your not but theres some who believe wiping the species back into oblivion is the answer. Sharks are needed for a healthy ocean and the growing population is a product of good fisheries management.
If the population is growing and the species is no longer vulnerable and the status is changed in the Act how can you control the numbers at a particular location considering the sharks are a migratory species?
Now I'm all for allowing fishing for the sharks if the numbers are up but other measures need to be implemented there is not one set answer.
Believe it or not yes I am a shark lover and a surfer it won't be on me if someone gets attacked people know the risks involved in entering their environment as catastrophic as it could be. It doesn't stop me.
Remember I'm not a lobbyist member of any groups just simply engaging in conversation here on a very emotional and divisive topic.
I've always wondered why there is no data or records on numbers of GW's. All the "experts" say it's impossible at this stage to determine their actual numbers. If this is the case; then how was the conclusion reached to classify them as endangered and begin to protect them?
http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/watch-three-metre-great-white-shark-...
He's just waitin for a mate.
Well, it's not following a whale around.
There's a buried whale carcass around that part of 7 mile but.
So this GW can smell a carcass buried up on the beach? Must be a dogfish just like you mate! tehehehehehheh
What am I to conclude from the words "hysterical over reaction" wharfie other than that you don't approve? Why not just say that rather than go for the big meaningless words that you feel have the biggest impact? Sheesh, go sign up with getup of the greens if you haven't already.
Don't approve of what discostu? Blanket culling without any research or regulation so you can feel safe surfing lennox point. Yeah I don't approve of that mate and screaming cull every time theres an attack is hysterical.
If there was evidence that removing a few of the sharks was not going to bring it back to under threat of extinction I would support ways managing the population. When I say evidence I am not talking about conversations overlooking Lennox point either mate.
As for my view on the Great Whites population I believe it is increasing I also have no science to back that up.
Well discostu a gw could smell the oil leaching out thru the sand and the ocean being the lowest point is where it would end up i'm afraid so Lostdoggy is right.Next time you see a photo of a white sharks head ,check out its nostrils,must have really good smell.
Everyones got a theory on what to do about the white shark problem but no one is prepared to do anything except talk bs.A year later and still no action except the failed eco barriers which were doomed from the start,seems to me that the people who count need to stand up and demand something be done and do it quickly otherwise another year will go by and more attacks will happen.
Hydrocarbons migrate hundreds of km through sandstone, shales etc.
no problem decaying whale doing the same through unconsolidated sands and gravels. With water flows to help it along.
When buried in sand and the whale body decomposes the whale bones can still leach oils for many years.
That would be handy IF we needed the sharks close to the coastline. Say to feed them from cages for an expensive thrill in our thriving with Biomass 'marine parks' that totally surround Australia. Annexed at the same time as the Great White strangely enough. Mmm..
Surely we must accept that things may never revert back to the way they were. Humans have significantly fucked with the oceans for some time now, combine that with natural climate/ocean changes. The oceans continue to be a mystery really.
Sure, lets keep trying to reduce the risk, but always keeping things in perspective. Some humans who interact with the ocean will die . Sad but true.....
yawn.....such kerfuffle over such a small number of deaths.
85 more drumlines to be rolled out in NSW : ABC online
The problem has been spiking on and off for 2 decades but steadily rising. The GWRP was created in 1996' then in Sept 2000' 4 young men were killed by Great Whites in 58 days running here in Australia. I think the alarm bells should have been rung then. But on they went without a Duty of Care as reqd by Tort Law. Zero Risk Assessment. Doesn't exist. In that 20 years I count 38 dead with hundreds wounded or completely missing altogether.
Oh well us Humans are a stain we keep getting told.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-02/new-south-wales-deploying-shark-dr...
There ya go udo....anyway it says they tagged and relocated 31 whites.....from what i understand is that they drag them out a k or so and release them....not much of a relocation,swim that in 10 mins
Why is the threat so high here compared to other regions in this country?
Before GWS were listed as vulnerable in the sixties, seventies and eighties was there an issue on this coastline?
Wharfjunkie the issue is all due to the protection of whites and how there numbers have increased because they were pretty much decimated over the years especially when game fishing was big and they used to target big sharks .So the answer to your question is that there weren't many whites around back when surfing really took off thru thru the 70s 80s and 90s and its only now where seeing the off spring coming on since the protection was introduced 16-18 years ago.Another thing is because they were hammered so heavily they would have been scared of boats but that has changed big time thanks to cage diving encouraging them to associate humans and food.We used to spearfish the Evans Head area to Cudgeon area regulary from the late 70s and especially lennox and byron for pretty much 15 years with many shark encounters mainly bullsharks and whalers but only ever saw one white off the julian rocks,and you didnt even think about whites back then.Things have changed though.
Did the bulls ever give you much trouble simba?
Being from Vic we don't have to worry about them here but they have a rep for being aggressive so I hear?
Hi Goofyfoot,Yes at times they can be a real handful and others almost sleepy.Sometimes they would let you know that its their reef so watch yourself and othertimes they couldnt care less,keeping in mind you dont always see sharks its only if they want you to see them.One time and this was my most scarey encounter with a bullshark was we were doing drifts off Blackhead at Ballina and it was 80ft blue viso and east wind so we were just hanging near the tinny as we drifted along.I speared a mackeral and had been for warned by my mate Greg that a bully had been near me and i hadnt seen it last drift so i kept an eye out this time and sure enough as im trying to catch up to the boat cause the wind had picked up and a strong north south current running , in comes old mate 8ft bullshark,big solid bastard he was and so i let my rig cord trail back that was attached to my gun and the mackeral but he wasn't interested in the fish, he wanted me.Lucky i had long flippers on cause he was right on me as i was swimming backwards opening and closing his mouth so i was trying to kick him in the face as he lunged forward trying to bite me.Scared the shit out of me,but lucky i saw it coming.haha anyway im not a fan of bull sharks.
Shame the Grey Nurse hasn't recovered at the same rate.
Fark pretty sketchy situation. I think I may have seen one snorkelling at the bluff in wa but it was a fair distance off so I couldn't be certain it was a bull. Pretty round solid bugger though
Didn't really give that much thought Simba game fishing has been around longer than surfing in this country like you said. So this is unprecedented.
My theory only and i think the white sharks are geared similar to the whales in their breeding as they sort of go hand in hand in a funny sort of way,somethings got to clean up the dead or injured whales and its the sharks esp whites so they need to be here ,we just need a proper deterrent for us.Grey nurse sharks are recovering slowly more than they make out imo but scuba divers dont help encroaching on there habitat all the time.
Sheesh Wharfie, you like to throw in the emotive crap just like every left leaning stooge who watches the ABC and reads Fauxfacts.
This time its "just not right". the status is "vulnerable" meaning what? What garbage you spruik. What is that other load of tosh you wrote? "That's not how the world works" According to who muppet?
Sheesh, what a shit dribbling muppet you are.
Mate I'm not left nor right consider every topic on its merits and form an opinion from that.
So to answer your question whilst the species is listed as vulnerable if you made the effort to look at the link I provided you could have worked it out but I will explain my point further without resorting to attacking the poster as you have just done in typical newscorp Andrew Bolt style.
"The white shark is listed as vulnerable and migratory under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999." This pretty much means until this status is changed a cull would be against the law thats how the world works according to the Australian government champ.
So for the timing to be right the status would need to be changed, the law changed or the authorities choose to break the law and until that happens the time won't be right.
Heres the link previously provided if you would care to read for yourself,
https://www.environment.gov.au/marine/marine-species/sharks/whiteshark
Much love to you Disco from Wharfie the shit dribbling muppet left leaning stooge who watches the ABC and reads Fauxfacts.
Back to hysteria.
very droll Wharfie. Very droll.
Let me know when the last bit of environmentalist nonsense was written with any truth.
But anyway, since you are so enamoured with the "glitterati" given the DPI admit they know eff all about these sharks, why do you now have confidence in "vulnerability"?
The law and status are an ass. That is why people are dying up here or cant go in the water making it all A-OK with you ya muppet.
Where are you anyway Muppet? Sydney perhaps?
Watching smoking Lennox go unridden would be something special. Unseen in this day and age.
The privileged baby boomer lifestylers common to the area seem to not understand surfing is a dangerous and risky activity.
Privileged !
Is there a situation where a buzzword is not appropriate?
Obviously not.
No one more deserving of being eaten by a massive fish than a silver spooner that worked their whole lives so they could afford to retire up the coast eh ?
No one deserves it. Just seems like its these guys making all the noise.
Demanding that somebody does something.
When you go in the ocean you're on your own. Its not a right.
If you want to be safe then swim between the flags
No respect for the locals.
The thing is we are all blowins.
My guess is these bad boys will be around long after we're gone
Idiotic comment.
Maybe some parents who have been surfing for decades, wish to teach their kids to surf and swim, in what may prove to be an uncharted regime for GWS numbers. At least for the last 40years.
So whats the answer tootr? Parents desire to teach their kids recreational pursuits over the existence of an Apex predator that has been in those oceans longer than the country of Australia in it's colonial form.
There needs to be balance between human needs and nature I can't see how killing sharks in this area will solve the problem. Another shark will fill that space as they migrate up and down the east coast.
Discostu is that all you got mate calling me a "muppet" bloody pathetic really.
Never have I declared my thoughts on the numbers of GWS but that wouldn't suit your emotional grandstanding. The status as vulnerable wasn't declared by me whether the research is flawed or not thats its status under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
So the law may be flawed but you have completely missed my point and prefer to hurl insults and make assumptions to suit your argument. If a cull is needed you need to lobby for changes I have previous mentioned.
As for people dying drugs, alcohol and vehicles have a greater impact on human lives than fucking sharks. So the impact on surfers and the surf community sucks and I don't want to see people get attacked at all discostu. But screaming cull cull cull without any clue on how to implement it is not going to happen.
Where I live is irrelevant to the conversation but if you must know Victoria. Now try engaging in a discussion without the need to hurl insults its pathetic.
For anyone sth of Ballina is the shark numbers as severe say from Yamba to Port Macquarie?
A quick interjection: please stop the personal attacks. I'm happy for a robust debate on any topic, pushing any theory - but there's no need to get personal.
re: comments above about whales buried in the sand dunes
I'm sure I posted this on here some time back, last year perhaps, when this shark "attack" frenzy was in vogue then. Old timer fisho's, old school pro fisho's and very active recreational fisho's have confirmed to me, many times over, they used buried whales on beaches as locators hunting sharks "back in the day".
I remember as a grommet, old fisho's yelling at council boffins and standing in front of dozers on the beach to stop them burying a whale on a beach. Council persisted and had Police called to stop the "protests" ... and sure enough, that stretch of beach had numerous shark sightings over the next few years. We stopped surfing that stretch.
Now, is this 'coincidence' ... See this report:
http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/lifestyle/pets-and-wildlife/marine-e...
Yep, whale buried. Which beach?
Yep, same one as this little fella hanging around:
Hmmm.
So, anyone wanna guess what's been spotted near where this fella died?
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/37651386
and, what did they do with it? Yep, buried in the sand dune ...
http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/humpback-whale-washed-up-dead-new-br...
Hmmm.
Best to tow the carcass back out to sea a few km Wingnut? Let the sharks feast on the Whales offshore.
This is what was left of the one that washed ashore on the back beach at Yamba in august 2015.
Begs the question how long was it drifting around out there and how many sharks were attracted to it for a feed.
http://www.dailyexaminer.com.au/news/on-the-nose-beached-whale-decaying-...
Totally disagree with towing dead whales a few k's out to sea.
Why do you disagree with towing dead whales out to sea philosurphizing?
Seems the best thing to do with them to me. Would have to be at least 10km, to get them out into the east australian current, which would be an expensive tow, but gotta be better than burying or just leaving them washing around on the beaches?
I agree that dead whales should be removed from beaches immediately and some sort of use found for the body parts.
They say the east Australian current meanders and eddies as it moves south, therefore a dead whale dumped further out to sea could still end up back on our shoreline.
A possible example of this is that there have been two whales washed up onto the same beach south of Yamba, one in 2009 and the other in 2015.
Maybe the Clarence River flowing into the sea combines with the east Australian current to create an eddy that moves toward the shore a few beaches south.
Another reason for not towing dead whales further out is, in what direction did all the sharks travel after feeding on the dead whale in August 2015.
Maybe one of the them was attracted to the Evans Head river mouth.
http://www.echo.net.au/2015/08/is-evans-river-dredging-attracting-sharks/
Wharfie you are a muppet.
No clue as to how to implement the cull? Baited drumlines and nets obviously.
So, living in Vic you will know there are loads of sharks, but the most likely place for an attack is at a bayside beach. Up here it is a bit different. I grew up surfing down in Vic and walked past plenty of dead seals on the beach back in the day. That seems to be rare thing to see down there these days. Yeah I surf down there every stinking year and have been for nearly 40 years. Strewf Im old.
Different deal up here with regardsharks.Stick to talking about your cafe lattes in Fitzroy or wherever while playing with your hair.
Discostu being nasty only serves to stifle discussion. Yeah it's a passionate discussion, and it's only by allowing such discussions to take place that hopefully we might arrive at a solution to the problem. That solution may well be nets and drum lines, who knows? Please mate don't insult others who have a different opinion to you.
Discostu you are obviously inept at engaging in conversation so you try to attempt to portray me as an inner city latte sipper big deal doesn't bother me.
Why would I have no clue as to how to implement a cull?
As for Vic we still see dead seals on beaches mate it hasn't changed you are wrong there never mind.
Furthermore if you are such an expert you would also know that large numbers of Juvenile Great White sharks are found around Corner Inlet/ Ninety Mile Beach and even Western Port Bay and they must move somewhere.
"Different deal up here with regardsharks." Thanks captain obvious perhaps you should surf up on the GoldCoast if you are so bloody scared.
I had a hair brained idea. I dunno how much drones are worth but surely not much more than a grand? Why not set up a bank of em to hover stationery aalong the coast, say one every 500m, scanning with some kind of radar/lidar or whatever is appropriate.
Get some geek to write some code to make em hover and alert when a single big shape is picked up. Then sound the alarm.
No need to have people controlling every drone, the code runs em all. Just need one or two people on a shift monitoring the scanners like an air traffic controller.
I'm sure it's not workable or someone would have thought of it already but I figured the advantage is you could program a bunch of em to do the watching really cheaply.
Anyway that's all I've got, you can get back to handbags at 20 paces.
Good idea.
Was reading a bit about drone technology and some are programed to return to your feet if you lose sight of it.
So you would think it would be pretty simple to programme each drone to fly over a designated area.
You could also program the drone to respond to any tagged shark that swims into that area.
Drone then flies toward shark, hovers 20 metres above and follows its movement.
Good idea but there may be logistical issues. Drones have a limited range and flight time. They need to return to their controller or base to be recharged or have the battery replaced. You would need bases spread along the coast to minimise the travel time for the drone to reach its designated monitoring spot. And you would need backups to substitute for them while they're returning to base for a battery change.
It may well be a good futuristic option, when surfers have Samsung integrated phones and screens in our boards to receive instant alerts from the monitoring agencies.
"Back to handbags at 20 paces"
Brilliant. Thanks for the laugh!
Surely with all these millions dedicated to helping resolve the problem and prevent further attacks the states can work more closely together. Noted: the qld premier has steped in and offered to increase the coverage of the qld shark mitigation systems in place to northern NSW.
I am sure many readers are familiar with the method of killing a great white bleeding it out and anchoring it in an area where numbers have increased. I have read a few articles stating some studdies have shown this to be effective.
My point is surely i cant be all that expensive with the funding on offer to relocate a qld GW shark that has fallen victim to a drum line (smart or not )? It would seem to me an extremely logical thing to do. Identify a shark that would have minimal chance of survival if tagged and released. Ship the poor bastard down the coast and bleed that beast out just off the north wall!. Ffs from what i have read there should be a notable effect if it works. I mean with drone surveillance(already happening),tagged sharks movements being tracked and every man and his dog on the lookout. The effect on sightings should be almost immediate and effects easily studied....if it works? Even for a short term ...worth the cost if it may end up being as close to a silver bullet solution! I am as green as most, surf and dont want to see them killed more than any other surfer...the point is the are still being killed just north of the boarder just not utilised
Sorry Heffo78.
You obviously haven't received the memo regarding White Pointer sharks being adopted as Australia's equivalent to the Hindu sacred cows.
Not a single Pointer may be harmed.
And that shall cleanse us of our sins such as denuding the Earth of forest , bush and scrub for golf courses, swimming pools, cinemas, race tracks, cycle ways and football fields.
After all these are essential items and the fact that are provided at the expense of animal habitat and lives shall go without comment or question.
Triple J Hack this afternoon.
http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/hack/7886770
Other side of Australia but interesting read.
http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/greg-pickering-says-wa...
What would a life long ab diver from the great southern know about ahhhh.....the waters off the great southern ?
As for fisheries WA, well I've never actually typed this without irony before,but here goes - LOL.
Strewfff there are some A-grade toiletheads on here. These imbeciles that like to profess or allude to their intrinsic "green-ness". Its pathetic.
If you DO believe in your green-ness, get off the roads,sell your cars, don't turn the air con on at home, trow away your chinese made clothes and stop drinking coffee and wine from overseas.
If you don't do that, then you are just a wanne-be pretender.
Lets get back to the business at hand - sharks in NNSW. Kill them. As many as possible. I don't give two shits for the life of a shark. Humans first, dogs next, Green humans third, then sharks.
When someone like Greg Pickering has something to say, it's worth listening.
discostu - " Strewfff there are some A-grade toiletheads on here."
That's the spirit. Keep surfing disco, never know your luck.......
I have no idea what WA fisheries have been doing but I do know that scientists consider the expertise of fishers to be pretty valuable. But there's a few reasons why they might not engage with them.
First, they might not have funding to do so. I know the perception is that boffins sit in ivory towers and pontificate and do nothing more but there's actually bugger all money to fund decent research and engaging with experts to elicit their knowledge takes a lot of time to do properly. I can say that for sure because I have recently been doing it with farmers to ascertain what they know about their farming system before the research process starts. It takes a lot of effort on the part of everyone to do properly (and by properly I mean getting through the layers of perception bias etc). There might not be the cash to do that in this case.
Second, I've done a little bit of work with fisheries over the years and it's generally understood that fishers aren't willing to share too much information that is commercially valuable to them. I'm not having a go here, and Greg Pickering might be willing to share, but telling people working for the government, particularly those paid by the enforcement agency, where you fish and when and what you see there, isn't necessarily a high priority for commercial fishers. The kind of information that would be useful for scientific research would be where were you exactly, when were you there, how often do you go there and what did you see. I can't imagine a skipper (or an ab diver) being particularly keen to reveal that kind of information given its commercial value. I'm not talking about revealing catch data but you'd be revealing your fishing patterns, which is extremely valuable information.
So it's not always completely straightforward. But it has to be said, I have absolutely no idea what's going on in WA and what kind of relationship WA fisheries has with the commercial fishing community. Just wanting to to highlight that it's not always easy for the scientists to engage with the outside experts even if they want to. And quite often they do want to!
So what you are saying is bentski is that you guys DONT do research. You merely depend on others to have done the research for you and then make out like YOU did the research.
I wouldn't tell you anything either, and most certainly wouldn't taxpayer fund you to sit around making a compendium of other people's stories. Is it little wonder no one thinks highly of so called scientits ( spelling mistake intended)
Why not go and do some REAL research of your own instead of relying on others as you have just said that you do?
And what do you do for a crust discostu?
Strewfff there are some A-grade toiletheads on here. These imbeciles that like to profess or allude that no one thinks highly of so called scientits ( spelling mistake intended). Its pathetic.
If you DO believe no one thinks highly of so called scientits, get off the roads, sell your cars, don't turn the air con on at home, throw away your computer and phone, never visit a doctor or dentist, never take any medication or have surgery, and yeah, your surfboard....yeah, that's science too, chuck it out now.
If you don't do that, then you are just a wanne-be pretender, aren't you stu?
Chook they also invented war, plastic, pollution, coal power, mining,nuclear, chemicals ..
A 4mtr GWS at Sharpes bch going by the pic its big.
Seems like the big girl comes back for summer and we get the juvies all year.
Is this a tagged one i wonder ...one pinged off Ballina at 7am today ?