Another Shark Attack in South Australia
A local Elliston surfer has survived a significant shark attack today on South Australia's West Coast.
It's only just been over a week since young surfer Khai Cowley was tragically taken at Ethel Wreck on the Yorke Peninsula, and the sixth attack in just over six months for the state, two others being fatal.
Sign erected to warn ocean goers (Troy Outtram)
The attack occurred around two hundred metres offshore, with the surfer suffering a large bite to the arse.
Miraculously he made his own way in and up the cliffs only to brush it off and declining an ambulance.
More to come..
Bite marks imprinted on the surfer's board (Troy Outtram)
Comments
holy!!!! he's a lucky fella
One heck of a big chomp mark.
Ooooah they get bigger,much much bigga
Firkkkkkkk, very lucky fella
I’m thinking it’s time to get Marlene Brando and his 11’0 gang hooks back in the case
Looks like Blacks
Yes
Heavy, glad they’re ok
Very lucky, apparently also drove himself to hospital!
Yes but did he pull into the nearest pub for a beer on the way to hospital.
Nah, just went drive through, grabbed a sixy so he’d have a couple in the car, albeit slightly warm, for the drive home.
Time for some QLD style tough love? https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-09/queensland-shark-drumlines-sharkn...
Not here mate
Time for a wave pool in SA.
That's goin straight to the pool room!
Hefty bite out of that board- lucky he didn't get an artery severed.
Close call indeed.
Glad to hear a safe ending to that one. I live in S.A. and just booked a week at URBN . Melbourne . The first reason was consistent waves and no sharks ! At 68 i don't have to deal with egos in the water just take your turn. We need a wave pool at West Beach S.A.
sounds like full steam ahead for west beach but I've also heard it may be Aldinga.
yes please and soon
wow lucky fella..........his bum must have copped it.....
yeah its time for “thinning out” everyones had enough
Good to see the leg rope safely wrapped up the last thing you want to do while walking back to the car to drive yourself to hospital with a shark bitten arse is trip over and skin ya knee !
Or ding ya board! Glad he’s ok though.
Comment of the year!
Seems like a recurring headline every couple of weeks this summer. Heavy.
Looking at different news sources, one pic on the Guardian website looks like Locks Well was maybe the location?
ABC quoted Swellnet as their source. SN, Australias leading news website!
Hope all goes smooth for the fella that was hit and a speedy recovery.
Read an article that specifically said Blacks.
• local Elliston surfer
• surfing Blacks
• aged 65
• drove himself to hospital
Did he start doing delux pushups while he waited for the helicopter?
The Bourne Supremacy.
Ha! He clenched his arse cheek and broke the sharks jaw with his big raw boned, amasing, deluxe caboose.
In all seriousness though, that man is a very lucky fellow.
Haha! Survivor is a legend at any rate.... very cool headed.
And, climbed up the cliff! Anyone who's been there knows that is no easy feat even without being mauled first! I know that would definitely put me off surfing there for a while even without all the other factors that scare the shit out of me about the place!
Shark would have had a second go but was shamed for not having enough muscle mass and cheating on squats day…/
Coffee out the nose for that one Shoredump!
I was almost going to say last week that after all the recent attacks in SA, the odds/chances of another one happening so soon would be next to zero.
Begs the question though, to me at least, if one shark might be responsible for more than one attack. I'm not suggesting a single shark is responsible for all the attacks or anything like that, just a thought.
I reckon clusters and the rogue shark theory are now officially a thing
I reckon something has learned something and developed a habit
Ptey familiarity is directly correlated with predation likelihood
This is a well established behavioural pattern from insects to mammals.
At least a couple of GWs in SA are now higher up the familiarity curve than a year ago.
The only practical implication of this is that there is merit in culling a shark that has attacked someone if it hangs around for a bit which is sometimes the case.
But not a wider solution with much overall impact on risks.
velocityjohnnoTUESDAY, 9 JAN 2024 at 8:50PM
I reckon something has learned something and developed a habit
Whiteshark 2011 :
What I can also tell you about these creatures is,they store information in their brain on areas that have been kind to them and as a result the same shark will return to a hunting ground on a seasonal basis.In fact,we tagged a whiteshark at the Neptunes back in 2000 and it stuck around the from early Sep- Nov that year and then disappeared off our listening station register.The same shark turned up the following year within a day to the same location and did so for the next two years before we lost track of it.In its first year,it swam through Victorian waters calling in at each of the seal colonies on its way to way the area off Rokhampton..They store information of areas that have been kind to them,a blueprint if you like and their hunting strategy varies according to the prey they are chasing.When it is fish and rays,they tend to operate on the bottom,seals and other mammals,mid to upper levels of the water column...Plus they are daytime feeders when preying on seals.
Time to let the fishos loose
jaws/mad max/reality doco series: 'jeff schmucker: license to cull'
As I stated before, if schmuck killed the thing then u know! 1 stupid big fish dead who cares! Now we have multiple shit going on and no one will ever know if it could have saved a life the other week. Let alone this
IMAGINE is this spate of attacks will not just be a cluster! But the norm! Hard to imagine I know... I ain't encouraging my kids to surf here. Fishing is good for them, meanwhile old boy will keep surfing selfishly I suppose
Gluteus Maximus !!!!!… drove himself to the hospital… legend. Imagine the paddle back across that water and the the walk/climb back to the car after that. Fark.
The cluster thing is interesting.
SA had a bad run in the early 00's but then it went quiet for 20 or so years.
The action moved to Western Australia, then Ballina and surrounds, and now back to SA.
Hopefully this is the end of it for a while.
The SA attacks in early 00 were during El nino apparently , same when the ab diver that got taken near granites years before
Just an observation
Lucky bloke , get well
Ab Diver - 1974 ?
Thought it was 73? There goes the el nino
https://sharkattackfile.net/spreadsheets/pdf_directory/1974.01.09-Manuel...
https://sharkjawcleaning.com/white-shark-jaw-implicated-in-the-death-of-...
Baited Lines on 44s Set
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/270074114
If you look at the first graphic from this article.... https://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-analysis/2024/01/04/la-nina-hidin... ......it clearly shows cold upwelling along the South Australian coast. I wonder if these events tie in with clusters of Whites as they follow their food sources. I'd be interested to know when the other parts of the country had their spate of attacks whether there were any unusual cool water currents going on.
Yeah, there are currently studies looking into the possible links between upwelling and attacks.
In Ballina though plenty have been clear, warm water.
No links between El Niño, coldwater and white shark attacks that I can see.
Tadashi was attacked in Feb (seasonal SST maxima), as was Sam Edwardes. Warm Bluewater on both occasions.
Attacks have clustered in El Niño years and La Niña years.
White sharks have very high tolerances for differing temperature ranges- from tropical to cool temperate.
do we know whether they travel from place to place in warm currents then hang in cooler currents or vice versa,
the snapper attack has me intrigued
That one a Cooly at couple of years ago surprised me although it was in September and the water is rather cool compared to the rest of the year. I don't know how many times I've sat out there thinking it's crowded but at least there's only bull sharks.
That year, 2020, La Niña, we saw Rob Pedretti fatally attacked in June (Kingscliff), Mani Hart-Deville in July (Wilsons) and Nick Slater in Sep (Greenmount).
2021 (also La Niña) Mark Sanguinetti was taken in May at Tuncurry and Timothy Thompson in Sep at Coffs.
Winter/spring = westerlies/northerlies = upwelling (east coast)
Summer = SE'lies = upwelling (SA coasts)
Not saying that's why, just plausible, more food close to shore
Not really.
ok, care to explain why? check out the huge berley trail from SE SA in the satellite image above. Follow your nose straight to shore with the tuna, where the seals are feasting and the ab and cray divers are scooping up the goods.
I mean it's not something that has much explanatory power.
White shark attacks have happened across the East coast with no upwellings.
They've happened in warm water, cool water and water in between.
We need to accept white sharks are one of the great generalist predators and can survive on multiple food sources.
eg, when the fatal attack on Tadashi happened in Feb (big white, he had his legs bitten off) what was that shark eating?
Turns out they are happy eating stingrays (which are abundant in summer).
They can eat all manner of fish species as juveniles/sub adults including salmon, snapper, etc etc.
Sub adults can eat all those plus stingrays and dolphins.
Adults transition to seals, and scavenge humpbacks.
They have a very wide ranging, varied diet.
That not to say the current upwelling isn't a factor (it may well be)- just that it can't be applied across the board as a factor.
Sorry my reply sounded so curt.
yeah, I get that there's probably nothing conclusive but the east coast ones you mentioned above were all winter/spring when upwelling is common, and in SA most breaks where attacks have occurred on surfers are surfed when upwelling is likely too (hardly anyone surfs onshore days). An enthusiastic person could look up the conditions for each day I guess.
I met an old fisho in your neck of the woods recently who swore that the fishing's no good when it's southerly, makes sense to me. Fingers crossed we never get enough data though!
Upwelling is not common in winter here- in fact it's incredibly rare.
Plus the attacks I mentioned in Feb when water temps are at maximum.
Most of our upwellings are in late Spring/early Summer.
There were no upwellings for the attacks in 2020 (June, July and Sep)
I've caught heaps of fish in S'lies here- S'lies fish heaps better than N'lies.
ok, love your work but that is not exactly science or stats, neither was anything I said, just a theory based on my own look at it. Your original post said nothing about Feb attacks either btw.
In your defence, I would also add that what I said about hardly anyone surfing in SA when it's onshore and upwelling free also adds no science or stats to support my incredulous theory, i.e. no one surfing = no shark attacks. So back to the drawing board and I hope the buggers leave us alone for a while!
oh, one more thing, the fishing in SA is way better any way the wind blows! :-)
Ha, take that Steve. Little rib tickler.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-02/ocean-upwelling-brings-deep-sea-v...
freeride anything unusual with the water ocean temps in august of that year2020 off the n/nsw ,se/qld coast?, Could moon phases play a part in their feeding patterns??. I noticed the winter solstice was in late June 2020, obviously no relevance to September but maybe full/ new moon patterns.
Albatross boards, indestructible. Anyone who has climbed that cliff before will know how hard it is after a surf yet alone after being attacked by a pointer. Different breed...
.....'with the surfer suffering a large bite to the arse'.
Now that's writing that doesn't fluff around with metaphors & similies.
The last time I heard that remark was Waxa being somewhat surprised by his opponent after winning a round of snooker at the Mars Bar in the late 1990's.
He must drink rapid set in between surfs
It looks like a relatively small jaw based on the two rail dents, thought only the big units went for people.
Definitely not minimising the severity, would be absolutely terrifying for that to happen.
I don't know, looks fairly big to me.
I'm no expert, just imagined their mouth would be wider.
Looked at a bite mark from a board where a surfer was killed in the States, and it was a similar size, so you're probably right.
Heaps of Attacks have been from 1.8 -2.4 mt GWS.
Time for a cull ?
#shouldhavelistenedtohislop
Was a Bloke mid 1970s got attacked at Kingscliff and did the Solo drive to Hospital in his Panel Van
Tracks may have had the Story ?
unconfirmed source claims it was a Bronze Whaler.
Cool.Start with culling them. Probably outnumber Pointers 5-1
When was the last fatal shark attack in Victoria? Seem to be relatively shark free compared with the other states.
1987 I think.
Would love to understand why. It's not like they're not around. Big seal colony near where I often surf and it freaks me out.
Does Vic predominantly have an adult population?
If so, maybe they are accomplished hunters by that point and know where to get a highly nutritious feed from - I.e. Seal Rocks. The 2014 Melway notes that it's "thought to be the largest colony in Australia"??
They can always pop around the corner for a Penguin entree as well.
Accordingly to the Dorsal app, a 4m white was hanging out with a boat around seal rocks today.
Was at Seal Rocks today. A shark cruised along the beach in the near shore zone. Looked like a juvenile white by its behavior. Watched two young girls run towards it while in the water. They got within a couple of metres of it. When I yelled to get out of the water they laughed and said that they knew it was there. (Shark did not speed up, change tack or flinch)
Then got barked at by a Dutch lady sitting on the beach that it was a grey nurse..
(did not look a grey nurse)
Baffling to see such disdain and lack of respect to a shark in the water. Makes you wonder how many people out there have drank the cool aid on sharks being misunderstood.
Are we talking the same Seal Rocks? - I was referring to Phillip Island.
.
It’s bizarre hey.
A biggish one had a go at the chef at Cathedral some time ago, but he luckily got away.
And a Huge one had a go at the Pt Campbell Duck
An Extended Stalking ...He WiZzed it away
Maybe the other way around when he phoned his fish supplier from Apollo Bay - Flake steaks on the menu tonight!
It didn't feel sharky anywhere I surfed in Victoria, from the east to the west, although Portland way it felt a bit more sharky than towards the east.
Where I've surfed that have had attacks, like the MNC is chokkas with marine life, dolphins, turtles, fish, etc but in Victoria I don't really remember seeing much sea life.
That is it, all been fished out. When I was a young tacker I remember even benign places like Somers had heaps of sea life now nada. WP is done and the Ocean breaks have no creeks running into them so low nutrient = few fish. Hands up who has seen a decent fish on the west coast, I never have it is always too murky when there is surf. Talking to fisherman who use Portland as a base they all go to west to South OZ to get fish. The most fish I have ever seen has to be Lord Howe Island.
Saw someone take in 4 big salmon off the end of the Apollo Bay breakwater last week. Never seen that before!
I’ve see a seal pop up with a big fish in its mouth at a pretty busy surf coast reef, a whale about 50m from the take off at the same reef and orcas fishing the rip just to name a few things.
Regularly see salmon and other things at the local beachie.
Yeah plenty of seals and dolphins just not the density of fish you see near a river outlet (Pamula/meribula river mouths). I did some snorkelling years ago in that area and it blew me away the amount of fish and variety there is in the water there.
Coming from SA and being a city based Vic surfer for the last 15 years, there’s definitely a lot less visible sea life here than SA.
Pods of dolphins very common in SA and a few seals.
I can think of one spot down towards Cape Otway where there’s a seal colony but dolphins seem to be very rare here.
Spotted a decent sized sting ray at 13th the other day which surprised me.
Yeah plenty of big Salomon and whales all winter and sometimes orcas very close to shore and dolphins often also big schools of fish not so far from shore on the shipwreck coast.
ooowooo. The nips are getting bigger
Another encounter today in Marion Bay, YP. Lady I know out on her kayak in shallow water when a two-metre GW became a little 'too' interested in her. She's slightly traumatised, but otherwise fine. It didn't bump or attack but gave her a cold stare.
Well they are poikilotherms and don't have eyelids (nictitating membranes notwithstanding). What was she expecting? A nod and a wink?
Talking about factors there was a time WA hadnt had an attack in water over 20 degrees but think that got blown out of the water now I believe there has been an attack every month of the year.
Definitely the chances increase when food sources are present and the whites switch on particularly juveniles IMHO.
Lucky bloke would love to know the chain of events wondering if something spooked the white or maybe got hold of too much surfboard?
Ken oath lucky, see how far in its pushed the rails.
Maybe the snapper ban has added more food, hence the increase of sharks.
?
A 4m white down south here a few weeks back , cruising past the lineups up and down from knights to dump , spotted a number of times …
Where’d you hear that?
I’m just back in Vic from SA and surfed that stretch a lot (mainly solo) the last couple of weeks.
Local school teacher.
Chad Fleming, principal of Elliston Area School, described Mr Adams as a much-loved member of staff.
“The kids love him,” he said.
Mr Fleming said it was a shock getting a call on Tuesday afternoon informing him of the attack less than a year after fellow teacher at the school Simon Baccanello, 46, was killed by a shark at Walkers Rock beach.
It’s unfortunate it’s another staff member but we’re fortunate with the outcome this time,” he said.
“Whenever there’s an attack it impacts the community deeply.
“We’re very happy that he’s making a recovery.”
The local principal said he’s been in communication with Mr Adams who was “joking around” and said he was in a “jovial state”.
Two teachers, same school, same year. Freaky.
He sounds like a bit of a character.
Any teachers that surf want to fill in for Mr Adams while he recovers from surgery?
I mean, what are the odds, right?
Maybe they should ban chalkies from surfing in South Oz?
article on correlation does not imply causation? Lotsa understandably juju theories about weather cycles, upwelling, fish migration, temps..
a bit like when protected big cats grew in numbers, and experts started talking moon cycles, habitat, etc, local villagers just have a 'if it eats us we get it' with any inevitable rogues, just to mitigate.
https://apple.news/ArzYXJXuZSJ6-_gkg_-Hkug
Sharks learn... like most animals. Used to spearfish where they did Tiger shark dives in South Africa and when that motor's prop stopped, they were there, same happens with fisho's... even the kayak fisho's were getting buzzed more ofetn. You can't tell me cage diving doesn't teach these fish anything.
Ha, did I just see Camel chatting about this on SA 10 news? He doing interviews now?
He He just saw it on Facey...and the Mayor got Slammed from underneath a few yrs back on one of Camels old Boards...
https://www.trackingsharks.com/andrew-monkey-mcleod-thrown-air-great-white/
Yeah I'm up for interview, off camera preferably but don't mind spoken audio,
Hey you'll need to play on double speed to normalise the slow words
classic ; ) (at 45:20 for those w/out facebook: https://10play.com.au/news/adelaide)
The “experts “keep the dawn and dusk thing going but I’m pretty sure most of the attacks seem to be occurring through mid morning,early afternoon.
Congratulations to Murray , for surviving this terrifying incident being eaten. Too tough & old no doubt !
We have been copping a beating from Whites. SA is 100% in need of a wave pool and Urban would be making there best business move. SA has the worst luck we have the best swell in Australia that is blocked by KI ( full of whites) so the Mid coast cops fark all. Yorkes and West coast have world class reefs and beaches (infested with Whites). SE winds are killing us currently as there has been onshore winds for months now. If i was running Urban my number 1 target would be SA. Interesting as we have herd that Yappoon (surflakes)wave pool owners are looking here also and Urban and Surf lakes have had surveyors looking at proposed spots. Better research into shark deterrents that work on "Whites" not some reef shark or bull sharks actual whites needs to be tested. Ones humans could wear and ones that could be attached to a buoy put out at say spots like blacks that put out a frequency that keeps white sharks out of that zone.
Um,excuse me? The research has been done, they've been out for years, but no-one uses them, im guessing because : A. They think if it doesnt deter a Pointer attack 100% of the time,theyre a waste of money. B: theyre worried locals will abuse them for "Actually attracting sharks" and C : in the long run it might contribute to increasing crowds in sharky areas( MidNorth coast, SA etc)
Urbnsurf maybe but SurfLakes is as good as Finito.
Yes for sure spot on with that assessment. Come on UrbnSurf get it done
The way things are going they'll have built one in every capital city soon enough.
If you were a local at Elliston or any of west coast SA spots you'd have at least consider getting a shark shield installed on your board, $ i know. I heard WA government subsidizes their surfers SS. Might be time for Mali to do the same.
Where can you get one installed ? Is this really a thing ? Sounds so easy.....
https://www.bing.com/shop/productpage?q=Shark+Shield+Freedom%2b+Surf+Sho...(Bundle)&filters=scenario%3a%2217%22+gType%3a%2212%22+gId%3a%22179288271923%22+gGlobalOfferIds%3a%22179288271923%22+ProductPageKeyAppender%3a%22serpshopans%22&productpage=true&pdppageoverlay=true&bgscenario=l2&originQuery=shark+shield&overlayOfferIds=161533235372%2c179288271230%2c57288565945%2c134043137064%2c99648815344%2c179288269508%2c179288271923%2c126918405561%2c138317143621%2c133931802657&overlayId=179288271923&FORM=SSAPC1
pricey $600
The poor shark needs a hug. Seriously, there's a market for fins and fertilizer being denied by eco wimps who value the supposed natural balance over the lives of innocent recreational ocean users.
This 17yo "eco wimp" lost her leg & still think sharks need protection from human exploitation$.
A guys trouser belt as a tourniquet saved her life
Need to befriend an Orca and have them swim around whilst you surf sharky spots. Only things I know of that Whites are shit scared of.
Just waiting for West Oz's turn again...it's been a bit too quiet over here for too long.
Different kind of shark attack. Dozens of wobbegongs wiped out in SA's SE:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-11/fish-kill-south-australia-pirsa-s...
https://www.msn.com/en-au/video/watch/calls-for-action-after-string-of-s...
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/calls-for-south-australia-gover...
This post just got put up on West Coast SA Shark Alert on facebook...Great initiative in my opinion from Brinkley and some damn valuable facts and insights. Link at bottom.
News Feed posts
West Coast S.A SHARK ALERT ·
"Hey all,
Im been doing my best to speak to my contacts in the shark community, science community the last few days, to find out what I can, so that I can pass it on to the Surfing Community both on WC and everywhere else in South Aus, and its been both devastating and worrying what has been going on.
My family and friends all are surfers from South Aus, along with myself, although I moved to WA some time ago. As a surfer, and have worked in the shark field a-lot over the last decade, I want to share what I have found out so far, so that everyone can be aware of what is known and not known, about the current cluster of attacks, and take it into account when deciding surf at the moment.
After speaking to community, scientists and operators, it is an elevated calculated risk, right now, to surf in South Australia with the amount of sharks seen at the moment. There is not a single solution available, just the knowledge that this increased risk will most likely be temporary, and surfing is a greater risk, as much as we all don’t want to hear that, it is important to be aware of.
Some points to note -
There is weather events that are happening which have not been seen before, following years of La Nina and it has many scientists baffled in geological field, oceanography field and the wildlife field, which is meaning huge changes in migratory patterns of not only fish, but whales, and of course predators, including sharks.
South of the EP saw colder water temperatures in Nov / Dec than in June/ July, cold flushes hitting the bight, and the WC, and southern YP/ KI in a time that is not usually recorded, with nutrients and then other trophic levels in the food chain following, including predators.
50,000 Juvenile Snapper were released into the Northern Spencer Gulf, to boost depleted stocks this summer.
Scientists and shark alert systems have seen bumper number of sharks in the last few weeks all over SA, this could be due to all above factors, and doesn’t necessary determine population size, but determines increased presence. 3 years ago, was the lowest amount of GWS on record ever sighted at Neptune Islands.
GWS have been shown to not operate like other shark species, they do not respond consistently and regularly like other shark species to stimuli, they operate in a way that is entirely not regular, not consistent, which is a trait that supports their stealth like presence in the food chain as a surprise predator. This has made studying them globally one of the hardest shark species to gain data, especially shark attack data from, the consistency is not there from singular sharks. GWS have for a long time in SA had shown interest in and had access to commercial fishing operations, rec fishing operations who both can be attractive to GWS, and of course are renown for their presence at Neptune Islands, although it heavily fluctuates. The Orcas Predation a few years ago, being one of the most historic, and heavily suggesting that the presence of Orca, does act as a warning to GWS in the area. Orca will kill GWS, but there is not one recorded attack on humans ever in the wild by Orca. ( only in captivity )
The known challenges at hand for solutions -
There is a massive gap between science, and the general public, which I have always been a aware of, there is a strong need for an alert system, similar to a code orange, code red or code green, which sees beaches put under these codes based on Shark Presence like in South Africa. South Australia is one of the only coasts in Aus, known for surf, that doesn’t have any kind of alert system at gov level. There is certainly lost of data been collected that could be valuable to this, but it is not available to the public, nor has it been published to my knowledge. This would be useful.
Using Tag Alert Beacons sees challenges in that we may tag 100 sharks, but the likelihood of those tagged sharks coming back to the same beaches is low, so the effectiveness may also be low, although it may be better than nothing, scientists would need millions of dollars ( and gov support to do this )
Shark Deterrents such as Shark Shield, while there is still scepticism in the surf community, has been proven to work to deter whites in the science and diving community, and I do hope these are used more and more, along with the Shark Eyes system. These are readily used in the dive community, and trusted.
Culling has been proven time and time again to be not only ineffective, but just delaying the attacks to someone in a year or two years. Taking an Apex predator out, means another one moving in, in this case a GWS will replace a GWS. Disrupting the trophic levels in this way is a backward and out-proven solution.
A code system would be the most affective for the SA coast, but the challenges are getting Gov support to make this happen.
Drones are a useful tool to do scans of dive spots, surf breaks, and beaches, if you have a drone, this could be a way to do a quick scan before paddling out in this time with no other solutions. It is worth a shot, particularly in bays where it is sand bottom.
I hope this helps some people, again, not my opinion, just passing on what I have found out.
Many of your are on the water everyday, and know so much, please continue to talk about solutions, share what you know, so that it can be prioritised state wide for the safety of everyone.
Stay Safe everyone."
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1381984535383291/permalink/3598931137021...
Good post, Southern Raw (and Brinkley)
Yeah nice post but she's wrong about the colder water in summer, it's quite common with the upwelling systems off the South East, KI and the lower Eyre Peninsula.
Good point Craig, backed up by your article on SA from yesterday.
I'm wondering if this year is above average in so far as SE blow intensity and duration?
Also, something that should be thrown into the big mixing pot of larger ocean dynamics is that the Orcas return to Bremer Canyon, some 70km offshore from Bremer Bay every January.
It's widely acknowledged that the SA Pointers head West and up to Exmouth each year. Not sure where that fits into the equation but been seeing alot of posts of the Orcas in action off Bremer this year and it seems particularly active. Whether that's affecting things....probably not, but something to throw in the mix.
Off topic but I saw your little airport departure message yesterday hahaha. Well played. Stored that away for a while.
;-)
Very good post by Brinkley. One thing I found hard to understand was that saying in one part "they operate in a way that is entirely irregular, they are very inconsistent." And "the likelihood of a tagged shark coming back to the same beach is low." Then later on saying "if you take an apex predator out then another one will move in, in this case GWS will replace GWS."
I don't understand, so they are totally irregular, inconsistent with their movements ect. But if you kill one another one will replace it on its totally inconsistent journey?
she's right about the high risk, sightings are regular atm
Do you reckon it's well beyond normal Clam? Sounds pretty nuts there at moment.
I've been told by a reputable source there was 23 gw sharks in one day at Neptune Islands, a few days ago. My imagination went @#*&%+ has affected the surfing vibe for most. the shark followed Murray into shore so its maybe hungry for more as it didn't eat Murray
Calypso Star put there daily Shark numbers up
https://sharkcagediving.com.au/
Full History
https://sharkcagediving.com.au/sites/sharkcagediving/media/pdf/SIGHTINGS...
Looks like 23 in one day is incorrect?
Cage Dive - Allowed to use Berley...
23!! Holy moly! That's nuts. Yeah fair reason to be edgy Clam. Not sure if those howling SE's are butchering the waves around your way...probably a few obvious spots that can handle it on the loop...but stay safe there mate. Get those shark eyes on your board at the very least i reckon.
Has she deleted it now? Can't find it.
Yep, seems like it.
Says content unavailable.
@craig, it seems FB deleted it. Which is quite bizarre...from her insta acc..
'it appears to have been removed which is dissapointing as it was getting a lot of great discussions. One of the admins is going to try find out why it was removed, seems strange.'
I'm pretty sure Zuck doesn't give two shits...so who's pulling the strings to remove this post and why? Pretty bloody concerning considering peoples lives are at risk.
Fb or instagram doesn't delete posts
The person that deleted is the same person who posted it obviously.
When my instagram account was hacked I reported it 50 times and nothing , no response, nothing never. There's nobody monitoring, its delusional to think Zuckerberg or his employees do anything !
Map of a young GWS; travelled 40,000km across east & west Oz coasts in 3 years
interesting bbbird, traces the 'great southern reef', lingering in biodiverse hotspots - hectic distances!
Hows the change of course beeline straight back to the Neptunes on it's last run West from Tassie.
"Of course Mr. Jervis was aware shark were in the area. As owner of two surf shops he said surfers and fishermen had recently seen a lot of sharks in the area."
He added “Yeah, personally I get pretty tired of hearing hippies telling us that we shouldn’t kills sharks,”
“Well one just tried to kill my friend.”
"Monkey was shaken by the incident, but when asked if he would stop surfing he said “Nah, I’ll be back out there for sure, but maybe not at that spot again.”
https://www.trackingsharks.com/andrew-monkey-mcleod-thrown-air-great-white/
Greetings fellow surfers.
I'm no shark expert but have spent 13 years surfing the South Australian Desert between 1975 to 1988.
I have surfed all the locations from York Peninsular, Blacks at Elliston, all around Streaky Bay and Cactus.
I've had to paddle in twice due to the threat of sharks.
In my first 2 trips to Cactus in 1975 and 1977/1978, there were shark attacks.
On both occasions professional fishermen arrived within the next day to catch the sharks, which they did.
The shark that bit the young boy's leg off at Pt Sinclair, around the corner from Cactus (in 1975) was caught and gutted revealing the young boy's leg still undigested.
The right shark was caught.
Then in the summer of 1977/1978 when Phil from Western Australia, later nick-named "sharkbait", was attacked, again the fishermen caught the shark in the next day or two. Phils surfboard was placed on the shark's jaw and the teeth marks were a perfect fit. It was without a doubt the right shark.
Now I'm not into a shark cull but, by what I've seen, there's merit in allowing professional fishermen to try to catch the attacking shark as close as practical to the time of attack. By what I've read, sharks which have fed, usually stay in the area for a while.
Surfing the South Australian desert was scary back then but it's definitely much scarier now. And not just for surfers. Swimmers, divers, even someone water skiing years ago. And it's not just in South Australia is it.
In closing, udo mentioned the Ab Diver in 1974.
I've had a drink or two with John Talbot in the Streaky Bay Hotel in the early 1980s. He was the deck-hand for that Ab Diver. He told me, and I'II quote, " I grabbed my mate by the arms and pulled him into the boat and from the waist down was gone, bitten off".
Not sure if they still do it, but WA had a policy of killing the presumed responsible shark shortly after an attack :
"He said fisheries staff were searching for a great white of the right size in the area, and any shark that fitted that description would be killed."
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/dec/30/west-australian-s...
Interesting.
I can't find anything to say they've abandoned their 'Serious Threat Policy' when it comes to certain species of sharks after an attack.
I'm assuming Fisheries still have the power to enact it but are extremely reluctant to do so because of public backlash.
was it the Barnett gov? I think i vaguely remember hearing at one point it was going to be scrapped.
I remember there being huge protests on the East coast about the measures being taken by the WA gov....and then the East Coast cluster of 2015/16 began....and it went eerily quiet on the protest front.
I'm not pro indiscriminate cull, but this approach has some logical merits.
This is the most recent thing i could find. Going by this article, it seems that aggressive sharks can still be killed straight after an attack. I could be wrong, but can't find any update beyond that.
I do recall them doing it in Esperance after an attack down there...seeing two pointers in the back of a truck Perth bound.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-01/wa-catch-and-kill-policy-dropped-...
Yeah, not sure either. I failed to find anything more after a broader search.
Will be interesting to see if the proposals from some of the S.A Mayors have any legs.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-13/elliston-mayor-wants-targeted-app...
There's some names that stick with you forever and Jays is one.
Was actually just around the corner at Betty Bay freediving in 10m of water when this happened.
Under WA’s serious threat policy, the Department of Fisheries is authorised to kill any shark deemed to be a “serious threat”. It authorises the culling of any great white, tiger or bull shark that is more than three metres long and either believed to have been responsible for an attack, or reported several times in the same area less than one nautical mile offshore.
This month (Dec 2014), the government revealed it had used radio location pings from scientific tags to identify a shark as a serious threat and approve its destruction. However that shark avoided capture.
The set lines are being used in place of drumlines, contrary to previous reports. Dec 2014
Natalie Banks, the chairwoman of the group No WA Shark Cull, told Guardian Australia the department’s actions were akin to going down to the park after a dog attack and “shooting any dog that looks dangerous”.
“Somehow the government believes that if we kill a shark the public may feel safer, but it’s a false sense of security,” she said. “I don’t know of any other state or country that believes in the revenge killing of sharks.”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/dec/30/west-australian-s...
They never caught that shark will all the Govt resources & policy available
Thank you for sharing beno. Great post
We know the risks Having Surfed granites ..and numerous times surfing castles on my own, never understood why, better wave than cactus bit more paddling l guess {does gets spooky in the evening after a wide one} yeah l am a bit more on edge than surfing in vicco, but most surfers understand better than most, we are just part of the food chain once we enter the water, we used to be on land a long time ago which we forget.. .. when l hear the word cull, l think are we really that important that we have the right to yet again impose our will on nature, which is probably the whole reason for this.. poetry is the truth, no one likes poetry.
I too have spent a lot of time out there, especially Cactus, living there for months at a time on and off. I still shudder every time I think of the one time I paddled out to supertubes on my own from caves. It’s a fair paddle but it looked so good that day. Never saw anybody surf it before or since, but I know I’m not the only one. Outside castles only a couple of times, but never since sharky got hit.
I used to work with a guy who did the shark cage trip with his parents last year. I asked him if they burley, he said not with blood, and the crew told him that they aren’t allowed to burley. What they did do however, is use salmon on a rope thrown out and dragged toward the cage to bring the sharks in close. He said the salmon got taken off the rope probably five times during the day and that they weren’t overly cautious not to let that happen.
But as you pointed out Chris T, sharks were a problem for surfers and swimmers and ab divers in SA long before the cage diving thing was established.
Me too chin.. I catch lots of salmon off the point and sweep, supplements tinned food, big schools swim past a lot near cunns , 5 to 7 pound great dinner for me and a shark or 2 ,2 sharks swam towards the pack at cactus while fishing off the cliff one morning the salmon were everywhere, the pack was warned and went in, that arvo everyone was out again..fish were still there , as for outside castles yea it is as spooky as granites, but no crowd makes it worse, still the temptation is there, how addictive is the surfing drug.
Pro cull.
+1
Ha rumph.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-13/bremer-bay-orcas-annual-season-po...
remove all bull bars and save 95 old and young people per year in Oz
Hey SR and south Oz crew,
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-13/bremer-bay-orcas-annual-season-po...
Is there any chance all the West Oz ones have fled for SA if there's so many Orcas on south coast WA?
I remember SR saying there was a day he watched up from a cliff as heaps of GWS went past, what time of year and year was that?
Cheers
VJ that was Nov/Dec 2019. Out a bit further past Bremer.
I always guessed the annual migration was SA in Dec-Feb, Sth Coast/SW Coast WA March-May, up north towards Exmouth through the winter months, then back down Sept-Dec along here, then SA, rinse and repeat.
(obviously there's exceptions and plenty are around at other times of year but maybe in sheer weight of numbers migrating)
Could be possible the Orcas presence and increased numbers are delaying their return back West. Not sure. Is it correct that summer is prime Salmon season on the EP/Yorkes? Thought maybe they were just naturally following the salmon. We get them through here in Autumn which is when the number of sightings spike.
(having said that about the migration, seems alot are migrating East from the EP also which i wasn't aware of til recently)
I've still never seen an Orca near shore over here. Pretty crazy they appear at that one canyon offshore then disappear off again.
I recon you're on the money with this little tit bit. I read this article on the weekend and thinking "Oh dah". All the big fish have buggered off from WA and headed over here. Elsewhere here its been noted a huge increase in numbers spotted around Neptune Island.
So that's where they've all come from, now how to deal with them?
Wouldn't it be great if there was a national tag and alert system. Margie's region has a series of buoys that will send a warning if a tagged noah cruises close by, but it's only WA tagged sharks notified in WA waters. What about a White tagged off Gerro' that ends up at Lorne? I guess I'm asking for our Government to stump up with a little bit of the tax I pay to fund something that should provide some level of information to guide my choices.
https://www.surfer.com/trending-news/surfing-mayor-sharks-cull-deadly-at...
What about the one that nearly killed Him and the one that nearly killed that guy recently, will they be exempt from this plan?
Yes they will have an exemption certificate i suppose
I mean, its a start, but where do you draw the line, right?
Where do you draw the line? I think he made it clear! If shark kills person and shark can be killed straight after the attack then shark should be killed! Simples, Line drawn!
Great stuff Mayor
Can think of half a dozen Fatal Attacks on the East Coast where seen from the Air the Killing Machine
hung around after the Attack and should have been taken out - Way back to Paul Wilcox at
Byron Bay in 2014.
They're saying you can't know if you got the actual shark that killed someone, how do explain when the guts are opened and there's human body, wetsuit?
From surfer mag article:
"You could go out and kill a bunch of sharks and you will never know if you got the one which is responsible … there is no real justice at that point," said Dr. Chris Lowe, Director of the Shark Lab at Cal State University Long Beach"
https://www.surfer.com/trending-news/surfing-mayor-sharks-cull-deadly-at...
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-14/groodle-therpay-dog-haze-helps-he...
Protect all of the fish / sea critters, all animals of the sea, think how different it would be, let nature balance out. Would there be more or less bites on humans ?
the more sharks the more bites...simple as that ......
I was there in the 70's when sharkbait got attacked the first time, within a day jack the fisho had set baits all over the bay. Three days later a few of us were out surfing when a big shadow cruised through a wave right in front of us and we soon saw Jack hauling up a big white a few hundred metres further out. He dragged a big female around to the jetty and put a few cartridges into its head. We all dragged it up onto the jetty and Moose came waltzing out with about 4 bits of the remaining board, fitted the bite marks into the sharks jaws and declared we got him. At least that's how I remember it. Back when men were men.
Thanks old dog that's a great story
classic! Back when you could have a shotty or .303 in the car, just in case!
Perhaps the sharks would behave differently if humans respected the ocean and it's inhabitants more? Also more orcas to keep them in check. I'm thinking that animals are smart enough to know that humans are poisoning the oceans, they might hate humans, if humans didn't interact with them in negative ways, I like to think of sharks swimming past surfers and they know exactly what they are , and they don't bite because they behave differently. Smaller species of fish need protection more than the big GW sharks, I feel for them most being fished for years plus the sharks eating them, just bullied by everyone and never being helped.
Yep, fish are our friends, not food
Great call @caml
I remember shark bait saying when he came to in hospital and the first thing he saw was the black button to call the nurse, he freaked because it looked just like the sharks eye. He was sitting on his board minding his business when he got slammed from underneath and thrown up into the air, he came up and his board was between him and the shark which looked straight at him and roared. Luckily his legrope had been severed and he got away with help from others. I was out at the next spot over and saw a mob on the hill waving and shooting guns. When I got in the shark was still out there as plain as day playing with the board and tossing it up in the air for about 20 minutes.
Jeezus!
Great story @olddog. Cheers for sharing.
I remember a fella named Whalebone recounting Sharkbaits story at the Penong pub when i was a grom and saying 'it roared like a lion'. That always stayed with me.
Pretty full on stuff.
The Adventures of Sharkbait would make a good Australian movie. If your were following him on the road and another local was driving past from the other way they would stop block the road and talk for as long as he wanted. Cars backing up 3-4 deep, people getting out going 'whats going on', ah 'Sharky having a chat ' should we go round', 'no mate you dont want to do that just wait till hes done'.
OldDog - thats exactly how Mark B recounted it in Surfing World 1980
Was like a Mini Sub nosing the Board out to Sea ...
Its a simple fix: FISHING for sharks lowers the shark attack rate. Sir Victor Coppleson proved this long ago. The words culling and killing are just reactionary media words. FISHING.
https://hakaimagazine.com/news/nine-out-ten-shark-scientists-agree-susta...
Are GWS good eating?
Chinese / Tawainese think so...Any Size
https://www.forbes.com/sites/melissacristinamarquez/2023/02/08/food-blog...
http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/211772.htm
http://sharkyear.com/2012/huge-great-white-shark-and-young-whale-shark-c...
Not sure if they’re good eating, maybe there was a Mercury (HG) question at some point. Though we were instructed in Genesis to manage the animals. The now over-populated (saved finally) GWS is eating everything including their own.. and us.
Enough with the rot… manage these creatures for their and our sake. Not for profits.
Good (link to) article thanks cheesy
No worries Clam.. you could say this is my subject..
Protected tagged dingo killed on K'gari after repeated interactions with humans.
https://inqld.com.au/news/2024/01/17/dingo-that-has-attacked-three-campe...
These are in a controllable area- ie- an island.
"Ensure euthanasia of dingoes is limited to animals assessed as posing an unacceptable risk to human safety based on the history of behaviour against standardised risk criteria, and severely injured dingoes (e.g. vehicle-strike).
Dingoes requiring humane destruction are limited to those that can be confidently identified to be posing an unacceptable and unavoidable risk to human safety."
Dingoes in South Australia-
"Definitions
Dingo – Native animal introduced to Australia about 3,500 years ago.
Domestic dog – breeds other than dingoes usually living in association with humans.
Wild dog – wild-living dogs including dingoes, domestic dogs living at large and their hybrids.
Declared to be destroyed – land managers must carry out proper measures to remove all
wild dogs.
The Dingo Fence or Dog Fence is a pest-exclusion fence in Australia to keep dingoes out of the relatively fertile south-east part of the continent (where they have largely been exterminated) and protect the sheep flocks of southern Queensland. "
Inside the fence( South Eastern Australia states)-
"Management required to eradicate wild dogs inside the Dog Fence
Inside the Dog Fence the wild dog is declared for destruction under the Landscape South
Australia Act 2019 (LSA Act). This requirement applies to all properties, not just those used
for livestock production.
The most effective and efficient way to kill the majority of wild dogs is with poison baits.
Minimum baiting standards are outlined in Appendix 1 to ensure sufficient wild dogs are
destroyed and that baiting programs are effective at a landscape scale. These standards will
be implemented through Section 192(1) of the LSA Act and Section 24(1) of the LSA
Regulations as determined by the Chief Executive by notice in the Gazette. Some wild dogs
are difficult to bait from the ground, and need to be killed by aerial baiting, the use of leg-hold
traps (as specified by Animal Welfare Regulations 2012) or shooting.."
Outside the fence-
"Management required to minimise impacts on cattle outside the Dog Fence.
Where impacts on cattle are too high, land managers outside the Dog Fence may control
dingoes by ground or aerial baiting, shooting, or leg-hold trapping. Some of these activities are
managed under the Animal Welfare Regulations 2012 or policies of the regional Landscape
board."
QLD reference here- https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/161358/dingo-ma...
SA reference here- https://pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/388159/declared-animal...
Apart from K'gari these measures on both sides of the dingo fence are taken to protect sheep and cattle. Not humans.
So the idea that a GW could be managed (euthanised in dingo speak) if it has interacted adversely with a human shouldn't be discounted. Just need a way to get resources to the location ASAP.