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Shark Attacks


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#1 Rodders02

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Posted 19 April 2017 - 12:54 AM

I think we (the WA government) need to decide on an effective shark prevention method within the next year. it might sound obvious, but there are already dozens of different methods for deterring sharks such as high pitched orca calls, magnetic fields and even using shark blood which has been proven on numerous discovery channel shows.

The attacks aren't going to stop, the most recent in Esperance is just a tragedy. But in reality people are thinking "that's a 1 in a million and it's not going to happen to me". The truth is that it can. Just a few days ago I was up on a station near Exmouth - yeah it's Exmouth but still the population of metro sharks may one day equal its neighbours in shark bay - and I got busted off throwing a little popper from the beach just 10 meters from the shore by a 3.5m hammerhead. The day before that I had an encounter with a 3m bronzie having a spear just 20m from the shore (hadn't shot anything yet).

My point is that I think we've got to stop experimenting with all the new equipment and ideas, and just stick any bloody thing that will deter sharks in our waters.

#2 bigjohnnofish

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Posted 19 April 2017 - 02:15 AM

i have a good idea... dont go in the water - and you'll never get attacked by a shark :) 

 

the old saying goes a bit like this - your in their territory - swim / surf at your own risk.... 



#3 ice

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Posted 19 April 2017 - 07:06 AM

I tend to agree with Johnno, if you want to go in the water then get yourself a shark shield. The government and the Australian tax payer shouldn't have to fund shark deterrents for people who choose to go in the ocean, its up to them to protect themselves.



#4 malawiman85

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Posted 19 April 2017 - 07:40 AM

It's a lot of money for very little benefit.

I think there should be some protected beaches. But not necessarily at state government expense.

If communities want protection, they should contribute directly. If the protection contributes to tourism then local government and in some cases state government could justifiably contribute.

About 1 billion people a year die from smoking cigarettes in Australia alone and governments don't seem real interested in preventing those tragedies.

Yes I know it's not a billion but it's a lot and I can't be bothered finding out how many.

#5 Mattia

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Posted 19 April 2017 - 07:41 AM

Do you know that sharks don't even kill that many people? Hippos, crocs, jellyfish are much worse , and there's not even movies about them.
Sharks only attack humans as mistake, maybe people should avoid surfing so much out shore?

#6 sajica

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Posted 19 April 2017 - 09:23 AM

You guys are all missing the point.

http://www.bobinoz.c...ecade-of-death/

 

Taken from the link above

Animal related deaths in Australia:

During the 10 year period in question there were 254 deaths in Australia identified as animal related. Let’s see who is responsible, starting with the biggest culprits:

  • Horse, pony or donkey – 77 deaths
  • Cow, bull or bovine – 33 deaths
  • Dog – 27 deaths
  • Kangaroo – 18 deaths
  • Bee – 16 deaths
  • Shark – 16 deaths
  • Snake – 14 deaths
  • Crocodile – 9 deaths
  • Ostrich or emu – 5 deaths
  • Others, including fish, sheep, goats, camels, cats and jellyfish – 39 deaths


#7 ice

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Posted 19 April 2017 - 09:47 AM

Horse and cow meat on drum lines! You're a genius mate.

#8 Stormfyre

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Posted 19 April 2017 - 09:54 AM

Emu deaths = 5.

 

Emu%20Gangsta.png



#9 Rodders02

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Posted 19 April 2017 - 11:02 AM

Horse, kangaroo etc deaths are usually preventable as the victim is often acting careless and getting too close to the animal and threatening it which inevitably leads to disaster. However people are drawn to the beaches on hot days and it is a complete accident in a shark attack scenario. If you go down to cott beach and survey everybody there on a Sunday morning, I can guarantee you there won't be more than 20 people wearing shark shields out of the possible 1000+ their.

People aren't just going to stay out of the water, a lot of people are uneducated about this topic and have no clue about what's going on. My point is as stated above, that we just put these things to the back of our mind and say "it's a 1 in a million chance of happening and it won't happen to me," and then we go straight back into the water.

And yes, thousands more people die from other, bigger issues. But people aren't as scared of them because of the media. Shark attacks are always going to be broadcasted on the news over 100 smoking deaths, and it's not going to change until shark attacks stop happening.

#10 Den

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Posted 19 April 2017 - 12:15 PM

I started a conversation on sharks here some years ago when attacks were quite rare because I noticed that white pointers were being spotted around in metro areas where they were never seen before and to me that was a sign their population was exploding, and when I warned people that attacks would become a regular occurrence in Australia I got laughed at here, and since that time we have seen big jump in attacks. There has been a complete lie about endangered sharks, their numbers are at record levels, there are tigers being caught around Perth off the beach, when I was a kid you never seen or heard of tigers or whites around Perth. 

 

Some people put up stats and want thousands of people to die before taking any pre-emptive action, but if nothing is done about their numbers there can only be 2 outcomes, people will either stop using the water or attacks will keep rising, that is the trend. Personally I dont use the water any more like I used to, because I know the risk is higher than what people think, and comparing terrestrial risks to risks in the water is plain silly, since 99.99999999% of peoples combined total time is spent on land.


Edited by Den, 19 April 2017 - 12:27 PM.


#11 Chopstick_mike

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Posted 19 April 2017 - 12:57 PM

That's great the numbers of whites is on the rise I couldn't care less if more people are attacked!!!
If you go swimming in the ocean then You take the risk of being attacked (very slim risk).

#12 Peckoltia

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Posted 19 April 2017 - 01:04 PM

Anyone taken the time to stop and read this - http://www.fish.wa.g...orts/frr273.pdf

 

It is a decent read, but I've read it cover to cover a couple of times. This statement probably resonates with me the strongest - humans want to control everything and anything. Unfortunately apex predators cannot be controlled or predicted, and this is especially true for a 5-6m fish equipped with a mouth full of daggers.

 

"Although white sharks tend to be highly mobile and transient through waters that are usually too far offshore to pose a significant risk to most water users, at times, some may come close to shore for periods of a few hours to a few weeks and, in some cases, even for a few months. As these patterns are not consistent among years it is unlikely that a greater period of data collection will generate an overall predictive model."

 

The surprising thing is I have a lot of mates who dive, not a single one of them has ever taken the time to read this document. While reading it won't make you immune to shark attacks, it provides you with some information. My friend who I own my boat with regularly dives the area described in the below quote - when I told him of this document and how the area he frequents is a known GWS hotspot he simply shrugged his shoulders and explained to be how its a great area to get some crays.

 

The point I am making is people want a quick fix to the 'shark problem' but don't want to be part of the solution. Simply - there are too many sharks. What makes the average Joe equipped to make that sort of statement? Anecdotal evidence and hear say is not cement. I have fished offshore almost every weekend for the last 7/8 years now. I have seen 1 GWS in that time. The way people carry on I should see them every time my boat gets wet. It was an honour to see such a beast!

 

Does anyone even check shark smart before they get in the water? Does anyone using the water in the southern parts of the state care that their is a salmon run on at the moment? No because it is not convenient for them to, instead it is someone else's responsibility to keep them safe.

 

 

"The channels through the southern part of the near-continuous reef between Garden and Rottnest Islands are known to be the exclusive passageways and staging posts for snapper entering Cockburn Sound to spawn during spring and early summer. As several white sharks (and many more bronze whalers) have been caught and tagged in close proximity to spawning aggregations of snapper in the Sound, it seems likely that sharks are using the same channels to enter (and exit) the area."



#13 malawiman85

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Posted 19 April 2017 - 01:56 PM

Horse, kangaroo etc deaths are usually preventable as the victim is often acting careless and getting too close to the animal and threatening it which inevitably leads to disaster. However people are drawn to the beaches on hot days and it is a complete accident in a shark attack scenario. If you go down to cott beach and survey everybody there on a Sunday morning, I can guarantee you there won't be more than 20 people wearing shark shields out of the possible 1000+ their.
People aren't just going to stay out of the water, a lot of people are uneducated about this topic and have no clue about what's going on. My point is as stated above, that we just put these things to the back of our mind and say "it's a 1 in a million chance of happening and it won't happen to me," and then we go straight back into the water.
And yes, thousands more people die from other, bigger issues. But people aren't as scared of them because of the media. Shark attacks are always going to be broadcasted on the news over 100 smoking deaths, and it's not going to change until shark attacks stop happening.


But you're really suggesting communities and governments ignore reality and simply act on what's presented by media. Media isn't an essential service. It's a business, competitive business. They use shock and scare tactics to get you to watch/listen/read and present ads despite most info being wrong or totally irrelevant to the lives of consumers.

If communities and individuals won't do anything to look after themselves, what is the government supposed to do?
How many of these fatal shark attacks are mums, dads, bikini clad babes & kids at the beach? I don't know but I would say that by far the biggest number of attacks are on divers and surfers... So that's a tiny fraction of water users actually at risk (if my logic is sound).

#14 bigjohnnofish

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Posted 20 April 2017 - 01:03 AM

im not overly convinced we are in a shark population explosion - more likely to believe they are coming closer to the beaches looking for food as humans have plundered their natural feeding grounds out to sea raping them of food.... humans have destroyed the natural food chain to an extent where GWS's are now coming closer to the beaches to get a feed....

 

i call this our own fault :)  



#15 Rodders02

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Posted 20 April 2017 - 06:56 AM

Yes, I we've created a problem we 'need' to fix.

#16 Peckoltia

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Posted 20 April 2017 - 11:46 AM

I think it is easy to say that we have ruined the GWS food source and that is why they are coming closer to shore to feed - read the study that I posted a link to.

 

The bottom line is the species is a wide ranging, fast moving nomadic species with a movement pattern that changes from year to year making them super unpredictable. If food was a limiting factor would we not be seeing less GWS encounters? As the food source would be the limiting environmental factor. It is my understanding that fur seal population in WA is doing really well, sea lion population is doing OK (from memory they reproduce slower than fur seals, meaning there is a longer lag time for the population to recover), pink snapper and salmon stocks are also doing well. My own anecdotal evidence in regards to whales passing our coastline also suggests that the whale population is also doing particularly well (not something I have searched for research on). In peak whale season it is not uncommon for us to see 10 + whales in a single day on the water, sometimes many more.

 

It all seems quite simple to me. Commercial shark fishing has ground to a stop and fisheries (and local communities) have put a lot of emphasis on protecting the sharks prey items; whales, seals and fish stocks. What does this mean? More sharks. The population in WA has also increased, more people use the water. More sharks and more people using the water at the same time = more shark/people interactions. Unfortunately we are dealing with a species with serious weapons, it only takes one opportunistic bite to end someone's life. For people to say that humans are a new food source is outrageous - we are talking about a death or two (maybe even 3) a year that to me does not warrant a shift in feeding behaviors as it would constitute such a minute amount of the food intake of even one shark (assuming the one shark was responsible for every attack in a year) let alone spread out over an entire population. It is like someone trying a peanut for the first time, then saying that peanuts make up a significant portion of that persons food consumption.

 

Listening to 6PR this morning in regards to sharks got me going - I heard one woman linking sharks and youths in Mandurah being afraid to use the ocean so instead of being at the beach they instead engage in antisocial behavior, so sharks are now responsible for the poor behavior of our youths? Break ins and the use of the beach are generally not interchangeable past times.

 

I also heard many people say 'we need to make our oceans safer' - the ocean is a dangerous place. The ocean has a million and one ways to kill you. Shark attack is only one of them. I am also for making our schools and shopping centers safe, but the ocean cannot be controlled or tamed and it is not 'our' job to tame it. Only to assess the risks associated with it and make informed decisions as to best keep ourselves safe as individuals and our loved ones.



#17 malawiman85

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Posted 20 April 2017 - 02:59 PM

Yes, I we've created a problem we 'need' to fix.


Why are sharks a problem to you? What do you do that makes them a threat to you?

#18 Den

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Posted 20 April 2017 - 04:10 PM

Why does anyone want great whites around? this puzzles me, what benefits does the world get from having GWS? look at the benefits off wiping the GWS from the face of the Earth, safer for swimmers and surfers, we give the poor seals a break and more snapper and Tuna for us to catch and eat. the list goes on and on.....

 

The Apex predator theory biologists sprout is questionable and to me as believable as global warming/climate change (insert whatever name "climate scientists" decide to call climate today to milk money from the Government), the megalodon shark which apparently used to prey on GWS or its ancestors became extinct and the ocean fishery and whites didn't collapse, the white population has exploded because whites lost their apex foe's and need more predators. 



#19 Chopstick_mike

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Posted 20 April 2017 - 05:00 PM

Why does anyone want great whites around? this puzzles me, what benefits does the world get from having GWS? look at the benefits off wiping the GWS from the face of the Earth, safer for swimmers and surfers, we give the poor seals a break and more snapper and Tuna for us to catch and eat. the list goes on and on.....
 
The Apex predator theory biologists sprout is questionable and to me as believable as global warming/climate change (insert whatever name "climate scientists" decide to call climate today to milk money from the Government), the megalodon shark which apparently used to prey on GWS or its ancestors became extinct and the ocean fishery and whites didn't collapse, the white population has exploded because whites lost their apex foe's and need more predators. 

that is the most ignorant and outrageous thing I've read on this topic.....Why stop there let's kill off the lion , tiger population as well while we at it we might as well just kill off pandas too cos they do nothing for nature either.
You know we as a species are to blame for most the problems you are saying would be Beneficial if GWS were killed off.

#20 Rodders02

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Posted 20 April 2017 - 06:34 PM

Why are sharks a problem to you? What do you do that makes them a threat to you?


Are sharks not a problem at all to you? I'm talking about everyone, people are going to keep going in the water and we can't stop that unless a major disaster occurs. So instead of telling people to stop going in the water or get a shark shield (which almost no body will do) we need to work around that and create a solution to protect people from sharks whilst in the water. We (society) have created a huge problem with sharks. So what they kill less people then smoking does, it's the media that makes it terrible. Millions of people die each year from smoking, and still a huge portion of the population still smoke. If as many people died from sharks each year as much as people die from smoking, people would very rarely enter the water. Not every person is educated on this planet, it doesn't matter that smoking is a much bigger killer than sharks, the media are still going to make a HUUGGE deal about one shark attack. And we've got too embrace that, it's not like you can just write a letter to the media saying "stop reporting shark attacks and instead report bigger issues."




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