Another Shark in Perth area

[Bali Diver]

Yes i think also it has nothing to do with sheep export and especially leaving from Freemantle,sad to hear this practise happens,more dumping in our oceans.

Have seal numbers decreased in Aus,just wondering

Thanks for links Kevster and agree one incident and there will be a cull

 

[gee13]

There wont be a cull because its impractical and the general public wont support it. The only reason is for political points scoring on the tourism front. WA is a huge coastline and the Indian Ocean around here is vast.

GWS are migratory species travelling at 70km per day. A Shark in the area of Perth would be near Albany the next week. (This is the distance from Paris to London) Getting rid of 1-2 sharks will not result in any significant changes in incidences. (It would be near impossible and not enough resources to catch and cull the migrating species of GWS in WA waters)

Lets get the cold hard facts straight: (Note Im talking specific about GWS species- There have been some other incidences concerning other possible sharks - Tiger, Bronze Whaler etc) http://sharkattackfile.info/sitemap.html

• There has been a small increase in GWS incidents between 2010-12 compared to previous decade.
• Even with this the incident rate is low.
• There have been 4 known GWS fatalities in the last 2 years. (Previously only 3 known GWS fatalities in WA 2000-2009)
• Total GWS fatalities in WA - 7 in last 12 years (0.58)
• There are only known 2 scuba fatalities around WA waters due to GWS. This is due to mistaken identity for prey since both bodies were recovered.
• Year to date 2012 there have been 102 road fatalities just in WA alone. http://www.police.wa.gov.au/ABOUTUS/Statistics/FatalCrashStatistics/tabid/1073/Default.aspx

The media scaremongering would like everyone to think there are more sharks in the water when theres no evidence. I would hardly call 2 GWS fatalities this year "WA waters teeming with deadly sharks".
But this kind of headline sells well regardless of the reality.

Conversely Its more likely there are more human activity in WA waters with a population boom (nearly 500,000 population increase since 2006-2012)

It has been estimated 600,000 dives in WA waters p.a. (P.Buzzacott 2005) Its highly probable this has increased since the mid 2000s and add other watersports Surfing, Jetski, Kayak, Swimming etc you have a huge population in WA waters yearly

Yet this still has resulted in the low incidences.

 

[Bali Diver]

gee13 agree with everything you said and media are always going to blow things up,the wording shark infested waters always make me laugh.Another fatality i feared a cull would happen.thats good to know the public would not support .

Indeed GW does cover a lot of distances,would you discount this being the same shark.I would think possibly not.

I don't really like the idea of GW Cage diving,to cut it short why,make's the shark curious what's inside.

Are we saying it is not safe to dive with GW'S

The strange and worrying fact regarding the last incident is that the GW returned and took the rest of body.

 

[gee13]

Another interesting fact is that authorities have tried to search and kill the 'responsible' shark in the last attack and despite these efforts they failed to find the shark responsible. They had to remove baited hooks and call of the search when there was no result. This was also the case when Geroge Wainwright died as a result of an attack in Rottnest Island last year. Basically a waste of public resources. In fact out of the last 4-5 attacks the 'responsible' sharks were searched for extensively with no result.

If a GWS is in full attack mode, it will do anything to capture and consume its identified prey. In some instances they will try to consume the rest of the body thinking its a seal or related prey, in some other cases its just an exploratory bite and the rest of the body is recoverable, however usually this is enough for a fatality. And they move on pretty quick and far after that to new ground.

In the case of the two freedivers who encountered a GWS shark whilst spearfishing, the footage shows the shark was not in attack mode. Result is they live to tell their tale.

White Sharks have their own unique personalities, some are more aggressive than others, some are more discriminating than others, some are and are not more accepting of mans place in the water...

Its easy to fall into the illusion that generalises their behaviour to be all the same.

One thing is for certain if humans were part of their food chain we would find a whole lot more fatalities all round the world than what is current.

 

[Bali Diver]

Yes most likely no chance catching shark after attack as it would be off somewhere else.before attack was seen around for a few days surfers naming it Brutus.Seeing that one was hanging around why would surfers continue to surf.

In the southern waters of Aus where you can expect to have GW around.What is the general feeling of Divers/surfers being in the waters and risks,seeing from a Aus point of view.

The GW is a shy shark and yes can never know what mood one is in.Are we to say that it is not safe to dive if one is around

 

[gee13]

Surfing culture can be very driven by alpha male types... You ll find there will be most likely surfers in the same spot day after day if theres a good swell. Diving is slightly different I gather, perhaps there may be less activity in local waters after and incident. But it wont be long before the flames subside and activities increase.
As discussed sharks travel big distances and the ocean is a vast space. Attacks are more likely to happen on surfaces. Divers are on the surface for short time before exiting.

If you are a surfer on surface in rich oxygenated water round surf breaks if a gws is around you could be in trouble. Research has shown sharks to enjoy the oxygenated waters.. They frequent those areas to recharge..perhaps its comparable to having an adrenalin hit for humans. Seeing a small moving/paddling object on surface could spur on an 'oxygenated' shark.

 

[DandyDon]

New one: Surfer killed by shark off Reunion island | World news | guardian.co.uk

 

[gee13]

Hi Dandydon this thread is particularly about Great White Shark fatalities off the waters of Western Australian area.

Appreciate the update about the incident in Reunion Island but thats near Madagascar off Africa half a world away and the species of shark has yet been undetermined.

Whats interesting is another surfer was involved making that pastime more at risk than before, and perhaps gives creedence to the theory of higher risk around oxygenated waters close to reefs.

 

[Bali Diver]

oxygenated waters close to reefs and GW'S.Never heard of that.Interesting

 

[gee13]

Almost all the attacks and deaths off the WA coast and Im sure in other areas of the world - occur round reefs, surf breaks and close to shore - where waters are highly oxygenated. Research has observed shark behaviour to be determined by oxygenated water from the start ..where the nurseries are.