I think great whites get far too much negative and undeserved attention worldwide for their perceived aggression and ability to attack. It seems every time there's a shark incident, the press automaticly attributes this to a killer great white and a ocean-wide shark destruction program inevitably transpires until enough are killed off to satisfy an ignorant public.
In South Africa it is becoming more and more apparent that our zambezi (bull shark) is in fact likely to be responsible for more attacks than previously believed. The zambezi has the same upper tooth structure as a great white, frequents the dirty shallow waters found in river mouths, where surfers love to surf the point breaks, and has the ability unlike other sharks obviously to swim up into fresh water rivers and lake systems. It's an opportunistic feeder and will happily taste any easy meal flapping around on the sea surface.
Great whites on the other hand traditionally frequent deeper water further away from populated areas. They're surprising difficult to find when you're looking for them, unless you chum the water excessively to tease them in. Other shark species by contrast are commonly seen on offshore reefs within their seasons and will frequently come in for closer viewing out of their own curiosity. The most curious sharks are almost always juveniles who seem to be on some sort of self-learning program anyway, and similarily almost all shark attacks seem to be from juvenile shark species. There's been an interesting correlation between human children and sharks with the way they mouth objects in their juvenile years as a means of feeling and learning. It's commonly believed that this is frequently all that these great white incidents are: an unfortunate clash of worlds as a shark mouths a surfer or spearfisherman. Almost every single time, the shark lets go and the injured party gets away and makes an apparent heroic escape. Unfortunately such is the awesome power of a whites jaw, that the injuries sustained in this mouthing process frequently prove fatal for us fragile creatures.
I think worldwide we need more in the way of education for the general public, and a greater understanding of the habitat and mannerisms of shark in general. So many of our fears are driven by our own arrogance and ignorance.
A most excellent source of information on sharks is through the KwaZulu NAtal Sharks Board in Durban, South Africa. Check out their website at www.shark.co.za
kind regards
Dennis
In South Africa it is becoming more and more apparent that our zambezi (bull shark) is in fact likely to be responsible for more attacks than previously believed. The zambezi has the same upper tooth structure as a great white, frequents the dirty shallow waters found in river mouths, where surfers love to surf the point breaks, and has the ability unlike other sharks obviously to swim up into fresh water rivers and lake systems. It's an opportunistic feeder and will happily taste any easy meal flapping around on the sea surface.
Great whites on the other hand traditionally frequent deeper water further away from populated areas. They're surprising difficult to find when you're looking for them, unless you chum the water excessively to tease them in. Other shark species by contrast are commonly seen on offshore reefs within their seasons and will frequently come in for closer viewing out of their own curiosity. The most curious sharks are almost always juveniles who seem to be on some sort of self-learning program anyway, and similarily almost all shark attacks seem to be from juvenile shark species. There's been an interesting correlation between human children and sharks with the way they mouth objects in their juvenile years as a means of feeling and learning. It's commonly believed that this is frequently all that these great white incidents are: an unfortunate clash of worlds as a shark mouths a surfer or spearfisherman. Almost every single time, the shark lets go and the injured party gets away and makes an apparent heroic escape. Unfortunately such is the awesome power of a whites jaw, that the injuries sustained in this mouthing process frequently prove fatal for us fragile creatures.
I think worldwide we need more in the way of education for the general public, and a greater understanding of the habitat and mannerisms of shark in general. So many of our fears are driven by our own arrogance and ignorance.
A most excellent source of information on sharks is through the KwaZulu NAtal Sharks Board in Durban, South Africa. Check out their website at www.shark.co.za
kind regards
Dennis
