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Post by LSDeep on Mar 29, 2005 12:06:20 GMT -5
GERALDTON, Australia (20 Mar 2005) -- Witnesses traumatised by a shark attack on the skipper of their tourist boat off the Western Australian coast are making their way to shore.
Geoffrey Brazier, 26, from Perth was savaged by a six-metre shark while snorkelling with two other people at the Abrolhos Islands.
Mr Brazier was the skipper of the luxury cruise vessel Matrix, which was making its maiden voyage from Perth to Broome.
Senior Sergeant Shaun Miller says the Matrix is returning to Geraldton, where police will seek to speak further with witnesses.
"They're obviously very distressed at this particular time [but] we need to speak to them further," he said.
"There's people on the boat that we need to interview to get further information about the shark and the circumstances around Mr Brazier being taken by the shark."
Fear and Panic
The WA Fisheries Department, police and State Emergency Service officers are searching for the shark, which they intend to kill and use for forensic investigations.
Fisheries officer Rory McAuley says there are two reasons why they are hunting the shark.
"One of the reasons I believe is that they're looking for the remains of the victim, which will obviously be necessary for a coronial inquiry," Mr McAuley said.
"I guess the other main reason is to ensure that the shark poses no ongoing risk to public safety."
Sergeant Miller has urged rock lobster fishermen and their families on the islands to stay out of the water while authorities search for the shark.
"We have gone through the fisheries and people who are on the Abrolhos Islands [and] warned them in relation to a person being taken by a shark," he said.
"Obviously the message would be at this stage for all person to remain in vessels and on land and not venture into the water."
Greg Davis from the Geraldton Professional Fishermen's Association says those who live and work at the Abrolhos Islands are in shock, especially given a lot of them are surfers and scuba divers.
"It's always something that's in the back of your mind but some people have said that they won't go surfing at the Abrolhos again ... stuff like this," Mr Davis said.
"I've been going to the islands since I was born - 42 years - and it's the first time there's been a fatal shark attack as far as I'm aware in that time," he added.
However, Mr Davis says sharks are not an uncommon site in the area.
"You see a shark or two but it's par for the course because they live out there and the islands are ... not far from the edge of the shelf," he said.
"[It's] quite deep water and that's their habitat."
Asia Newswire
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Post by tekmac on Mar 30, 2005 8:21:53 GMT -5
GANSBAAI, South Africa (21 Mar 2005) -- After baiting and provoking a great white shark to attack an underwater cage that encloses thrill-seeking tourists, a shark cage diving operator brutually mutilated the animal for damaging his buoy and sinking the cage.
Not to be outdone by TV adventure show host Nigel Marven and shark entertainer Erich Ritter, UK tabloids picked up the story describing the incident in terms of heroic and courageous humans overpowering a gigantic killer beast.
"I was in the water and this big shark circled me twice before it started attacking and crushing the side of the cage, then the captain was hitting it on the head with an iron pole," exclaimed Mark Currie, a 32-year-old tourist.
"I was holding on to the cage trying to survive and the shark nearly bit my arm off," Currie told reporters.
When asked which arm he nearly lost in the attack, Currie, clearly overwhelmed by the "spine-tingling excitement of shark cage diving", could not remember, nor was he treated for injuries after the incident.
The boat captain, a five-year shark feeding veteran, declined to comment on the incident other than to complain that before he started hitting the shark with an iron pole, the animal "viciously and deliberately damaged" one of his buoys and sank his shark diving cage.
"I think the captain was rather angry because he had to buy a new cage for the boat trips," Currie explained.
In the wake of shark attacks that injured surfers, killed swimmers and terrorized tourists in South Africa's beach resort areas, the shark cage diving industry in South Africa has come under fire for endangering public safety and harassing marine wildlife.
In 2001, shark feeding was banned in Florida, the Cayman Islands and Hawaii after a two-year battle between environmentalists and a dive industry coalition led by PADI and DEMA, which oppose government regulations aimed at protecting public safety and marine wildlife.
COPYRIGHT © CDNN
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Post by LSDeep on Apr 5, 2005 7:48:06 GMT -5
GANSBAAI, South Africa (30 Mar 2005) -- The Gansbaai shark cage dive operator who hosted British diver Mark Currie last year is planning to take legal action against the media groups who propagated the inaccuracies of the day's events, White Shark Ecoventures owner Mariette Hopley said on Tuesday.
Mike Meÿer, spokesperson for Marine and Coastal Management (MCM), agreed that the statements attributed to Currie in the British press about being attacked in the cage by a Great White were not consistent with what was apparent in the footage.
The footage had been taken with Currie's video camera by someone else on the boat.
"This is a case of somebody trying to make some money out of something that didn't happen," Meÿer said.<br>
He added that the fixed cage that White Shark Ecoventures used for Currie was in line with "clearly defined permit conditions" that MCM enforces for all operators.
He said it was firmly attached to the side of the boat and even though the shark had broken one of the fenders, the cage was never at risk of coming loose and sinking.
"There was no danger to that person. I'm sure he got a hell of a fright, though," he said.
Hopley, who is also chairperson of the Great White Shark Protection Foundation, said that the story first came to her attention when she saw the footage on Sky News on Saturday, followed by an interview with Currie.
She recognised her cage from the footage.
She said that, at the time, Currie had emphasised what an "awesome" day it had been and how he would do it again.
She added that he had tipped both the dive master and shark handler when he got off the boat.
"There's no way that would have happened if his life had really been in danger," she said.
All operators lure sharks with fresh fish chum and it is not uncommon for the shark to misjudge the distance to the chum and take a bite out of a fender instead, as was the case when Currie was in the cage, she said.
She added that it appeared as if the shark had got its lower jaw stuck in the wire but had retracted it immediately afterwards and swam away.
"The shark could never get to him. There were wires all around and the shark cannot break the cage.
"It's 100 percent safe," she said.
Hopley attributed Currie's excitable comments to the adrenaline rush.
"That's why we call it educational adrenaline sport. A lot of people who get into the cage get anxious."
Currie was quoted on the UK's BBC News website as saying that the captain had kept hitting the shark on the head with a big metal pole.
He is also heard saying words to that effect on the interview that accompanied the footage.
But Meÿer said there wasn't a stick or pole visible and Hopley denied that had occurred.
"We are here to protect the sharks," she said.
"Some media groups like to create sensation," she added.
Although the name of her company was not mentioned in any of the media accounts, she said she was taking legal action because Currie's comments had put a negative spin on the shark ecotourism industry.
SOURCE - Cape Times
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Post by LSDeep on Apr 5, 2005 7:51:53 GMT -5
USA (3 April 2005) -- Eco-tourists and surfers invading the natural space of great white sharks are directly responsible for the recent spate of attacks, a leading shark expert said yesterday.
George Burgess, director of the Program for Shark Research at the University of Florida, said: "As more people take part in aquatic pursuits they are bumping into sharks more. It's as simple as that. The number of shark attacks is rising year by year while the shark population is dwindling - it's not rocket science to see that something is provoking them. We are swamping the near-shore environment."
He was commenting on incidents in the past few weeks that have seen one Australian killed and two Britons attacked. One was surfing and the other was in a shark cage on a "see great whites" tour.
Dr Burgess had harsh words to say about the growing number of firms in South Africa, Australia and the United States offering "great white shark tours" by boat, or, for braver souls, in a cage lowered into the sea. These often strew bait, known as "chum", in the water to attract great whites. "When you feed a shark you are provoking him, so most shark attacks are not actually attacks, just responses to the environment," Dr Burgess said. "Throwing fish and blood into the sea is altering the way that sharks behave. Shark tourism is not seeing sharks in their natural habitat - what tourists are watching is a circus.
"A lot of what you see with cages is the white shark being fooled by the electrical field from the metal. These animals have very acute electro-magnetic sensitivity, particularly up close, as they use it to catch fish. The cage fools them."
Dr Ellen Pikitich, of the Pew Institute for Ocean Science, New York, agreed: "Putting a cage into an area where there are known to be great whites is irresponsible." In the past decade, both surfing and shark tourism have boomed. The same period has seen a big increase in unprovoked shark attacks, according to the International Shark Attack File. This deals with confirmed cases and excludes provoked attacks, such as when a diver grabs at a shark. In the 1950s, there were barely a dozen unprovoked attacks a year; by the 1980s there were about 20; and last year there were 61.
Very few conform to the popular image fostered by Jaws. A mere handful are on bathers entering or exiting the water; the vast majority are on swimmers and surfers. Forty years ago, attacks on swimmers were twice as common as those on surfers, but last year they were both around 40 per cent.
There is, as yet, no category for attacks on shark tourists, but there may soon have to be. Andrew McLeod, senior aquarist at the Deep Submarium in Hull, said: "The problem is that some tour operators are more scrupulous than others. The practice of tow-roping - baiting a rope and pulling it towards the boat for a better view of the shark - is incredibly irresponsible. It really angers them."
Although attacks on people have been made by 30 or so species of shark, most are attributed to tiger, bull and great whites, with the last most commonly blamed. Yet, surprisingly little is known of what, for all its power, is a creature that experts say combines inquisitiveness and nervousness in equal measure. Its mating and birth have never been observed, its migrations and living arrangements are largely conjecture, and estimates of its numbers mere guesswork.
There are two main theories on attacks by great whites. One is that the silhouette of a wet-suited surfer, strikingly similar to that of a seal when seen from below, leads the shark to mistake it for its favourite meal and attack. When the shark realises it is not the fatty taste it was expecting, it spits the swimmer (or bits of him or her) out.
The second theory is that the inquisitive great whites, which use their mouths much as we do our hands, take a bite to feel an unfamiliar shape. (They have been known to bite platforms, boats and buoys.)
Most shark attacks do not result in death, which is more than can be said for our attacks on them. Last year, seven people worldwide were killed by sharks. And the number of them killed by us? Around 50 million.
SOURCE - The Independent
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Post by LSDeep on Apr 5, 2005 8:01:43 GMT -5
just some links regarding shark attacks and related issues, for anybody interested: International Shark Attack File A database of shark attacks as well as information on how, why, and where sharks attack, and how to avoid becoming a victim. www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/ISAF/ISAF.htm - 13k - Cached - Similar pages Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department ... Host for International Shark Attack File (ISAF), International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Shark Specialist Group ... www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/Statistics/statistics.htm - 13k - 3 Apr 2005 - Cached - Similar pages Shark Attacks ... according to data compiled in the International Shark Attack File (ISAF). Although shark attacks get a lot of attention, this is far less than the ... www.mote.org/~rhueter/sharks/attacks.phtml - 10k - 3 Apr 2005 - Cached - Similar pages Encyclopedia Smithsonian: Information About The Shark Attack File ... The origin of the Shark Attack File dates from the establishment of the Shark ... One of the Panel's first acts was to create the Shark Attack File with ... www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmnh/attack.htm - 5k - Cached - Similar pages Animal Attack Files-News Reports from Around the World ... for books here or view the recommendations of the Animal Attack Files at the ... 2004 South Africa: Top surfer escapes shark attack with punctured foot ... www.igorilla.com/gorilla/animal/ - 125k - Cached - Similar pages Animal Attack Files, Archives 1999 Archive of Top Secret Animal Attack Files of 1999. ... 03/23/99 Maui: Honymoon Shark Attack Animal Attack Files Special Report ... www.igorilla.com/gorilla/animal/archives_99.html - 32k - Cached - Similar pages Sharks.com - Shark Movie: Shark Attack Files Shark Movies: shark movies links and shark movie information. www.sharks.com/products/ shark-movies-shark-attack-files.htm - 13k - Cached - Similar pages Shark Research Institute (Australia), on-line shark attack data ... ... Home of the Australasian shark attack file, subset - Global shark attack file ... To gather data for the global shark attack file that is maintained by ... www.auscyber.net/shark/ - 16k - Cached - Similar pages Global Shark File The following information is the latest data from the Global Shark Attack File and the investigators at the Shark Research Institute. ... www.scubaradio.com/gsaf/index.cfm - 12k - 3 Apr 2005 - Cached - Similar pages Shark Attack - How, why, when, and where sharks attack. ... of seven during the decade, according to George Burgess, Director of the International Shark Attack File, which is housed at the University of Florida. ... www.scuba.about.com/od/sharks/a/sharksattack.htm - 35k - Cached - Similar pages and one word of advice from me, if you play with sharks, expect to get bitten. same as all other animals. |
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Post by sea gypsy on Apr 25, 2005 11:00:49 GMT -5
Good topic guys. This is always something asked by divers and nondivers alike. Have you seen a shark? Aren't you afraid of sharks? As pros we should try to keep up dated on any information that can better educate our students and nondivers alike. Being from Florida, the last paragraph of the posting Man in South Africa, is typical of the misinformation on the subject. PADI and DEMA oppose regulations aimed at protecting public safety and marine life?
This was all related to the young boy that had his arm biten off while at the beach with his family. The media blew the whole insident out of proportion to the point that the politicians got on the band wagon for the PR. To show the people that they really are doing something they passed the fish feeding ban in 2001. If I remember correctly, the ban was agianst the recommendation of the fish and wildlife people. You can still chum to fish and kill, you just can't use food to get better pictures or any closer observations.
The media forgot to mention that the boys Uncle was fishing the area. They also forgot the part about the Uncle having the shark on a line in 3ft. of water and the kids went out to poke at it. They did get the part about the boys arm being biten off and the Uncle getting the arm away from the shark right. They said the Uncle was a hero!
I've been in the water with alot of sharks in the Bahamas. You always feel the excitement of being close to such an amazing wild animal. Wild being the word to remember. I have to say, I've never really felt threatened by them but they are wild animals and as such deserve a healthy dose of respect as well as our admiration. Pay attention to the body language and know when to go and when to stay. The sharks will tell you how they feel, just have to pay attention.
That all being said, I still don't like working for operations that do shark feeding dives. I think they are misleading to the divers ( like the sharks are trained) and make the sharks from too large an area congregate in a smaller area. This makes them easier targets for someone with a long line to fish out in a single night.
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