Nation of swimmers shuns the sea as fresh shark attack confirms a gathering menace / Are shark attacks on the rise and can anything be done about them

To view the original article Click Here (for No. 1) and Click Here (For No.2)

Title – 1. Nation of swimmers shuns the sea as fresh shark attack confirms a gathering menace / 2. Are shark attacks on the rise and can anything be done about them?
Source – The Times / The Independent
Date – 2nd March 2009 / 3rd March 2009

I certainly don’t want to add to any slight hysteria there may be as a result of Australia’s recent spate of shark attacks and I have defended the risks before in this blog; see:

I tried to gouge its eyes: surfer battles to drag girl from jaws of 16ft shark

Obviously there is no upside to any attack, but if some of the indicators are correct and the increase in shark numbers are due to an improvement in water quality and thus the increase in the number of small fish which the sharks prey on; then at least there is a positive twist in all of this.

The overwhelming danger to swimmers in Australia is not the shark or even the salt water crocodile, but rather drowning; which accounts for several hundred times more fatalities then shark attacks.

I’m not trivialising these attacks as clearly they are devastating for those involved and their families, but we need to keep a clear head about the probability of a shark attack. The point is that fatalities from shark attack have not dramatically increased and remain at around 1 fatality per year in Australia; still below the number of fatalities from domesticated animals…

What is interesting and important to take from this article is the steps you can take to reduce the risks. Firstly know that very few of the 400 species of shark are actually known to be dangerous to humans; those which are worth worrying about are the Bull Shark, Tiger Shark, Oceanic White Tip and the infamous Great White. There are a few others worth giving a wide berth to and don’t forget that different countries give these sharks different names; for example the Australians refer to the Great White as a White Pointer and the Bull Shark as a Bull Whaler (or a Zambezi Shark in Africa). As an experienced diver, these are the four which would get me out of the water. The reason I fear them is that they are generally very aggressive sharks and tend to bite in order to taste you…

As a diver you are not an attractive prospect for any shark, so it is as a swimmer that I take most care and when swimming it is the Bull shark that I consider the highest risk. They have a tendency to come into shallow water, ‘dirty’ water and can live in brackish water. This ability to live in brackish water means they frequent coastlines, estuaries, entrances to rivers and mangrove swamps which they share with swimmers and sport fishermen; making contact inevitable. Bull shark attacks have taken place in muddy, murky waist-high water without the victims ever knowing they were in any danger.

At Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Travel Safety alongside sessions on Transport Options, Travel Health, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more. Sharks should not keep independent travellers out of the water, they just need to take certain risk avoidance measures and seek local advice on ‘safe’ places to swim. There is nothing better when travelling in the tropics then a cool dip in the sea or snorkelling and seeing the amazing marine life; sharks should not ruin that they should enhance it.

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