Why Are they Shooting Sharks in Australia ?

[44'cruisingcat]

Shark attacks are at an all-time high, the human population is at an all-time high...

Could it be co-incidence?

One thing for certain - shark numbers are NOT at an all time high. Nor other fish species.

[Wand]

This may be apropos of nothing but...there are two species at the top of the ocean food chain, great whites and orcas. And yet orcas have never been known to attack humans in the wild. In fact, there are plenty of recorded incidents where orcas have worked with humans (whale hunters) for a share of the kill - specifically, the tongues.

[Wand]

Originally Posted by Fbram

To me, there can only be two viable choices (dichotomy is such an easy thing): Either we claim we have superior brains and put the shark down for the sake of mankind or we just call ourselves lower animals and go for the payback. Either way, the fish will die...

Well, fish die every day but only relatively rarely at the hands of humans. It ain't a benign world down there - everything eats everything else with impunity and without conscience. Being an apex predator, the great white fears nothing, except maybe an orca - though apparently they rarely challenge one another.

So humans are their only real predator, and a very recent one at that - a fact which perhaps is reflected in their low reproduction numbers (and very long lives). This makes them a potentially vulnerable species, but I suggest they are kinda lucky it's humans that have emerged as their predator. Because I can't imagine any other species slapping a ban on its prey to ensure that prey's survival as a species.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Liltttzr

I have taken my oldest son swimming with sharks in the Caribbean and it was one of those things he will never forget. When we feed them we teach them. They are apart of the food chain and the system. We remove them we remove part of the check and balance. How many others went the way of the dodo due to our actions. We need to think before we react. Just my thoughts. Also I have lost friends in Fl to this type of action. I neither blame them or condem them.

For an animal to learn it needs a brain bigger than a peanut.... Sharks are untrainable... you make them sound like they could be treated like dolphins... hand fed and playing fetch and jumping hoops.
All a Sharks brain is for is relays... remove the brain and the body keeps functioning... hunting, swimming etc..
Yes they're part of the eco-system but... they'll never be pets.. your safer with a bad tempered pit bull

[AllezCat]

Not saying I feel good about it, but they do taste great in Aussie fish and chips - better them than me...
However, I am a proponent of shooting all land sharks.

[sailorboy1]

6 pages of pro and anti shark posts. Hope the sharks are taking notes.

[Fbram]

@hummingway:
Thank you, M8. Really appreciate your input.

@ At sea:
Thank you for your comments. Really well thought



Now, onto one of my final questions (primary post's excerpt):

PS: Has anyone considered asking the question of why current alarm system missed this shark? No finger pointing (really, not blaming anyone), but wouldn't authorities FOCUS on developing a better shark detection system instead of using the easy 'Get Out of Jail Free card' (i.e.: The Beast Must Die)?

Peace!

[hummingway]

I found this article about sonar alarms being considered: Sonar Shark Alarm Condidered for Perth Beaches.

I find it curious it's developed by a Canadian company, since to my knowledge, it's not a problem anywhere in Canada. Are the alarms currently all from human spotters?

[downunder]

I am not from WA but other side of Aust.

I suspect they were attempting to hunt the particular shark. Was never an order to shoot all sharks. I imagine only the fisheries would have been involved.

In that it (the shark) would have to hang around and I have not heard any follow up I can assume they did not shoot it and the issue has gone away until the next attack.

There was never a cart blance order to shoot all sharks everywhere forever. Try and hunt down a specific shark, for a period, rarely successful and apparently not so on this occassion.

Great Whites are protected unless a specific order was made at at high political level for a specific time period.

Shark one - human nil on this occassion and on most previous attacks.

[Mike Banks]

I have a theory about white pointers--they are an unusual shark in that they do have warmer blood than the surrounding sea. They are also way smarter than most other sharks in that they do learn. I have been told by a vet who studied them years ago that they showed remarkable ability to remember things of importance to them, and were able to return to the same places at the same time each year to take advantage of a food source--such as seal pups or schooling fish.

I propose that the cause of most Great White shark incidents are operators feeding them so that the tourists can have a shufti at a big shark. The pattern is usually simple--boat motors to place sharks frequent--reinforcing their need to be there, turn off motor--which is the cue--then dump offal into the water and fish bits. Euthanased dogs used to be the go for one lad who dropped a line into the sharks mouth--then played it for hours. Lotsa fun.

The next abalone diver who turns up in his motorboat, turns off the donk and flips backwards over the side may well land in among sharks expecting a feed. Thanks tourist operators--

The same sharks move along coastlines looking for schooling fish or other targets of opportunity. Human beings dangling their legs enticingly may well invite a tentative nibble from a shark or full-on attack from one already familiar with what is on offer--

This vet believed an adult white pointer had a similar intelligence to a dog. Maybe he was right. It kinda makes one think about warm-blooded sharks--I only ever met one once when diving. I was swimming along a sheer cliff wall underwater and came to a corner. As I poked my head around it I just about stuck my face mask against the nose of something huge.

Another myth exploded--it turned in its own length with a huge swirl of water which pushed me backwards. I realised it was a great white--it seemed as big as a whale but the glass makes things look larger. I knew it would be back and got out of there as fast as I could get. Wetsuits may well look like sealskin--but I do not think sharks make too many mistakes with live prey. They are quite tenuous about accepting food--usually a sniff or two before a nibble--then the swallow as it a goes down. I do not trust them--I think if you were someone who swam among white pointers--or tiger sharks--you may be luckier than you realise--

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Mike Banks

I think if you were someone who swam among white pointers--or tiger sharks--you may be luckier than you realise--

Kinda like there are 2 types of Tiger keepers. Those who have been eaten by a Tiger. and those who haven't - yet

There is something alluring (?) about being close to a big top of the food chain predator - they all seem to know they have little to worry about from anything / anyone else......I guess easy to confuse familiarity with actually knowing what the beast is thinking.......

[IslandHopper]

Another one, thats four in seven months....

'Unprecedented' number of shark attacks as WA named world's deadliest spot | News.com.au

Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian

[bobconnie]

My only knowlage of Whites thinking is "IM HUNGRY" it seems every one Ive seen in the last 50+ yrs of cruiseing many shark thick places is Eating or trying to !! so I know they think at least one thing DINNER !! LOL thats enough for me to know !! I have a habit of leaveing a place that has to many sharks to be comfortable in the water swimming or diveing! just a old sailors fear I guess

[sww914]

Dang! I was thinkin this was a gonna be another gun thread, y'all.
I'm feelin a might disappointed.

[Dreaming Yachtsman]

Who would have thought this thread would have touched a nerve as sesitive as "Guns on Board", "Cat vs. Mono", "____ Anchors are the Best!" threads! (Apparently not Chief Engineer, the OP, or he would not have put it up - or would he?) There are some very strong opinions expressed here on both sides of the argument, some well reasoned and some just emotional. Hopefully without adding any more fuel to the fire, I'll chime in with my thoughts.

General widespread anihilation of all or part of a species is almost always unjustified, except perhaps for smallpox virus, HIV, Lionfish, and other species that are just too nasty to be useful. The obvious exception here being eliminating cockroaches from boats. Nearly every living being plays a role in the world ecology. We humans are far from understanding the complexities of all those roles so we should NOT use wholesale extermination as a means to shape the environment to our liking.

Given Swagman's detailed and repeated explanations of the geography of the waters off Perth, I tend to agree with WA's selected removal of sharks that have developed an affinity for attacking humans, similar to National Park Service practice of killing bears that attack humans. Implicit in this agreement is their ability to identify correctly the offending shark.

Are there any Marine Biologists knowledgable of shark behaviour or otherwise qualified shark experts on CF who would care to confirm or deny the size of shark's brains, their propensity for learning behavior, or their like or dislike for the taste of human flesh? Perhaps your contribution would cool some of the heated emotions we have seen in this thread. Please specify your qualifications if you do post here.

As a parting thought, I wonder whether Steven Spielberg regrets having made the movie, "Jaws". Probably not with all the $$$ he made on it. However the author of the novel, "Peter Benchley has mentioned that if he had known about the actual behavior of sharks, he would have never written the book." [Quoted from imdb.com]