Proposal to move shark cage diving closer to South Oz surf spots
It was the “title fight of all title fights,” according to those who witnessed it. On February 3rd a pod of orcas rounded up a Great White Shark near South Australia's Neptune Islands and killed it.
Charter boat operator Matt Waller witnessed the attack. Writing on his website’s blog, Mr Waller described the shark’s grisly end:
“The water was a frenzy and the sounds in the aqua sub were close and clear. Then it stopped. There was no more shark fin, the water stilled with the subsided calmer movements of the pod of killers.
“The birds moved in to partake in the spoils and slowly the pod of killers moves away to the west from where they had come.”
The attack was as grisly as it was unique. South Australian Museum senior researcher Catherine Kemper said she hadn't heard of orcas killing a white shark in that manner before.
A week after the incident no sharks had been sighted in the Neptune Islands. At the time a spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Water and Natural Resources said their scientists were "of the opinion that the absence was temporary and that great white sharks would return to the area".
Yet now, more than two months since the incident, there appears a second victim of the attack: the shark cage tourism industry based in the Neptune Islands. Because despite the spokesperson's assurance that the sharks would return not a single white shark has been spotted in the vicinity since the attack.
So now the cage diving operators are looking for sharks elsewhere and the South Australian State Government has nominated at least 16 potential sites around the Eyre Peninsula (see map below).
Jonas Woolford is the President of the Abalone Industry Association of South Australia and he fears that shark tourism could put other ocean users at risk. Many of the proposed sites are close to known breaks. But, as Woolford explains, there is just one aspect of shark tourism that he takes issue with: “Berleying the water for an apex predator.”
The theory being sharks learn to associate humans with food and bringing them in closer to the coast – the Neptune Islands are nearly 30 kilometres offshore - increases the risks to those already using the ocean.
Despite his protests, Woolford isn't against all shark tourism. “I don't want to shut down the industry. I'd rather see some innovation, some focus on how to interact with sharks animals without effecting their behaviour through berleying.”
“The fact is there are are hundreds of businesses on this coast that rely upon using the water, not just shark cage tourism. We have to learn how to get on.”
Surfers on the coast are harder to appease. “There's too many unknowns with sharks, scientists don't now how or why they attack, but they do. This plan brings them in closer and increases the threat,” said one Port Lincoln surfer who wished to remain anonymous. Similar sentiments are being expressed by surfers on the Swellnet forums.
The plan would bring shark cage tourism within close proximity of Kitchenview on Flinders Island, and Flat Rock and Fisheries in the Port Lincoln region. At present there isn't any scientific evidence that cage-diving activities increases or reduces the probability of shark attacks. In Mossel Bay, South Africa, cage diving occurs approximately 2 kilometres from a good surf break, and 5 kilometres from a busy break where people surf nearly every day.
Shark cage tourism, like all other issues that involves sharks, is emotive and lacking in hard scientific evidence. Our knowledge of shark behaviour is rudimentary at best.
Working with minimal hard data the South Australian Government must decide whether they throw a lifeline to shark tourism operators, or whether the proposed changes present too much of a risk to existing ocean user, including surfers.
In a statement, the State Government said stakeholders and community members would be properly consulted on the proposal before a meeting set to take place at 5pm today (Friday April 10th).
"The State Government appreciates there will be many views on the Shark Cage Diving Industry's proposal to have access to sites other than the Neptune Islands," the statement said. "That is why the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources has agreed to help facilitate the stakeholder and community consultation process."
Key stakeholders and members of the community can register their comments by 5:00pm on April 10.
Comments
there is a policy:DONT FEED THE BEARS!!
it is well known u feed em then they come back and raid your campsite/tent in search of food.many people get injured or killed because of it.how can the authorities justify feeding sharks??$$$$$$$$$
100% troppo national parks quick to tell ya to not feed the wild life
i.e. possums , kookaburras ,goannas, bush turkeys, ETC!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Adventure bay charters have a 6 min vid on there site re the Orca Gws scrap.
Got a link Udo? I couldn't find.
Interesting the sharks nicked off after the White was killed.
This forum topic (http://www.swellnet.com/forums/wax/202296) was talking about how the chemical given off by a decaying shark clears off other sharks, same as the presence of Orcas in the area, and how the sharks would only return once the shark corpse had disintegrated.
Have the nominated cage diving sites been checked for shark numbers? Would be curious to know how far the 'exclusion zone' extended from the original shark carcass.
Rather than trying to rehabilitate some of the recent perpetrators of the shocking murders.How about we put them on a one way bus to Pt.Lincoln ferry them out to the Neptune islands and turn them into shark shit!Save a whole lot of $$$
and deter any more freaks!Helping to preserve the alleged extinct GWS !
There goes the best right in oz!
Here it is Udo..
The Frame grab promised so much...
Haha, yeah that's click bait by the creator.
Well played, creator.
Sorry chaps forgot to add it wasn't much......frame grab got me too.
There is only one thing the state government actually appreciates regarding this idiotic idea... Differing views aside, not one person who is making this decision is a surfer or someone who uses the ocean. FACT.
if you have not seen this documentary about orca's killing sharks in pacific nw near san francisco, it is worth a watch.
it reaches the conclusion that the rest of the sharks can smell a dead white, have learned that they are not a match for them and hurriedly piss right off. not to spoil the ending, there's still some great science in there worth seeing without the ending. particularly how orca's can put the whites to sleep.Orcas must seriously be laughing their heads off driving around in the ocean
hahahaaahaaa in top gear for sure;)
Anyone have any dead white shark juice I can bathe in before my next surf?
Might be worth ringing Mr Hislop and seeing if happens to have any in the freezer.
Hmmmm, would a gov official be willing to put their name at risk if someone gets attacked after they made the decision to move it closer to shore?
It's one of the most alarmist, media frenzying topics.
I don't think they'd take the risk.
If you want to observe a GWS either go to the closest aquarium that has one, or please feel free to jump in and observe them in their natural habitat if you're keen (or stupid). But supporting an industry which inherently promotes (due to competition between cage diving companies) the 'artificial' attraction of sharks to areas where they do not naturally occur is just beyond me.
Wouldn't that just be the greatest irony, if GW juices are proven to scientifically deter GW. Then there would be a major demand/need to harness this elixir. Where's there's a demand ($$$$$$) someone will make it happen, maybe even Governments...
Wonder if the charters are rethinking the policy of see a shark or next dive at half price.
Have some mixed emotions about the whole thing. I really want to see the white, from a cage, but also have reservations due to the obvious links to human activity. Having spent a few months surfing from Cactus through to Elliston and seeing the plaques in memory of attack victims, its hard not to get a bad vibe around those parts. IMO, if the sharks are travelling across states and oceans, is a few km really going to make it any more risqué than it already is? Are the Orca's going to push them to new territories? Like ol' mate in the article said, the attraction methodologies of charters is probably more important than the location of the dives.
This is an absolute disgrace! I surf the West a lot ( Elliston, Venus ,Streaky etc.) and for these pricks to want to bait even more up the coast is beyond belief. It's bad enough that they do this anyway, sharks aren't dumb animals and associate boats with food. The stories I've heard from fishermen etc. over the west is that these sharks are not endangered and are back in BIG numbers! I totally understand that we are in their domain but we should not encourage interaction with these creatures for the sake of the bottom dollar.
Cage diving is pretty fuked but even more so by attracting sharks by burley and fish guts etc is soooo wrong and incredibly stupid.They are training them,smarter than some people i suggest.
Clearly stating the obvious I know, but how's the sheer size/volume of that GW in the pic?!? Mind boggling.....
Don't feed the animals is national park policy
double standards
I'm not a marketing person but 'dont feed the animals' has gotta be a good catch cry for this capmpaign. Absolutely double standars Benz and teezing the animals is probably even worse... Basic common sense and one of the first things ya teach ya kids. Baffles me how the berleying approach with an apex preditor has ever been allowed... Note there is a campaign on change.org about this. I like Jonas comment about not trying to kill off the industry just finding innovative ways. I have heard some operators use music as opposed to bait/berley with good results..
Proposed location on right hand side of map 'Nth & Sth Page Island Conservation Park' between Kangaroo Island & Victor Harbor
Madness !
Johno
Johno, total madness for sure, up to 4 knts of current thru Backstairs passage at different times so to burley up at or near the Pages .......not sure where that stinking oily slick would end up ?
Yorkesurfer ,probably flow right past your front yard ?
Craig a bit of homework for you re the Passage current flow{s]
EDIT: Shit - 4knts = 2 metres per sec
Your on the money there Johno .. Waitpinga n Parsons have already had their fair share of close calls in years gone by .. If these 'mindless proposals' go ahead, its only a matter of time!
I had a chat to government MP and former State Environment Minister Paul Caica about this issue last week and asked him to relay to the current Environment and Tourism ministers the concerns of South Oz surfers. He said he would bring it up in the next cabinet meeting.
A few days later this article appeared on Swellnet so I sent him a link for further consideration.
It will be interesting to see what they decide but I for one don't wish to see more cage diving sites closer to areas frequented by surfers or other ocean users.
Calypso - No sightings since the 3rd of Feb...nothing. http://www.sharkcagediving.com.au/shark-tours/shark-sightings-2/
Very interesting.
Clearly there is more to be learnt about this and if the white scent (distress)can be emulated, whacko....... we're all surfing blacks and flatrock on dusk.
The fact is the sharks have always been there, because the seals have always been there. We're just not that important to the shark diet to be a target, it is just a tragic case of mistaken identity or a random attack (with due respect to victims).
There is no cage diving in WA and they have had a very rough trot over the last few years with attacks. Who's responsible ?
The boats go to where the sharks are, not the other way around.
Its been going on for over 15 years and they are migratory animals, go figure.
My bet is, unless your 180 kg body boarder, you're probably gonna be OK.
For sure. It's only been 180 kg body boarders attacked so far.
The whole mistaken identity thing is a meme with no basis on factual evidence.
Random attack - I'll actually agree with.
Agree udo & crewza
At least the current location Neptune Island Nth & Sth is well out of sight ie 60km from Pt Lincoln. Unlike some of the proposed locations.
Perhaps this would be a good opportunity to get 'pollie' awareness for more shark monitoring / acoustic coupling stn's to be installed. Can't see why the current technology cant be used to provide SMS - text warning to water users like they have for bushfire etc. CSIRO website has some good stuff on GWS movements but lack of funding seems to be the current problem, but that's another issue.
There's a country labor conference in Adelaide (Port Dock Hotel - Pt Adelaide) weekend of May 2. Current members may want to attend & raise the issue with premier, deputy & minister for environment - Ian Hunter.
Johno
If it's safe, why isn't the end of glenelg jetty a proposed site.
I can see a proposed site from my place on a clear day, as many others can.., it just became a marine sanctuary late last year, I'm not allowed to catch a Tommie there, but go raz up a pointer... Well that up for consideration.
Todays Adervertiser was bragging about how well the marine parks were going at Masillon & St Francis... Wonder if when they where thinking about protecting our environment, if fucked off apex predators eating some of the protected sea lions pictured in the pretty photo were considered?
'The jewels in the state's crown are beginning to shine...' is the opening line.
It looks like these public officials are keen to rush a decision on this ASAP by the middle or end of this month, with minimal consultation.
- Suggest all yourselves if you feel strongly enough write ASAP to
- [email protected]
- the Environment and Tourism Ministers and cc the Premier or whoever else you want
- Based on little or no involvement from surfers - any sites will just be determined by the three licensed businesses.
- My reading of it is that the three shark businesses will demand new licenses providing access all to of those sites in that map above (for virtually free) whenever they want, and put as much berley into the water as they want etc without notifying downstream surfers.
*http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/marineparks/enjoy/shark-cage-diving/alt...). Also their arbitrary consultation dates can get stuffed.
good call greenmind, if u r a south ozzie, u write/email and remind them there HAS to be a 30 day period of public consultation. I will email DEWNMarine now.
So the St Vincent Gulf Prawn Fishery was closed from December 2012 until November 1 2014. This affected 10 licence holders, god knows how many jobs directly and easily many more indirectly.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-08/prawn-fishery-still-at-odds-with-s...
If the Spencer Gulf prawn fishery is closed this affects up to 39 licence holders along with four times as many jobs than the St Vincent Gulf fishery.
These operators don't have much choice other than to sit out the restrictions placed upon them. Their season only lasts around 50 nights per year.
Now, lets go back to the "struggling" shark boat operators. Business is booming when things are going their way. No seasonal restrictions placed upon them, just go your hardest. Calypso has 3 boats sitting on the dock, Adventure Bay now has 2.
When the sharks disappeared the shit hit the fan. The "struggling" shark operators haven't even gone two months without seeing a shark before they started jumping up and down.
Sure there are tourism spin-off's to their businesses but it's a drop in the ocean compared to closing a prawn fishery for a season or two.
The shark operators have diversified their business - offering swim with the tuna and/or seals, so they are still making an income. Just not the mega-bucks they have comfortably become accustomed to.
Here is letter i just sent to email address Greenmind put up, feel free to copy and paste it and send off to that address so they know that there is an organised opposition to this situation.
Dear Sir/s Madams
I hope you are having a great day. Mine started by logging in to see how my surfing mates were going and one, Jeremy Flores from REunion Island posted a memorial to one of his young mates who was torn apart by a shark yesterday. REunion Island has made a bad choice that has actually increased shark numbers in the area and locked them out of one of their former feeding sites.
The recent ORCA killing of a White off Neptune Islands is a SURE sign from Nature that some of our laws in regards to Whites are not working. THe spate of attacks in S.A and W.a back up this.
I know cage diving is a great economic boost for your economy, but these are the facts. Since Cage Diving has been introduced, there has been more White Pointer contacts/sightings closer to humans from Fraser Island to NIngaloo.
Why, because White Pointers now associate food with humans.
Cage Diving has introduced the SMELL of HUManity to the great Whites and because they get fed, well they are smart enough to know humans=some type of food. So now they are stalking tinnies, people swimming at the beaches, fishermen, snorkellers, divers. When attacks are made on humans, very rarely is the person fully eaten or eaten at all, which shows the sharks have smelt humans, bitten them and then found out it wasnt the seafood taste that they thought they would get with humans.
So I ask you to seriously consider this decision to shift the cage diving sites and I ask you to do lots of community consultation, not just with the industry.
You have a Duty of Care to all humanity in this decision because the sharks are attacking and killing people. BEaches being closed at Newcastle and on the Byron Coast. WE know these sharks travel and wont just stay at cage diving sites. So your decision is actually a decision that affects lots more of the Australian coastline. Is it a good economic and social decision to support an industry that is educating a known human killer to be associated with food?
I personally think not, but if new Cage Diving sites have to be found, they cannot be in the vicinity of areas where people surf/dive or fish.
These people that run the Cage Diving sites could easily find other employment and still utilise day trips where sharks may be sited, but to feed these sharks and then have people in the water when the sharks have smelt food/humans then seen them as bait in a cage is like offering a vampire a taste of blood from a pricked finger and then wondering why your flat on your back with his two fangs stuck deep in your throat.
This crap is typical of the current government we have in SA. They are concerned about the 12 million tourist dollars at risk due to the Whites going missing at the Neptune's, but don't seem to be concerned with the loss of millions upon millions of tourist dollars lost due to the increased area/ introduction of their marine parks and sanctuary zones. Thousands of people right around our coastline have been directly impacted by these parks/ zones to the tune of millions dollars.
I'm all for conservation but lets be fair here. It seems it's OK to lock out everyday South Aussies from fishing grounds, affecting the local economies of countless towns across the state , but heaven forbid a pod of Killers comes through the Neptune's scaring off the whites and the government starts scoping out new areas for these pricks to socialise with sharks attracting them to boats and humans.
All because a handful of cashed up tour operators are having a whinge about a 'totally natural' occurrence screwing up their 'totally unnatural' shark cage diving experience.
What a great idea, lets let them burley up the whites closer to populated surfing beaches,. If they let this happen it will be only a matter of time. The State Government will have blood on their hands. I expect they will worm out of it with the typical spin, bullshit expert / scientific advice they have selected from some report they paid to have written.
It seems a White has returned to the Neptunes, spotted yesturday. Let hope this puts this ridiculous idea to bed for good, and more attention back onto the outright ban of shark cage diving in our state.
That's good to hear, in a round about way.
Hahn super dry offering shark cage diving as a prize.
I'm boycotting them.
If ya gonna do it right, well ya can't have the following:
Tooheys, XXXX, Jimmy Boags & Squire and a number of others. ;)
this from Stuart island NZ recently.
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11438699
Good article nzer . But what about the guy from new caledonia ?
13 year old lad I read today in paper. Horrid.
http://www.theage.com.au/tv/current-affairs/show/dateline/culling-sharks...
Interesting blog post on similar topic from South Africa. A few inputs in the comment section below it that are quite interesting too. Anyone know if they use the same chumming technique in South Oz as compared to the South African version?
http://digitalnomad.nationalgeographic.com/2013/11/21/why-i-wont-go-shar...
Appears the white sharks are visiting the Neptune Islands again. Adelaide Now is reporting that after a three month hiatus, where the sharks disappeared, cage diving tourism suffered, and the govt proposed moving cage diving sites closer to the mainland, the sharks are finally making a return.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/smile-for-the-camera-great-white-sharks-return-off-port-lincoln-after-battle-with-orcas/story-fni6uo1m-1227339783276
Geez thats good news .......i think