The men in the grey suits are back
The men in the grey suits are back. Yeah, of course they never really went away, however for the last 18 months they kept a low profile, sightings were few, interactions less, and attacks...well, there'd been nothing serious since the death of Ben Gerring in June 2016.
Now, in the space of a fortnight the fear is back. Two attacks in the space of a day in WA, followed by a third a few days later. Plus, Australia's other hot zone, northern NSW, has had a rash of recent sightings that forced beach closures over 50 kms of coast.
Blacktip sharks feeding on a bait ball at Tyagarah Beach, Byron Bay, yesterday
Yesterday, following aerial surveillance, the Department of Primary Industries sighted sharks near the surf zone on the following beaches:
- Backside Surfbreak, Ballina
- Seven Mile Beach, Lennox Head
- Cosy Corner, Tallow Beach
- Wategos
- Belongil Beach
- Tyagarah
- Brunswick Heads
- New Brighton
- Crabbes Creek
- Wooyung
- Black Rocks reef
- Pottsville
- Hastings Point
- Cudgera
- Mooball
Meanwhile, James Tucker, a PhD student at Southern Cross University, is halfway through a three year study to ascertain whether buried whale carcasses actually attract sharks. If his findings come back positive then sights such as the following, filmed at Angourie back beach, will hopefully become a thing of the past.
Footage by Will Webber.
Comments
shark alarm went off at bondi this morning, just as i was walking out the door heading to tama/bronte. ...the thought of ben calling me a fool if i was bitten was enough to make me turn around.
i spent a week surfing angourie last year, just after the whale washed up -- on the last day, ended up out alone so decided to catch a wave in...just as i bottom turned a big grey animal appeared in the wave, probably a dolphin. but i made sure i rode that wave all the way in.
Posted this in the SE Qld / Nthn NSW Forecaster Notes yesterday, but is relevant to this story so I'll repost here.
Paddled out at one of the Tweed Coast beaches an hour ago, got a couple of fun waves then as another set came in and stood up, I saw the shadow of something through the wave. Either a small shark or a dolphin, couldn’t be sure, looked about five feet in length.
Just prior to this a chopper had begun circling down the point to the south, about 800m away, and I thought I heard a faint siren though couldn’t tell where from.
So, having caught the wave after seeing the big fish, I decided it was relatively small and tracking north - so probably wasn’t of too much concern. And, the Tweed beaches don’t have that big deep gutter at the moment, so as long as you hang close in on the bank it should be relatively safe. A young fella was nearby so I told him to keep his eyes out as I’d seen something but didn’t want to spook him.
By this time, the chopper was bearing down in our direction, and then banked hard when it was right above us. Uh oh, I think. It starts circling, then rapidly drops height - probably to get a better look at something - then turned on the sirens at full volume. The chopper had a NSW Maritime logo on the side.
To be honest, I didn’t feel there was any threat though I had no way of knowing whether there was another bigger fish further out. So, I paddled in with the grommet. Two other blokes further in also came in. As we walked up the beach the chopper was dong some circle work another 500m south.. suggesting they’d seen another big fish of some description. So, three alarms within a couple of kays.
Bloke on the beach reckoned there was apparently fifteen sharks in the region, but I didn’t ask him where he’d got the info from.
T’was a shame, as the surf was fun, the water clear and warm, and there wasn’t many crew around for a public holiday.
Yep , told the same,15 when i surfed the arvo sess further north at the headland, with 50 of my mates spread along an 80 m stretch. Had looked at camera at 9am, did quick head count, no less than 100 spread along same 80 m stretch. One f*#king hundred!! I kid you not, so left it for the arvo.
Don’t let water depth let you get complacent.
I saw a ten foot plus tiger in thigh deep gin clear water over sand a few days ago. It was just cruising and unless it’s dorsal broke the surface you’d mistake it for a rock or patch of weed if you weren’t vigilant.
We thought it was a school of bait till we motored over the top of it.
I’ve also seen plenty of sharks beach themselves chasing a feed.
Somehow I think sharks can tell the difference between us in the water and a bait ball, natural/normal source of food vs not natural/normal source of food. Unlike us smart humans who will choose the non natural/normal food source over the natural/normal food source. I reckon plastic poisoning of sharks will be the "MAD COW" desease of the new melenium.
If it's meat it's a natural food source for a shark, be it a fish, seal, whale, dingo, kangaroo etc I'm sure sharks have been chomping at people as long as people have been going into the water where sharks are be it ocean or rivers...
Sharks also will take a bite at just about anything, when caught and opened up they have found all kinds of things in sharks stomachs.
I think of how us humans present to sharks in lines or packs just beyond the breakers. If there's seals, baitfish, any food source near shore it would look like we're trying to keep them from it. GWS have no fear of checking boats out as fishos tease them by removing struggling fish from the sea.
Maybe they could tell the difference between us and naturally occurring prey... until we presented ourselves to them dressed in a wetty surrounded by litres of fish oil and blood. With these types of animals, conditioning equals intelligence, not logic
surfed northern end of palm beach on the gold coast today around lunchtime. Saw a large bait ball hovering around just beyond the impact zone... 20 mins later a 6 foot shark was spotted nearby.. only a few crew out, everyone went in though..... their have been a few bait balls around the last few months too...
Is their an increase in shark presence or are we hypersensitive after WA??
Actually its a beer bong ben
This is the SW you know
Actually, first impressions were an up-ended rain gauge.
Or a tinfoil hat.
" Tin foil hat "
Most certainly....after some of the comments I have read here lately.
MULL UP !
"Meanwhile, James Tucker, a PhD student at Southern Cross University, is halfway through a three year study to ascertain whether buried whale carcasses actually attract sharks. If his findings come back positive then sights such as the following, filmed at Angourie back beach, will hopefully become a thing of the past."
You don't need a study to confirm this, especially three years of study?, any fisherman knows to go fishing for sharks you need to burly up the water with anything that will produce a scent, that whale in that video and the water flowing into the water would certainly be attracting sharks to the area and making them hungry, it's not rocket science, it's just common sense.
Of course, but it’s not science until real data is produced
yeah, indo...it is common sense. but policy decisions, funding etc is evidence based. so you need to do a study. common sense can then be incorporated into the study.
why bother with the study? so things are transparent and open. a study can be checked and replaicated etc.
in short, people in the past ruined it for everyone by acting corruptly or making very poor decisions under the guise of common sense that a mate told him.
Rob Bruce is a Legend margs river local , hardcore big wave surfer & top bloke too .
First time a shark has gone for a black n white striped board that i know of . Maybe it worked? cant say it didn't succeed in deterring the shark biting,
possibly aborting mission at the last moment ?
Quote :
"After watching from the shore for an hour as others returned to the water he decided to get back out there but admitted he did not feel entirely comfortable.
“I was shocked,” he said.
“It felt like I’d had five cups of coffee and it was hard to relax when I got back out there.”
The impact of the shark’s hit left a small crack in Mr Bruce’s 2.5m board. He credits the size of his board and the black and white stripes as possibly keeping the shark away after the initial blow.
“The black and white stripes are meant to deter sharks,” he said.
“Maybe it changed it’s mind at the last second. It might have saved me.”
Mr Bruce said until recently he had only seen a shark out surfing about every 10 years. In the past two weeks he has seen three out in the surf."
https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/sharks/margaret-river-surfer-rob-bruce-...
pretty funny that story about the b&W stripes on the bottom of boards , where the thinking is you look like a sea snake , and sharks aren't interested , sorta hilarious when you think that a shark would confuse a 6 '0 long 20" wide surfboard with a sea snake....and recently watched shark week and they have found the remains of B&W sea snakes in the stomachs of tiger sharks......hehe...reality is a bitch sometimes......
Its the start of mullet season and fish are moving. Not to mention other species like salmon, tailor, bream ,and luderick will be 'travelling' in numbers shortly. Bait fish on the north coast at this time of year is far from unusual given the water temps and sea conditions . Good chance of a late shot shot at some pelagic predators before winter. Nothing new.
Exactly nothing new.
And just to down rez the panic button most of the sharks in those bait balls are black tips and small whalers.
Always bulls sharks around this time.
Maybe a good idea to avoid the early and late around river mouths and feet up if a school of sea mullet comes through the lineup.
Otherwise, no harm no foul in clear water with sunshine.
Freeride,
I agree, this has always been the case with bait balls, mostly bull sharks around here. I was just surprised that even with the baited hooks hanging of the shark nets on the Gold Coast, inside the nets seems to be still full of shark life......
Today North NSW / 62 sharks spotted in 5 hrs.
Goldy skegz spookin' (Shark City)Mostly to clear the sweet Autumn Peaks on offer. (Mine!)
Baitballs in ankle deep shorebreaks from Balina to North Straddie.
Reports of Baitballs in Moreton Bay reaching off shore Noosa today.
SeaWorld ' say the warmer water brings nutrients to the surface that bait fish then feed on.
Most Qld/Tweed Newspapers fortunately have free access to the Dive in Movies!
Note: Whale spotted at Fingal! Each Whale season is starting earlier.
Sea is mirroring land where stupid summer flowers are already re blooming for Spring.
Talk of OZ critters being completely exhausted from endless summers.(Spare a sip for Skip')
Looks like the guys at Tweed Bait will be doing some overtime.
Will’s a funny bugger...but that is batshit crazy.
Water temp was bang on 21 degrees again during the last spate of attacks.
What about the duty of care, i kinda want to know if i rock up to a nth coast beach and if a shark has been buried, will surf elsewhere.
Anyone got James number he must be in the loop.
Veteran surfer local Keith Halnan called on the government to take action with smart drum lines to catch, tag and move problem sharks.
“It is ripping the community apart,” Mr Halnan said. “No one feels safe and the whole fear is running through the community.”
“We want the government to introduce it and trial it on the Capes regions because this is where we have the problem.”
For anyone to say there isn't an issue in SW WA they are just plain wrong. We don't need studies and reports that politicians can hide behind, we need action and now.
Keith Halnan lives in the south west for the summer, #1 drama queen/hysterical shark fear guy when he is in margs, some vested interest when he makes his money from the surf industry and surf school dollars. him and aunt leroy maybe one in the same person even? Seems the shark problem this time may be more result from heaps of dead whales coinciding with the salmon run, its wild kingdom here at the moment, so much sea life of all types. Maybe its time to look at it like a season, sharks, whales,salmon migrate.If there heaps of shark sightings be smart, don't surf a spot 10 minutes after there is a sighting (as both of the recent WA incidents were) or there is a whale carcass around? Not rocket science. The ego of surfers sometimes, blame the government, demand millions be spent killing every shark in the ocean so we can pursue our leisure .
Not sure anyone has said the answer is to kill every shark in the ocean. Talk about hysteria. If you live in the west and think nothing has changed then you are deluded. If you don’t live in the west then your opinion on the shark situation over here doesn’t mean shit because you’re not having to deal with it.
Thats kind of why I replied to you comment Quokka. Keith H is only a borderline SW local at best IMO (he lives in Carnavon for the better part of the year I believe) and he has never surfed any of the outer reefs in Prevelly that will be directly effected by the installation of drum lines (smart or not) . So propping him and his far right cull and kill em all ideas as the great white hope (no pun intended) bothers me. Drum lines work well (depending on which side of the debate you sit)for setting behind beach breaks or across a bay but the geography of Prevelly and its reefs they would have to be in too close to those outer line ups to be effective for the actual in close beach areas. So do you want to sit next to baited fishing lines while you surf ? I for one do not.
You may have an axe to grind with Mr Halnan I’m not sure but I still don’t see from his comments where you get the idea he wants to kill all sharks? He says tag and move, not kill.
What do you propose to do if smart drumlines are not the answer in your opinion?
Sigh... this is actually really sad. I LOVE to surf.. but we as humans don't own this whole planet. Not even the land we evolved to walk on. This little earth is becoming more and more populated with people, with more rubbish, more pollution more power mongers who don't give a toss about the environment, about all the shit spewing out of factories and planes and cars ( and yes most of us drive cars too).. the weather is changing.. it IS getting warmer for longer. And yet we continue to bury our heads in the sand and point the finger at innocent wildlife who have had no hand in this but are just trying to survive in the toxic muck that we have created and continue to create. If we are to survive and let this planet survive we have to learn to co-exist with non human species.. and do what we can to be kind, instead of destructive . So there are lots of bait balls around.. just let them have their feed. Simple. Yeah it sucks if we cant surf for a bit,.. but shit, give a little. There has been months of shark free surfing that we have all had and do they complain about it? We are all on this planet together. I wish people would stop being so selfish. It does my head in. And maybe in the meantime we gotta do our bit to reduce pollution.. and consume less. Just my two cents.
Great post Saltyone! I fully agree with you. Unfortunately it will never happen as the vast majority of 'humans' on this planet are self centred, greedy c##nts.
The ONLY cull we need right now on this planet is on the human race.
Yep copy that ringa
Weve got trump working on that as we speak lol
You two need help. Luke 23:34.
Agreed!
Do you have Solar panels and solar hot water on the roof of your house?
Why???
Are you another Asian telemarketer who'd like to sell me some?
My question was for Saltyone, just curious to know what he does to reduce his energy consumption.
Doesn't matter what he does current strategy of continuous growth means doomsday end we just don't know which generation wears it?
True, but what does that have to do with baitballs and sharks, both signs of a very healthy inshore ecosystem?
His post makes no sense.
If you are worried about ecosystem collapse this is a great news story.
Cross comments I think.......unless I missed something I was replying to the energy comment.
As for the sharks and bait balls I take it your measurement of a healthy ecosystem is based on your life timeline more likely you have the remnants of a healthy ecosystem.
I will concede its better than the coastal deserts/death zones where the nets are run.
Unfortunately you are a rare breed Saltyone great post
ever Morteined a mozzie or squashed a bullant or used a mouse trap Salty?
Hope not
Surfers being Pro Active in mitigating the threat of Shark Attack needs to become the priority. That Loud Hailer should become the Symbol for Next Level vigilance amongst Surfers to guard against the threat of an Attack. The ability to raise the ALARM needs to be available, esp Byron, Ballina, Yallingup etc There’s no way to raise to raise the alarm at Bells that I know of! Let’s spot em get out of their way, just as we have been doing all along. Remote locations means Buddy Up time. Greater safety in numbers as W A ‘s survival shows. BUT those guy’s have to be asked What were U doing out there?
Assuming Ringy, you won't be volunteering to go first?
Shouldn't have to....
My wife & I made the decision not to have kids years ago. We're the solution, not the problem.
Ringy unfortunately it doesn't work like that. When your wife and self don't have kids, you don't get to pass those commendable values onto those kids. Even with 2 it's below replacement and so population will gradually decrease. Those kids can be raised to be fully respectful of nature and sustainability.
Another family, whose values/culture don't care at all about the environment, have 6 kids. In the future the population mix will have a higher mix of these people who don't care - 6 kids and a culture that reinforces it becomes an exponential inevitability.
Here's the start of the cutting satire 'Idiocracy' to point out the future:
You probably use more resources in a single trip to the Ments than the entire population of the Mentawaiis.
Maybe look in the mirror before you call the cull.
Is this aimed at me (accurate) or someone else?
Philosurphizing yes I have solar panels and rainwater going to my house. Goofy - no I don't use any pesticides ( mortein /roundup/weedkillers) , or mousetraps, and I don't squash insects. I try to practice what I preach . I just appreciate nature and feel every bird/animal/insect/fish has a right to be here, it all has its place.That doesn't mean my house is infested with mice and mosquitos either. I just try to do things in ways that don't harm.
Nice work. There should be more people like you.
I don’t think culling is the answer either. But in saying that I haven’t had a friend(s) or relative eaten by a shark, and where I live doesn’t have the shark situation other parts of Oz do. Touch wood...
So if I lived elsewhere my opinion may be different
So why do sharks and bait balls make you sad?
No one has called for a cull or even any mitigation.
Bait balls are fcuking awesome.
I don't see anyone in here "pointing the finger at innocent wildlife".
Freeride - The Bullshark Wrestler bloke at Lennox... Legit story ?
Not sure Udo, was down the point tonight and didn't hear anything but the photo looks legit
I,m curious saltyone, do you eat seafood?
hahaha classic, best impression I've seen.
"and attacks...well, there'd been nothing serious since the death of Ben Gerring in June 2016."
wasn't Laeticia Brouwer attacked and killed in 2017 while surfing in Esperance?
“there'd been nothing serious since the death of Ben Gerring in June 2016.”
Doreen Collyer dead 5 days after Ben Gerring? Laeticia Brouwer less than one year later? Nothing serious eh? What about the nutter up there ^ who wants us all dead? Does that include himself? Talk about a collective Munchausens. Stockholm Syndrome in fact. Seek help boys.
Like to know of old mate phD student doing research has spoken to any old retired pro fishermen?
Current ones a bit closed lippedbdue to possible economic impacts, but the retired ones got nothing to lose by telling the truth...
How do you think they Burley up out at sea, when n where no one is watching? And why? To give the teethy ones something to occupy themselves while the catch goes on further away and without nets n catch being taken on the way up.
Whale oil, decompossing whales 100% attack sharks AND fuel attack instinct.
Calypso Star cage diving Neptune Island
We use natural berley to guarantee you see GWS..
I know it's only one study (I'm sure there is more though) but this is pretty good evidence for elasmobranches' capacity for associative learning:
http://animalstudiesrepository.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1082&cont...
Given what they've observed here, it would not be surprising that boats (and little boats, i.e., surfboards etc.), in the context of burleying, have become a conditioned stimulus.
One would hope the study is a little more involved than simply 'can it attract sharks'. No shit it can. The video above is an extreme example and maybe doesn't serve any true debate very well. Science discovers new unexpected things that aren't just common sense.
Lets pollute and trash the earth every day... we care about nature and want to save the poor innocent animals,, cos we care a lot, Dont harm them, but hey lets stop for Macdonalds takeaway for a quick snack !
Hey Sharkman I think the black and white stripes are meant to affect the sharks perception of depth of field or something similar , which alters their normal stalking/ striking patterns. Or something like that, that plus zero pointers have attacked zebras. That's what I tell myself as I got em sprayed on my last custom. It could be a factor in Robs situation who knows? At least it doesn't potentially attract them, well I hope not. I know some of my friends who have survived incidents with big pointers ( that number is unfortunately accumulating) by altering their hunting strategy by paddling towards them ( albeit sometimes they didn't realize the shark was there and happened to be paddling towards it!) There's been incidents in Margs everyday this week, obviously because of the anomaly of extra dead whales, but what's wrong with the idea of smart drum lines? They're smart mo fos , once they realize they're not as protected they'll make em selves scarce. This is serious and blatantly obvious, we need action and all the eco warriors are dangerous and close minded. They are everywhere at the moment and its getting worse, move them out and study the big f%$#*&s in the process.
Hey mate, not sure if anyone else has pointed this out previously, but the whole zebra stripes confuse predators statement that gets around is just a hypothesis (a very old one at that) that has virtually no evidence to support it. The hypothesis with the strongest supporting evidence at present is actually that the stripes help to repel parasitic flies. See review below (2014 nature paper):
http://wfcb.ucdavis.edu/files/8214/1278/2606/the_function_of_zebra_strip...
Sounds like I need to repaint the outdoor BBQ setting with the Collingwood flag.
Drum lines would have to be set right thru the line of Bombie , Boat Ramp and other outer reefs in the Margs area to be of any use to protecting the beaches in the area if you can picture the geography of the surf breaks and inner beaches in prevelly. So if you like the idea of sitting around near baited hooks while you wait for sets fight the fight.
Not really Mike.
Stick one outside the Box and a couple on the EB/Gracetown stretch, maybe a couple on the Yalls stretch.
Put 'em 500m from the nearest break point at least.
Yep agree FR. I would stick them in following locations:
- Between Rocky Point & Boneyards
- Between OSOTM & Windmills
- Somewhere off Bears
- Torpedo Rocks
- Between Wyadup & Inji
- Between Moses & Honeycombs
- Cow Bay
- Between Cobbles & Karates
- Between Lefties & EB
- Between Box & Mains
- Between Grunters & Gas
- Boranup
There you go WA state govt, just done your job for you.
Or the Seacliff SLSC colours Ben!
Today's Gold Coast Bulletin (2m Shark) @ South Straddie yesterday (Sunday arvo)
Sounds normal? Only shark was trapped in GCCC 'Tipplers'netted swimming enclosure.
(GCCC: Shark jumped inflatable perimeter) Reports of a young girl only metres away...
(Video footage for subscribers only) Check QLD News Tonight?
Tip: (Click on Shark Photo for a better image with some added info in search window)
2016 A dolphin was trapped inside the GCCC 'Tallebudgera' netted swimming enclosure.
2017 A stonefish + 1m Barracuda drained from GCCC ' Evandale Lake mounded enclosure.
Plenty of angles : Safety design fails /Inadequate Patrols/Wildlife death traps... etc
Update: Sunshine Coast Daily News "Shark inside swimming enclosure" (Free video)
Shark comes in close alright!(No alarm) Girl was in closer with parents taking video.
Theres no point debating it. Kill them all....seals too, they're nothing but trouble, making a mess of the long line...possibly put dolphins and albatross' in the same basket, they're not bad with home made chips
Great Tipplers Shark Hunt (Day 3)
No trace of The Bully nor any (GCCC Swim Alerts) to be alarmed alarmed about.
Mayor has paratrooped Parking meter inspectors into the Shark Cage.
Collaring my neighbour's barking mad dog & Dragging Sunday's roast chicken carcass.
[2P] Expired...OK! Bombs Away!
Once biggest council in OZ with all your money can't spot a Shark in own Wading Pool.
I'm guessing they've wound up the flymo... Any ideas?
S.A have the right idea
Dead whale washes up near Farm Beach
IT will be Towed out to Sea or Cut up and removed piece by piece ..
That's the right thing to do Udo, but will be interesting to see if costs associated for this activity (Australia wide) comes down to a local Government expenditure or a State expense. I like the State approach but then in WA for example, people in Nullagine cover the cost of whale removal in Margs. On the other side, Augusta Margaret river council will end up having to stump out a lot of coin just to keep beaches free of whales for Perth people to enjoy the whale oil free beach.
Another topic which I think requires some serious discussion is the protocol for whale stranding events.
The March beaching event at Hamelin of a pod of pilot whales, a large percentage of the whales were dead upon touching the beach. Volunteers and Parks/Wildlife staff returned some of the whales alive to the water and they were released. Pilot whales are renowned for these beaching events and very rarely do the surviving whales released not beach themselves again.
Thus the whales that were released, simply beached themselves again in the middle of the headland between contos and sth beach. This proved to be an inaccessible area for removal and consequently they are left to their own means of natural disposal.
This has resulted in beach closures for Hamelin, Boranup, sth Beach and Contos since March and still current closures in place.
Surely knowing the history of these whale strandings, especially pilot whales, and knowing that they will re-beach themselves, the most sensible option would be to euthanise them and mitigate the risk of any future decomposing whales and further clean up activities/expense if we are now reaching the point where every whale carcass washed up on beaches is to be removed.
There are supposably 1 million pilot whales in the ocean and not endangered so it's just a human feel good thing to want to push them back out to sea when them beaching in the first place is the writing on the wall.
Don't disagree but good luck with the greenies, do gooders and all loud shouting minority groups.
Yeah we must be careful ..............feeling like humans that will be the end of us
Here we go, aunty quokkas baaack.
Off your paranoia meds again are we?
Paranoid?, try reading back on your past 100 posts quokka.
My issue is Big Keith Hislop is adamant drumlines should be put in close to breaks in Prevelly regardless of the fact that back of Gracetown is the problem area, it won't effect him as he surfs 3 ft margs thru the summer and fucks off for the rest of the year and thats it, but anybody who wants to surf any offshore reef (box, bombie, ramp etc) without being subjected to paddling through or sitting near a bait curtain should have a good hard think about it before jumping on that bandwagon, tin foil hat or not.
It has been a while Mike 'only hunting I do is online forums and organic section of the farmers market'. It's good to be back, I even forgot to tick the no notification comment section which notified me of your deleted comment.
Did you have a few sherberts watching the Barnaby interview and felt upset?
Or was it the putting pilot whales out of their misery when all they want to do is swim up on the beach and die?
Yes it was a good weekend, and no for the record, I'm not confused on my sexuality. If you have some concerns about yours, I'm sure Garry G could offer some advice or assistance.
over and out
Uncle Leroy
Bloody hell - check the third pic!
ferk....one lucky punter!
Grabbed another board and went back out ! ?
Loose.
That tooth looks a bit too elongated for a white, but the serrations and profile look the goods....? Juvenile white?
Not sure about the third pic, Ben - you don't like hairy feet? The second one with the tooth in the board is the clincher for me!
Bit more on the story would be good
Anyone seen the GWS encounter off Urunga footage from yesterday..2 guys in there kayaks
Holy Fuck its a Big bastard. its on Utube.
Staying in groups or pairs like that can make the difference in surviving a shark attack. Though the Kirra shark attack didn't play out like that. Sharks are not dumb they play the odds hence why Fanning was a sitting duck at JBay. Basic stuff. Don't make yourself a target.
http://sharkattackfile.net/spreadsheets/pdf_directory/1937.10.27.b-Brink...
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/shark-fatality-horror-at-dusk/
David Peltier's death was awful. No Human deserves such an exit.
Good effort last Friday from Port Maq council in getting a beached whale removed from Big Hill near Pt Plomer within 24 hrs before breaking up and leaching into the sand. Multiple whites were sighted already.