Comments for Mossel Bay Shark Incident – Details and Pics at http://www.surfski.info , comment 0 to 20 out of 20 comments http://www.surfski.info Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:22:18 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2618 It's a tricky argument, because the shark watching industry, it may be said, contributes to scientific knowledge about sharks and may help preserve them by there being a financial incentive to do so, just like many other eco-tourism ventures. - Gary Kroukamp Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:08:23 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2616 My theory is that sharks are better left alone and not baited and then gawked at like circus animals. If there is a scientific reason to bait a shark or tag it then I am all for it but I am against using sharks (or any other creature) as a form of entertainment. - Alain Jaques Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:13:36 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2615 I don't think comparing sharks to baboons or other mammals is valid. Faced with a question for which you don't know the answer, one should look at what available scientific research has shown and not invent theories for which there is no evidence. - Gary Kroukamp Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:48:29 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2613 Boats chum because it attracts sharks. period. It's also illegal to feed baboons, period. What if someone takes 'Banana essence', not real bananas, you understand, to then attract baboons with the scent of bananas, but not reward them with the real thing... I would not be suprised if the babbon occasionally attacked due to lack of (promised/expected)reward. Why would a shark be any different? I respect Alison Kock's extensive work on sharks, but, in the future, chumming will likely be banned. We dont 'feed' baboons, we should not be 'feeding/attracting' sharks... - Chris G Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:35:44 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2606 Wow, pretty bad luck... I've seen more than about 20 sharks while paddling in my time and that's only in play boats, and mostly at Keurboom Beach. When windsurfing the numbers are probably over 50 already. Around Plettenberg Bay and the biggest sharks I've seen have been sailing off of Sunset Beach near Milnerton... They are almost always there. It's just super bad luck to be taken, I reckon. Glad no one was hurt! - Adrian Tregoning Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:02:09 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2603 The South African Marine Predator Lab in Mossel Bay confirmed: - Definitely a Great White (from bite marks, etc) - Would have weighed in at 80-120kg - The bite was about 25cm deep and 17-18cm wide - The distribution in the bay is focussed between Seal Island and Hartenbos (bigger sharks – probably focusing on hunting seals) with smaller sharks hanging out opposite Groot Brak river mouth (probably focusing on hunting fish). - Since 2001 they have identified 213 individuals in the bay in total, at any time they estimate that between 20 and 60 sharks are in the bay, and a good average would be around 40. - Seal Island is really called Seal Island! (As opposed to the "Seal Island" off Hout Bay which is really "Duiker Island".) - Rob Mousley Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:30:36 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2602 What would the affect of this bite have made on a plastic ski? Scary scary thought! - Ignoblilis Fri, 11 Jul 2008 08:58:03 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2599 Here's the paper, entitled: "Effects of provisioning ecotourism activity on the behaviour of white sharks Carcharodon carcharias" by R. Karl Laroche, Alison A. Kock, Lawrence M. Dill, W. Herman Oosthuizen http://tinyurl.com/6yuf4q - Rob Mousley Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:39:10 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2598 I'm not saying that chumming is not reprehensible - clearly it does attract sharks otherwise the shark tourism guys wouldn't do it. However, there is evidence that chumming doesn't permanently change the behavior of the sharks. That's all I'm saying. Comparing chum with bananas is not valid - and this is an important point. Chumming is NOT feeding. There are many studies (starting with Pavlov) that show that feeding animals can modify their behavior. Chumming is the promise of food that is unfulfilled. Argue if you like that chumming may attact sharks (temporarily) to a specific location and if that location is near a beach then the likelihood of sharks interacting with humans is increased. Bad thing. But you can't say that it's a fact that chumming habituates sharks to boats and humans because there is no formal evidence to suggest this; in fact the evidence points the other way. (And I have the paper on this if anyone's interested.) In summary - all I'm saying is that we need to base our arguments on known facts (or least take the facts into consideration!). - Rob Mousley Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:19:34 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2597 The fact is that chum attracts sharks and bananas attract baboons. If scientists truly believe their theory that there is no association between chum and food then I challenge them to leave the motorboat and go chumming in a speedo. - Alain Jaques Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:44:35 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2596 Don't forget though that chumming has been scientifically shown not to alter shark behaviour. At Seal Island in Cape Town they have tagged many GW sharks with ultra-sonic devices. Using these they showed that sharks are only attracted by chum for a brief period after which they cease to take any notice of it. Note that actually feeding the animals would be a different matter altogether - but chumming just puts a scent into the water but does not reward the sharks - so they appear to learn that it's a waste of time to follow it up. (I'll probably be shot down in flames for this comment - but although even the scientists don't have all the answers we need to base our responses on fact, not on emotion or unsubstatiated opinion!) - Rob Mousley Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:31:32 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2594 Robben are seals in dutch so we have 3 'Seal' Islands in Cape Town including Robben Island. Those early sailors were not very imaginative island-naming-wise and rather spent their time clubbing seals and filling their ship's holds with seal and bird poo? - Alain Jaques Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:07:18 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2593 The practice of chumming (luring sharks using blood and guts) is a highly irresponsible practice, and in my opinion and should be banned. It aclimatises sharks to humans and to boats and removes the natural aversion sharks would have for us creatures. Furthermore is associates humans with food which is the last thing paddlers and swimmers want. Operators of shark cage diving and those, who from the safety of their motorboats, chum and then drag seal cutouts to get some photos of sharks breaching, are simply placing their commercial interests ahead of the public's safety. If we care about sharks beyond their commercial value as scary creatures then I believe the same rules that apply to whales should apply to sharks, namely that you are not allowed within a few hundred metres of them. - Alain Jaques Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:55:29 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2592 Shark shields See: http://www.surfski.info/content/view/554/147/ - Rob Mousley Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:34:37 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2591 What are shark shields and how are they applied to a surfk ski? - MTR Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:20:17 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2590 The problem with shark nets is that they slaughter all kinds of animals other than the sharks. When you consider that sharks haven't hurt anyone near the beaches in Mossel Bay, it seems overkill to suggest shark nets (pun intended). In any case nets are not 100% effective at keeping sharks away from beaches. Sharks are present year round in False Bay and are known to cruise near swimming beaches. But humans are not the natural prey of sharks and according to the experts most "attacks" on humans (and skis) are most likely mistakes/investigation. And the number of interactions between humans and sharks in False Bay, despite their proximity, is minute. I agree with the viewpoint that we're playing in the sharks' back yard - we're there by choice; they aren't, they live there! - Rob Mousley Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:14:22 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2589 Perhaps they should put up sharknets in the Diaz Stand and Hartenbos beaches? Maybe this is a warning sign that sharks get very close to the beach? What will happen to the tourism in this area if they have a shark attack on a beach? If they chum so close to the beaches, don't they change the feeding behavior of the sharks? I think these guys are more concerned that it could happen so close to the beach. - Rinet Engelbrecht Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:17:23 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2588 In fact, Cape Town has 2 Seal Islands... - Gary Kroukamp Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:52:17 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2587 Just how many "Seal Island" 's are there off the SA coast? Seems like every town has one. - nell Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:40:05 +0100 http://www.surfski.info/content/view/761/147/#pc_2586 Has anyone done any testing to determine which brand of ski tastes the best to sea creatures ? Perhaps this could be added to the standard speed/stability profiles. Have fun. - RH Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:38:10 +0100