Shark sentenced to death?

Strange things are happening in Australia. According to a report on sharkyear magazine and the international business times a shark has been sentenced to death, because of a suspected attack on a diver. "A catch and kill order was issued and staff have been sent to the dive area about 180km east of Esperance to deploy capture gear."

While reading the article I realized, that victim was diving in an area that is known for various species of large sharks "A spokesman for Surf Life Saving said the coast off Esperance was dangerous for divers, as many big sharks are seen in the area on a regular basis. The species of shark is unknown, but both tiger sharks and great white sharks are known to the area."

So how are they going to determine which shark
to kill, if they don't even know the species that was responsible for the attack? Now I can understand the urge to do something to make the ocean safer for divers after an attack, but to just go out and indiscriminately catch and kill a shark doesn't accomplish anything.

Cheers,
Martin Graf
CEO Shark Diver

About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at staff@sharkdiver.com

Really Australia? Again?

Australia is at it again. This time they destroyed a 15+ ft pregnant female Tiger Shark in Queensland!

Here's the article by Peter Hall, The Courier-Mail.

Now keep in mind that this animal has not attacked anyone. Stands to reason that at 15 plus feet long, she's been around for many years. Now if she really was a great danger to surfers, don't you think she would have attacked a few times by now?

They destroyed a magnificent creature, just because she was big and happened to be a Tiger Shark. Sad!

If you look like this, they'll kill you in Queensland

Cheers,

Martin Graf
Managing Director
Shark Diver

About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.

Australia to kill Great White Sharks?

A article in the "Australian" reports that: "WEST Australian Fisheries officers are determined to catch and kill a great white shark suspected of having established itself at unpatrolled swimming beaches along the southwest coast since Christmas."
  
Wow, I guess the shark should know that it is not supposed to swim in an unpatrolled swimming area. They want to hunt and kill the shark simply because it's a shark, not because it has attacked anyone. The article further states:

Tony Cappelluti, from the Fisheries Department's shark response unit, said his team was almost certain they were seeing the same shark. "Our assessment is there's a shark of 3-4m, and it's a white shark, which is high risk, in the area," Mr Cappelluti said.

Almost certain? Well, I'm almost certain that a 3-4 m white shark is a juvenile that's still eating fish. Mr. Capelluti concludes by saying:

"(So) we've deemed it to be an imminent threat under the guidelines because there's possibly going to be people in areas we can't get to or can't guarantee we can mitigate the risk by getting them out of the water and keeping them out of the water."

Wouldn't it be easier to advise people not to go swimming in unpatrolled waters?

I wonder if this has to do with how we portray sharks in the media. "Shark Week" type shows and news outlets seem to cater either to those who find the most creative ways to get a shark to bite a gopro or anything else in sight, or those fools who go and ride the sharks to show how "docile" they are. Reporting how sharks really are seems to be almost non existent.

As I'm writing this I'm watching the local CBS news in San Diego, reporting that a 16 white shark that was tagged on the east coast has been spotted 17 miles off the coast of Florida. Their "expert" says that people have been advised to stay out of the water. ..... they spot a shark 17 miles away and advise people to get out of the water? .... really?!

Maybe, if we want to protect the sharks, we need to focus on educating the media, as well as government and beach safety officials, to give them an accurate description of the sharks. We should respect them for the wild predators they are, but there's no need to fear them!

Cheers,

Martin Graf
Managing Director
Shark Diver 

About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.