Western Australia: Shark Attack Central | PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
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Western Australia: Shark Attack Central

AngryAnt

Tiger Legend
Nov 25, 2004
27,017
14,792
willo said:
I think your numbers are off. Or are you referring to swimming only? Not fishing, water sports of other activities?
3 deaths in one year
11 shark deaths in the last 8 years.

Would be way lower than accidental drownings I imagine. We could ban swimming or drain the ocean I suppose. What matters is that people are SAFE at all times!
 

LeeToRainesToRoach

Tiger Legend
Jun 4, 2006
33,186
11,546
Melbourne
WesternTiger said:
:hihi who's going to extremes and being nonsensical?

Bolts view is clearly in the second camp and at the extreme and I'm not just going by this article.

Haven't heard anyone, including Bolt, call for sharks to be exterminated. Not even Vic Hislop.
 

tigertim

something funny is written here
Mar 6, 2004
29,895
12,164
LeeToRainesToRoach said:
Haven't heard anyone, including Bolt, call for sharks to be exterminated. Not even Vic Hislop.
He is calling for a cull though.
 

WesternTiger

Tiger Legend
Nov 7, 2004
14,674
3,533
LeeToRainesToRoach said:
Haven't heard anyone, including Bolt, call for sharks to be exterminated. Not even Vic Hislop.

You mentioned exterminated not me.

As I posted earlier he his advocating for the indescriminate killing of sharks in the belief that it will make it safer for people to undertake "recreational" activities. That's pretty extreme in my book.
 

AngryAnt

Tiger Legend
Nov 25, 2004
27,017
14,792
LeeToRainesToRoach said:
Yes, no easy answers to this one. The trend is shocking, witnesses are often traumatised for life, and people will re-assess those risks and stay out of the water. Some will perceive this happily as a 'natural solution' while others will be less accommodating.

The trend in the last 20 years? Around 1 death a year. Factor in population increases since the 1920s and that's easily explained.

A death by shark attack is gruesome and tragic for individuals, but compared to the numbers of deaths from other accidental causes they pale into insignificance. Of course A Current Affair and professional agitators like Bolta want to whip us into a frenzy, but it's pleasing to see only a small minority on PRE falling for it.
 

LeeToRainesToRoach

Tiger Legend
Jun 4, 2006
33,186
11,546
Melbourne
antman said:
The trend in the last 20 years? Around 1 death a year. Factor in population increases since the 1920s and that's easily explained.

A death by shark attack is gruesome and tragic for individuals, but compared to the numbers of deaths from other accidental causes they pale into insignificance. Of course A Current Affair and professional agitators like Bolta want to whip us into a frenzy, but it's pleasing to see only a small minority on PRE falling for it.

Compared with 2 from the 1920's-1990's? WA's most prolific growth occurred 1970-2000, when the population doubled (and it's currently experiencing the smallest growth in its history).

No, it's an alarming trend that has manifested itself after the great white was protected in 1997.

You can keep comparing shark attack deaths to other fatalities... I won't respond as it's a quintessential strawman.

Nobody's in a frenzy here as far as I can tell. We just disagree as to whether the current rate of consumption by man-eating fish is acceptable.
 

josey

Tiger Superstar
Mar 17, 2008
1,662
367
Melbourne
LeeToRainesToRoach said:
Compared with 2 from the 1920's-1990's? WA's most prolific growth occurred 1970-2000, when the population doubled (and it's currently experiencing the smallest growth in its history).

No, it's an alarming trend that has manifested itself after the great white was protected in 1997.

You can keep comparing shark attack deaths to other fatalities... I won't respond as it's a quintessential strawman.

Nobody's in a frenzy here as far as I can tell. We just disagree as to whether the current rate of consumption by man-eating fish is acceptable.

Another thing to consider is how popular surfing has become in the past 20 years. I haven't any stats but I have live on the surf coast for 20 years and the amount of people in the water has increased massively.

I imagine it would be the same the Australia wide. Surfing appears to be a mainstream sport these days, and so many more people are exposed to sharks than they ever have been before.
 

LeeToRainesToRoach

Tiger Legend
Jun 4, 2006
33,186
11,546
Melbourne
josey said:
Another thing to consider is how popular surfing has become in the past 20 years. I haven't any stats but I have live on the surf coast for 20 years and the amount of people in the water has increased massively.

I imagine it would be the same the Australia wide. Surfing appears to be a mainstream sport these days, and so many more people are exposed to sharks than they ever have been before.

Although I can't find any figures to quantify it, it makes sense. However it also makes sense that more people are using the water elsewhere. WA is experiencing a troubling increase in fatalities whereas e.g. Queensland and NSW beaches are far safer places than in the past.
 

Brodders17

Tiger Legend
Mar 21, 2008
17,663
11,704
LeeToRainesToRoach said:
Although I can't find any figures to quantify it, it makes sense. However it also makes sense that more people are using the water elsewhere. WA is experiencing a troubling increase in fatalities whereas e.g. Queensland and NSW beaches are far safer places than in the past.

without knowing i would think there is a difference in the type of shark that frequents the waters off southern WA (which is where the sharks attack appear to be), to the sharks that are found in the warmer waters off Queensland.

actually there is probably a fair chance that climate change, and the resultant warmer oceans are pushing the sharks further south.
 

fastin bulbous

Tiger Champion
Mar 30, 2010
4,121
4,218
Darwin
Streak said:
I live in WA, in fact in Albany, where there are some mighty big sharks floating around, particularly great whites and hammerheads. The locals say it is a legacy of our whaling industry that there are so many big sharks down here. there are some impressive photos of blokes in boats shooting sharks with rifles to protect whale carcasses as they are brought in for processing.

I go fishing all the time, out in the boat, playing in the surf with the kids etc. etc. Doesn't bother me in the slightest. Have lots of mates who go diving, collecting abalone etc. and they just accept it.

Have always believed that we shouldn't upset the balance of things in nature.

Not trying to make a point here, just my view on things.

I live in the Crocodile islands so....well I don't go swimming or splashing around in the mangroves.
 

tigersnake

Tear 'em apart
Sep 10, 2003
23,483
11,630
LeeToRainesToRoach said:
Although I can't find any figures to quantify it, it makes sense. However it also makes sense that more people are using the water elsewhere. WA is experiencing a troubling increase in fatalities whereas e.g. Queensland and NSW beaches are far safer places than in the past.

That's interesting. Up here there's been a lot of media over the last few years about the rise of shark attacks on surfers around the north Coast of NSW, especially around Ballina, and also Byron Bay.
 

LeeToRainesToRoach

Tiger Legend
Jun 4, 2006
33,186
11,546
Melbourne
tigersnake said:
That's interesting. Up here there's been a lot of media over the last few years about the rise of shark attacks on surfers around the north Coast of NSW, especially around Ballina, and also Byron Bay.

Are there nets at Ballina?
 

LeeToRainesToRoach

Tiger Legend
Jun 4, 2006
33,186
11,546
Melbourne
...Part II, since the original thread is locked for no apparent reason.

Following two attacks on the same day off Gracetown on Monday, organisers of the Margaret River Pro surf tournament have cancelled the event, citing unacceptable risk.

Two Brazilian competitors aired their concerns on social media but WA surfer Taj Burrow criticised the decision, saying it would have a devastating effect on local business and tourism.

The article below details concerns that the event may not return to Margaret River.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-18/margaret-river-pro-cancelled-after-shark-attacks-near-gracetown/9670586

The original question remains... what to do?
 

LeeToRainesToRoach

Tiger Legend
Jun 4, 2006
33,186
11,546
Melbourne
Reunion has a similar problem to WA, and officials there are at a loss.

"It is still illegal to surf, and the rules and regulations are simply in place to protect those officials in charge from getting into legal troubles, and not to protect ocean-users.

Reunion is the highest-risk location for a shark attack in the whole world, and little has really been done in shark mitigation processes.

There have been nets, there have been drumlines, and there have been extensive security watches – divers, boats, drones etc. – but all have been short-lived and experimental, while nothing is being done on a political level to stop the constant attacks.

A large chuck of coastline on the west coast of Reunion was declared a no-fishing zone back in 2007, and something went out of whack with the ecosystem in the process. There are many theories, including loss of natural food for sharks, and the sudden drop on shark catching, but either way, the bull sharks came to town."

https://www.tracksmag.com.au/news/the-sharks-of-reunion-485665
 

LeeToRainesToRoach

Tiger Legend
Jun 4, 2006
33,186
11,546
Melbourne
Bonnie Holmes, of the University of Queensland school of biological sciences, last year called for tiger sharks to join great whites on the protected-species list, but these days is reluctant to say why they should be protected.

After tiger sharks were suspected to have been the cause of two serious attacks in the Whitsundays in September, I called to ask politely if she still thought they should be protected. She did.

Asked why, she said: “Because I’ve spent the last 10 years of my life researching them.”

Then she hung up.

Blood in the water but experts are still at sea on shark danger (paywalled)

Calls to mind the Simpsons episode where academics take control of Springfield and it ends in disaster.