Shark Bites in Oz

[scuba_katt]

Sorry for long post but this was in the Sydney Morning Herald today:


"Sharks caught after swimmer killed in attack

Three large bull sharks have been caught in a Gold Coast lake where an 84-year-old man was killed in a shark attack yesterday.

The sharks, measuring 2.2, 2.1 and 1.6 metres, were found early today in a net set across Burleigh Lake after police asked the Department of Primary Industries to help find the killer shark.

The body of Bob Purcell, a former Commonwealth Games bowler, was discovered by kayakers after he disappeared on his regular morning swim.

Mr Purcell had suffered severe leg wounds.

The acting manager of Queensland's shark control program, Tony Ham, said the attack on Mr Purcell was consistent with a bull shark measuring more than two metres.

The stomach contents of the caught sharks would be examined today to determine whether any of the three was responsible for the attack.

Mr Ham said there were hundreds of bull sharks in Gold Coast canals.

In addition to the 125 metre long net, six baited hooks have also been placed in Burleigh Lake.

Gold Coast residents have been urged not to swim in the city's canal, lake and river systems."



Whilst I regret this man's death and wish his family didn't have to lose him, I find it disturbing that they've killed at least 3 sharks - and maybe more according to the newsflash I just saw on TV.

Does anyone know if this sort of attack ever results in catching and relocating the sharks? I don't know much about the procedures following shark attacks but is it a necessary requirement to attempt to find the culprit & kill it to locate any remains of the victim?

 

[scuba_katt]

Just found this info in a news article relating to the shark attack a couple days ago on an old man swimming in Queensland Canals.

Thought it was interesting:


"Recent shark attacks in Australia

1995
Sept 12, WA - Abalone diver killed by a shark on WA's south coast.

1996
Feb 28, NSW - Man bitten by shark in Sydney's Parramatta River.
March 5, Qld - Woman attacked near Heron Island in Queensland.

1997
Jan 20, Qld - Man mauled by a shark off Whitsunday Island.
Feb 28, Qld - Italian tourist's arm mauled in the Whitsunday Passage.
Oct 28, WA - Two men escape unhurt when a surf-ski is bitten in half at Perth's Cottesloe beach.

1998
Jan 19, SA - Man bitten at an Adelaide beach.
June 28, SA - Man dies after being mauled near South Neptune Island.
Dec 23, SA - Woman suffers deep leg wounds when bitten at Middleton Beach.

1999
Feb 23, NSW - Surfer's hand bitten off at Scotts Head.
May 30, SA - Sailboarder killed in attack at Hardwicke Bay, Yorke Peninsula.

2000
March 15, NSW - Surfer dragged by a shark at McMasters Beach on NSW central coast.
March 30, Qld - Part of man's left leg is ripped away by a shark on the Gold Coast.
Sept 24, SA - New Zealand surfer killed by a white pointer at Cactus Beach, on SA's west coast.
Sept 25, SA - Youth killed when pulled from his surfboard off Blacks Point, on SA's west coast.
Nov 6, WA - Man killed and another injured by a suspected great white shark at Perth's North Cottesloe beach.

2001
Feb 4, NSW - Surfer escapes shark attack at Brooms Head in northern New South Wales.
Feb 28, WA - A huge white pointer shark attacks a five-metre boat 200 metres from swimmers at a beach off Albany.
April 2, NSW - Shark tears through surfer's leg at Nambucca Heads, on the state's mid north coast.
May 4, NSW - Shark attacks a 33-year-old surfer near Toukley on the NSW Central Coast.
June 9, NSW - Fishermen discovers the remains of a missing man, including a head, inside a three-metre tiger shark caught off Lord Howe Island.
Nov 7, WA - Man reports falling off his surf-ski after possibly hitting a shark off Leighton Beach, just two beaches south of North Cottesloe where a man was killed by a shark in 2000.
Nov 23, NSW - Surfer launched more than two metres into the air when his board was hit by a shark at Flat Rock Beach in Lennox Head.

2002
Jan 30, WA - A 32-year-old man attacked by a shark at Collie River south of Perth.
Feb 7, NSW - A man escapes with minor injuries after a shark attacks his kayak in the Parramatta River.
Feb 16, Qld - Surfer bitten on the foot by a shark off Sunshine Beach, just south of Queensland's popular Noosa resort.
April 30, SA - Twenty-three-year-old scallop diver killed by a shark after being dragged from a mate's arms while trying to get on board a boat in Smoky Bay in the Great Australian Bight.
Dec 16, Qld - A 23-year-old man killed by a shark while swimming in Miami Lake on the Gold Coast.
Dec 29, Qld - A 20-year-old Dutch tourist suffers severe lacerations to her arm after being attacked by a hammerhead shark at Apollo Reef off the far north Queensland coast.

2003.
Feb 8, Qld - An 84-year-old man found dead in Burleigh Lake on the Gold Coast after being attacked by a shark while on an early morning swim."

 

[Diver0001]

scuba_katt once bubbled...
Sorry for long post but this was in the Sydney Morning Herald today:
<snip>

Does anyone know if this sort of attack ever results in catching and relocating the sharks? I don't know much about the procedures following shark attacks but is it a necessary requirement to attempt to find the culprit & kill it to locate any remains of the victim?

Unless you relocate it to an aquarium a shark will just swim back "home".

I'm not fond of killing sharks (especially considering that global shark populations are down 40-60% depending on species). There is no evidence to suggest that sharks deliberately hunt and kill humans in the same way they do with seals or some aquatic birds. Most if not all attacks against swimmers appear to be either exploratory (bite and see) and/or instinctive. Nevertheless, bull sharks are known to be unpredictable, aggressive and fond of shallow waters. It's therefore natural that a bull shark will have more contact with swimmers than other species and if it decided to make a home near a swimming beach and it has attacked a swimmer then you don't have many options. You can close the beach and hope it goes away you can net off the swimming area, which creates more problems than it solves or you can kill the shark. Which is the least of the evils?

The human reaction is obviously to kill the shark and hope that another one doesn't come to take it's place. If that's the most rational option is debatable.


R..

 

[alcina]

I hate this kind of thing. Autopsy is back and, wonder of wonders, none of the three sharks killed so far is the culprit. How many more they will kill is unknown - they are netting and baiting hooks now.

Killing the sharks because one bites a person is ludicrous...they almost never get the one that did it anyway.

I feel for the family of victims but do not understand the compulsion to kill all the sharks or even hunt down the one that did it...other than Jaws flicks there isn't any evidence that I know of to say that once a shark bites it goes out of its way to bite again.

Gonna try to find who to write a letter to...

Sorry just had to vent...would like to slap someone about this!

 

[Rick Murchison]

From the brief description, I'll bet this lake wouldn't have any Bulls in it if it weren't for the canals that let 'em get there (in fact when I try to find the lake on the net everything about it looks man made).
Bulls aren't in any danger of being depleted anywhere in the world that I know of - if any species has benefitted from shark overfishing, it's probably the Bull, which has had competition removed and is filling the holes left by others.
Interesting situation.
Rick

 

[scuba_katt]

Alcina if you do find who letters can be written to in regards to querying the "catch & kill" method of finding "the culprit" would you please post it here.

I just read an article in the Sydney Morning Herald; here's an excerpt:

"The deaths of two men from shark attacks in Gold Coast canals within the past seven weeks may be linked to the drought.

Tony Ham, the manager of Queensland's shark control program, said the canals are "teeming" with hundreds of bull sharks.

He said the drought meant less fresh water was running into the canals, making them saltier. This led to greater numbers of saltwater fish, followed by the sharks, entering the canals from the ocean and moving further upstream."


For those that don't know, most of Australia is suffering drought, animals and crops are dying left right and centre, and now its claimed that the increase in salt concentration is attracting the Bull Shark's major food sources into the shallow canals. Hence more sharks hence more attacks.

I just wish they didn't have to go to such barbaric lengths to satisfy the public.