Last year 31 children under the age of 4 drowned. Thats more deaths in one year than a decade of shark incidents.
If the goal is to save lives, get this number down to zero and then come talk to me about sharks.

So when you finally kill the shark which can take many hours and attract many other sharks to the area including the media what would do you suggest we do with the carcass ? Don't we have enough problems with dead whales etc? Who gets the jaws? Etc?

There's a face book page with WA surfers saying no to culling GWS sorry but I have to post the headliner picture. Interesting Facebook read on their page though!

The idea that fisheries profit from attacks is abominable, and beliveable. I hate to say this but what would the raction be if and when and hopefully never a child or teenager is taken.

I find the attitude from those whom do not seek to spend time in the water, but feel they have a point to make around the water cooler offensive, the attitude of "well its their environment" does not cut it with me.

We have been intrinsically attached to the oceans for ever, be it for food, for enjoyment, whatever we dabble at a coastal level we always have,

Those of us that get wet regularly are more at risk in WA then we have been surely this is clear, if it is a given that shark numbers are increasing why wouldnt we act to remove dangerous sharks from our local waters?

We are at the top of the food chain, we got here because we have the ability and capacity to protect ourselves, how have we arrived at a point where we are to scared or politically correct to make decisions? I agree with KOTP, put a managed plan in place, monitor it, work it and look at the results over a 5 year period. We have the resources the ability and the reasoning to carry this out in a controlled and mindfull manner.

TurtleHunter said..

love it how kotp includes attacks by meter long black tips.
I might start my own list of people bitten or harassed by turtles

Anything to give you an excuse to go hunt them.

longwinded said..

Last year 31 children under the age of 4 drowned. Thats more deaths in one year than a decade of shark incidents.
If the goal is to save lives, get this number down to zero and then come talk to me about sharks.

My 12 year old daughter just read through this entire thread. She liked this post the best and wanted me to say so

She really loved Doggies thread and had a tear reading it. Luckily for us the dinosaurs like we have today will soon be old and no longer have a say, and the young who will inherit the earth from us should be a much better job than this before them

She has copied the Blog and is taking it to school, to hopefully share with her class mates..

www.theinertia.com/surf/to-know-what-living-is-life-death-and-sharks-in-west-australia/

pweedas said..

southace said..
Yes most of us follow the news I'm sure? And if you went to the trouble to remind us by typing and researching the history well done. But the only problem is that your not really coming up with a awnser apart from a cull which we all know will not go ahead but thanks for your opinion and the stats , cheers king!

I've already stated the answer a number of times, and it's dirt cheap.
The only problem is, it gets drowned out by a barrage of fog about apex predators and destroying the oceans and so much more highly improbable rubbish.

THE SOLUTION IS ;-
At regularly spaced intervals around the coast,
license a number of commercial fishermen
and issue a standing order
so that when there is an attack on someone
who is in an area which is a long established swimming, surfing or diving area,
they have immediate permission and authority
to get out there and bait the shark
catch it
and kill it.

There,.. I've set it out in simple logical steps.
Not very complex really, and yet it seems to be beyond the capacity of anyone to implement it.

If in 5 years time we have killed 20 sharks and the attacks have not diminsihed, then we can call in all the degreed and doctorated experts to tell us what they found by reading up stuff on the internet, and look at trying some of the difficult and expensive ideas that are now being suggested.

its already had something to eat....

longwinded said..
Last year 31 children under the age of 4 drowned. Thats more deaths in one year than a decade of shark incidents.

If the goal is to save lives, get this number down to zero and then come talk to me about sharks.

The big difference is, we spent millions on making pools safer and it seems to have worked.
Without the work done, the death rate would now be in the hundreds each year.

However, in the case of shark attacks, we have done next to nothing, and we've had ten years to do it in.
And it seems we have paid out millions to do next to nothing.
That's neither good progress nor good value.
The pool situation was sorted in a few years.

Don't we cull our two native animals on the coat of arms for eating to much grass at the local golf course

www.facebook.com/noWAsharkcull

54,000 likes somehow I don't think a cull will happen,
Interesting to see a very large amount of surfers/divers and ocean users support a no kill policy. Even some of the relations that have lost family members protest for a no kill. It seems a very small minority wants a cull to go ahead.

WA71 said..

southace said..

www.facebook.com/noWAsharkcull

54,000 likes somehow I don't think a cull will happen,
Interesting to see a very large amount of surfers/divers and ocean users support a no kill policy. Even some of the relations that have lost family members protest for a no kill. It seems a very small minority wants a cull to go ahead.

How many of likers use the ocean like we do, its just a 'like' it could be anybody. Im not trying to promote a cull, just saying that it could be random.

Doggie it even seems that Chris Boyd was a Ocean adequate. Quote "He was an absolute waterman who was a warrior for the oceans" .

I always look for a response from the family (because to me it is of interest) and TBH most are all fro protection for sharks.

Woodo said..

Bit rich JB baggin KOTP stats when you've gone from one post saying there's 5000 left to 4 posts later saying there's 3500 and then going there's under 10,000. That's a bloody huge variance. I know your only quoting what these so called 'experts' think but so is he.

Bit rich? Not really. I was asked to provide some proof, or evidence to support my argument when i challenged the home made graph, that said there may be over 160 000 sharks world wide. SO i did that and to try and add some balance mate i quoted the highest and lowest figures i could find. My original number of 5000 seems to have been smack in the middle of the two but sorry mate if my QUOTE was not quite accurate enough for you

KOTP is obviously very concerned. SO why would he not want to do something to help himself? Why should it be up to the government to do it for you

There are options for Surfers other than trying to force your opinions of a cull on to the rest of the world. SO take the initiative and HELP YOURSELF first. Thats my point

The question was asked a few pages ago by someone else, how many of the anti brigade have bought a Shark Shield?

One person pipped up saying it didn't work for the abb diver (sorry his name I'm not sure) but if you read the coroners report you will see that he had it attached to his air hose and it was on the surface, so rendered useless due to miss use. So that excuse doesn't float, to say it doesn't work. Or is it actually that the threat of shark attack is real, but it is very slim and not worth the $300 investment

It really is common sense.

Dunno I have. 53 954 likes at my end! Close enought to 54 000

jbshack said..

Woodo said..

Bit rich JB baggin KOTP stats when you've gone from one post saying there's 5000 left to 4 posts later saying there's 3500 and then going there's under 10,000. That's a bloody huge variance. I know your only quoting what these so called 'experts' think but so is he.

Bit rich? Not really. I was asked to provide some proof, or evidence to support my argument when i challenged the home made graph, that said there may be over 160 000 sharks world wide. SO i did that and to try and add some balance mate i quoted the highest and lowest figures i could find. My original number of 5000 seems to have been smack in the middle of the two but sorry mate if my QUOTE was not quite accurate enough for you

KOTP is obviously very concerned. SO why would he not want to do something to help himself? Why should it be up to the government to do it for you

There are options for Surfers other than trying to force your opinions of a cull on to the rest of the world. SO take the initiative and HELP YOURSELF first. Thats my point

The question was asked a few pages ago by someone else, how many of the anti brigade have bought a Shark Shield?

One person pipped up saying it didn't work for the abb diver (sorry his name I'm not sure) but if you read the coroners report you will see that he had it attached to his air hose and it was on the surface, so rendered useless due to miss use. So that excuse doesn't float, to say it doesn't work. Or is it actually that the threat of shark attack is real, but it is very slim and not worth the $300 investment

It really is common sense.

When did I say anything about your quote not be accurate enough for me. I simply said if your facts and figures are all over the place don't bag his.
I can't see how you can call it "proof" or "evidence" either with such a massive difference in figures. Sounds more like an uneducated guess.

Yes I own a sharksheild and use it. And no I don't believe it works but I will still continue to wear it. When you have it hanging on a rope directly under your boat at steep point and watch as 8ft plus sharks take your fish right next to it, it does put just a little bit of doubt in your mind.

To be honest JB your not really doing yourself any favours in trying to get your point across if you start attacking the person, not the issue.
I understand your passionate about the issue which i can perfectly understand but try see other peoples view. Even though you might not agree with them...

All this talk about using shark shields or other preventative measures are based on an incorrect premise.
The assertion that they work because no-one has been attacked while using one correctly, is more a proof that very few people use them.

You would need a large number of people to use them before you could make any reasonable conclusion as to whether they worked.
I think they probably reduce the risk slightly but if a large shark decides to investigate what it's all about, they will do so regardless of shark shields or anything else you might do to save yourself.