Most people think of the shark
nets as fences, physical barriers. They are NOT barriers. They are fishing
nets, set to catch and kill sharks. Shark populations are being intentionally
lowered because “fewer sharks” means “fewer shark attacks”. Imagine you were
swimming at a beach that has TEN sharks living there. Pretty scary huh! Now
imagine you were swimming at a beach that only had ONE shark living there. Feel
a whole lot safer? Shark nets are set to kill sharks to reduce the number of
sharks living in that area. By
reducing the number of sharks, they are reducing the chance of shark attack.
There are many different kinds of
sharks and not all sharks are dangerous to us. The Sharks Board explains that
only three kinds of sharks are a threat to people and tourism: Great White,
Zambezi and Tiger sharks. These three species are the TARGET of shark nets, the
ones the nets are set to catch.
On average each year (1978-1993),
the shark nets killed 131 of the three dangerous kinds of sharks. And bathers
were 100% safe and no-one has been attacked by a shark at a netted beach. But,
in addition to the three target species, each year another 1172 non-target
(harmless) sharks were also killed as well as 86 dolphins per year, 49 turtles
and 117 rays. (all per year. These figures come from literature published by
Sharks Board scientists: Davis, B., G. Cliff and S. F. J. Dudley. 1995. The
Natal Sharks Board. Pages 209-213 in:
Oceans of life off southern Africa (2nd edition). A. I. L. Payne and
R. J. M. Crawford, eds. Vlaeberg Publishers, Halfway House.)
I am glad we are able to swim
safely. People should be able to enjoy swimming in the sea safely. But in this
modern world can’t we think of a better way to protect swimmers. We can’t just
‘unintentionally’ kill 1424 large marine animals every year because we want to
kill 131 dangerous sharks. There must be other ways to protect bathers – we
could make something simple like fences or we could use more complicated
technology. Sharks have a sixth sense – they can detect electric currents. Read
all about it at http://www.reefquest.com/white_shark/electroreception.htm.
This has been used very successfully to repel sharks from scuba divers but the
Sharks Board has abandoned the concept. We probably need something simpler and
cheaper.
Do YOU have any thoughts or
suggestions about a good alternative way to protect bathers? Please write to us
at ideas@dolphins.org.za
Keep
the Ocean Alive!
