CAPE TOWN, South Africa (11 Apr 2004) -- The horrific shark attack at Muizenberg this week has turned the focus on Great White shark tour operators whose activities many believe are the cause for the increase of attacks on that part of the coast. Cape Town surfer JP Andrew, 16, was attacked by a shark off Muizenberg beach on Monday. A host of readers who called and wrote letters to newspapers this week said they believed the controversial practice of "chumming" - pouring a mixture of fish, oil and blood into the water to attract sharks - has made these killers from the deep associate humans with food. 'Sharks will always return to an area where they have previously found food' |
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"Why should these tour operators be allowed to continue if there is only the slightest possibility that their activities put the lives of thousands of tourist and visitors to our beaches at risk?" wrote one. And while Mike Anderson-Reade, deputy chief executive of the Natal Sharks Board, does not want to be drawn into the debate, he made his feelings on the practice of "chumming" very clear. "If we spotted anyone chumming off our beaches (in KwaZulu-Natal), we would take action. We would immediately intervene to stop this from happening. Sharks will always return to an area where they have previously found food. "If there is no food they will move on. Certainly we would advise against chumming. If stimulation (pouring the mixture into the water) takes place close to beaches where people swim, it would increase the likelihood of interaction between the sharks and swimmers. Chumming remains helluva controversial," he said. Last year furious residents of Fish Hoek called Weekend Argus to complain about a shark tour operator pouring chum into the sea behind the waves off the beach. Two large sharks were spotted near the boat. When locals approached the operator he said he had a tour operator licence and they could not stop him. He later claimed he was trying to draw the sharks away from the beach. Anderson-Reade said he was aware that shark boat operators would throw chum in the water to attract sharks. They would also throw in bait tied to a rope and by pulling the bait towards the vessel, attract the sharks right up to the boat. | | "As the shark goes for the bait, they pull it out the water and the shark pushes its head out of the water allowing the operator to pat it on the head." Asked whether this would not cause sharks to associate food with people, Anderson-Reade said the latest shark attack was a terrible tragedy and he did not want to become involved in the debate around the issue. Anderson-Reade said islands with large populations of seals generated huge quantities of natural "chum", attracting many sharks. "Large numbers of dead and rotting seals as well as seal excretions such as urine form a chum slick around these islands and is known to attract large numbers of sharks who feed on the seals. This is where shark boat tour operators should concentrate their activities," he said. But Marcel Kroese of Marine and Coastal Management said he did not believe chumming was attracting sharks to beaches. "More chum is created by fishing boats in harbours such as Kalk Bay and Gordon's Bay in one day than the quantity of chum generated by all shark tour operators put together in a year," he said. But Kroese also pointed out that in terms of the licence to operate shark boat tours, operators were not allowed to put chum in the water near beaches. He said licence stipulations in the False Bay area prescribed that chumming was allowed only near Seal Island and not close to beaches. He said if shark boat tour operators were found transgressing these regulations they could be fined or have their licences withdrawn. Kroese said he believed the abundance of shoal fish on the reefs behind the breakers between Muizenberg and Gordon's Bay had been attracting sharks. "If you fly over that area now, you will spot several sharks. In winter they concentrate around Seal Island but in summer we believe they go after the shoal fish." A veteran Cape surfer had the following to say: "Stop interfering with the sharks. Just leave them alone and maybe they will leave us alone." SOURCE - Independent Online |
