CAPE TOWN, South Africa (14 Apr 2004) -- Scores of worried surfers gathered at Surfer's Corner on Muizenberg Beach on Tuesday to try and find ways to prevent another shark attack at the surf spot and protest against the practice of chumming by shark tour operators. The protest comes after a great white shark attacked surfer John Paul Andrew, 16, at Muizenberg Beach last Monday. His right leg had been amputated and he is still on a ventilator but in a stable condition at the Constantiaberg Medi-Clinic. JP was back in surgery on Tuesday for a tracheotomy and for his wounds to be cleaned. His older sister Natasha Flatwell, who was at the meeting, said: "My main concern is that my brother gets well." About 100 surfers gathered at the surf spot. Some carried placards railing against the practice of chumming to attract great white sharks by people who take visitors out on boats. Gary Shearer of Western Province Surfing said the aim of the meeting was to get direction and work towards a safer environment for everybody in the water. Shearer said many people had offered help and a company that owned a microlight was willing to fly regularly and check for any sharks. Other people had suggested that two sonar devices be installed off the beach to pick up on any fish longer than three metres approaching. Michel Cozien, who has been surfing at Muizenberg since 1965, said chumming should be banned. "We as stakeholders should appeal to the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and plead that until it is proved safe to chum, they should stop it from happening. We are the only country where it is allowed." | | While legitimate marine conservation groups and respected scientists do the hard, tedious work to protect endangered shark species and threatened coral reefs, sleazy underwater image touts and their shark feeding partners in crime line their dirty pockets poking sharks with metal rods, hitting them with garbage cans and trampling all over fragile coral reefs in what amounts to an ugly human assault on the ocean realm and yet another loss of habitat for one of earth's most magnificent apex predators. Gary Kleynhans, of Gary's Surfing School, said surfers should also be informed about when the rivermouth would be open because when it was being dredged, fish which had been breeding in the river swam into the sea, and this attracted sharks. "If we know that the river is being dredged then the kids will know they should be sharp and stay alert and stay away from the rivermouth and move towards the corner. "There was a lack of communication and knowledge on everybody's part (when John Paul was attacked). Communication systems should be put in place." |
