Do we need a Sharks Board in SA?

[HolyGT]

No seriously, talking about the guys with the yellow boats stringing miles of nets and lines on our KZN coast - just before anyone rips into our lackluster performing SHARKS team.

http://www.shark.co.za/

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[Andre]

No seriously, talking about the guys with the yellow boats stringing miles of nets and lines on our KZN coast - just before anyone rips into our lackluster performing SHARKS team.

http://www.shark.co.za/

?

I love your posts, as they give me another good opportunity to drool at your avatar. Won't you please send a full page image of the fish in the avatar. I can't really get a good look at it with the horrible distraction of the right hand side.....Thanks...(no smiley face with a tongue hanging out, so I will use this one... )

[Rendier]

Sharks Board does some great work, but they don;t get a lot of credit for what they do.

Andre, you might enjoy this:
http://www.saltwaterflyfishing.com.a...ead.php?t=6654

[Buf Aloe]

I agree with you there Andre`! That colour just doesn't suit her.
Since the inception of the nets they have had no shark attacks on any bathers where nets have been placed. So one could possibly say that they work.

[Andre]

I agree with you there Andre`! That colour just doesn't suit her.
Since the inception of the nets they have had no shark attacks on any bathers where nets have been placed. So one could possibly say that they work.

yes, but there have also been no attacks on most of the North and South Coast beaches that have never had nets, so we could possibly also say that the nets are a waste of time and money, as well as a threat to sharks, dolphins, turtles etc. etc.

[Umhlangarox]

yes, but there have also been no attacks on most of the North and South Coast beaches that have never had nets, so we could possibly also say that the nets are a waste of time and money, as well as a threat to sharks, dolphins, turtles etc. etc.

Yes but the beaches without nets dont get nearly as many swimmers as the ones with. . . . So its kinda hard to compare really!

[firephish]

yes, but there have also been no attacks on most of the North and South Coast beaches that have never had nets, so we could possibly also say that the nets are a waste of time and money, as well as a threat to sharks, dolphins, turtles etc. etc.

Actually there have been two attacks at netted beaches, but yes they have reduced the number of attacks. They do this by essentailly culling resident sharks (and othe rspecies) on netted beaches. I think HolyGT's question is more about if prventing 1 or 2 shark attacks a year is worth the ecological carnage: last time i checked the "bycatch" of the nets includes hundreds of dolphins, turtles, sea birds, rays, the occasional whale etc ... not to mentions "harmless" sharks like raggies etc.

Contrast to the US were they have no shark nets and accept a handful of shark attacks every year as "part of life" ... two different approaches, i know which one i would prefer ... then again i've nver been attacked by a shark

[FishZ]

Frankly, I don't care if people get attacked by sharks. I mean really, who do we think we are? We are nothing special, don't fool yourself. we are designed by millions of years of evolution to breathe air. Sharks have been designed to breathe under water. They belong there, we do not. We are trespassing in their territory. If they eat us, thats just the way it goes. Imagine if there were large fierce land predators... oh wait, we already killed them all or fenced them into parks.

Im willing to sacrafice a couple humans per year for a complete lack of nets. Also, I'm glad unnetted beaches are less crowded. Otherwise its a complete lack of respect for the ocean and its creatures.

This is all coming from a surfer, one who spends time in the water with these animals.

[beefybovril]

I agree with you FishZ.....there is more chance of someone dying crossing the road then being killed by a shark.....and supposedly the nets don't prevent the sharks from coming in, most of them are caught on the way out, because they feel claustrophobic. I feel they should be removed, especially with the pressure on sharks at the moment!

[Andre]

More people are killed by the following each year, than by shark attacks...:-

Choking on chicken bones
Struck by lightning
falling off chairs.
Killed by pitt bulls
Spontaneous human combustion
abducted by aliens
Tripping over a curled up carpet
Walking into a glass door
Hit by golf balls
Fishing injuries...(believe it or not)
Spider bites

Check this link for some perspective around these highly dangerous animalshttp://surftherenow.com/2008/05/13/shark-attack-risk-of-death/