In response to Slaughter in the Water

Below is a response to the following article - http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/needless-slaughter-in-the-water-20090304-8oh2.html?page=-1

I am a Northern Beaches local, was born and bred and still live in Manly, have scuba-dived up to 50 times along the Northern Beaches and the Harbour, surf as much as possible in my busy schedule and have never once seen a shark, I have not even met a surfer or many scuba divers (apart from seasoned divers) who have seen many if any sharks in our water apart from the harmless Wobbegong. I am not debating they are out there, because they are, however we should not be drumming up any more hype and hysteria about these shark attacks. While I really empathize with those who have been attacked, and I must stress, I could never know the full horror of what you would be thinking or feeling after and during a shark attack, but surely everyone must realise that the water, the harbour and the ocean is the shark’s domain. We should feel infinteily lucky and proud to live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, the harbour foreshore and our coast are among the most beautiful, live-able landscapes in the world. However, we should be proud that as Australians we cherish our unique landscape and the flora and fauna that comes with it, whether it be sharks, bandicoots, eucalypts or fairy penguins, we have proven over the years that, to a degree, we can co-exist and we care about our environment. We have not overfished our seas like the Mediterranean and we do not eat anything that walks, flies or swims - which, if you have a taken a walk down a Chinese night market you will see that they do - however your article is the article that I have been fearing as it has been the closest, recent call for a cull of sharks.

The shark attacks that have taken place are ghastly and I hate to think about the physical yet alone emotional scars that those attacked, and the relatives of the attacked, will have to deal with for the rest of their lives. However, most of the attacks have taken place at times that we all know are shark-friendly times, in shark-friendly conditions – I am not saying that it is their own fault they were attacked - they were extremely unlucky. While bearing heavy emotional and physical scars, each have escaped with their lives, how many seals do you see escaping from the jaws of a Great White? Not many if any, and I feel this suports the assertion that the sharks are not sure what humans are and are simply biting to see if we are food, if a shark wanted to eat and kill any of the attacked it would have done. I just think that the entire shark hysteria in the media at the moment is designed to play on our inner human fear of sharks and other so-called "man-eaters" - and sell papers. At the end of the day it is a deeply-sown instinct that makes us fear sharks and while I think the comment that “We have been designed to swim and are at home in the water” is one of the most ridiculous statements I have ever read or heard, we are descended from apes who millennia before descended from fish – I grant you, this fact may be what you are alluding to in your statement - and maybe the media hysteria is born from our subconscious, deeply-rooted, evolutionary fear of sharks. However to say we are at home in the water is just plain wrong, you could then assert that polar bears are at home in the water because they can swim, but could a human or polar bear live in the water? I think the aforementioned statement makes a great emotional attachment to readers and Australians who live near the coast and who actively participate in a surf-lifestyle but I think it is made within the portent of ensuring that anyone who reads your article agrees with your assertion that we need to debate shark culling, rather than fact.

In regards to the arguments regarding shark nets, I tend to agree. Until there is a better system in place the historical facts prove that they work and although the nets do catch and kill an array of marine life, at present we need them there as, if anything, they present a psychological barrier and we feel safe with them in place. However, we do need to invest in another method of protection. I have recently been reading and seen media coverage in regards a “shark protector” - I have done a quick Google search and found one device called a Shark Shield. The device can fit into the palm of your hand and send electro-magnetic signals that deter sharks. If this is proven to be a success, then why can’t these devices be attached to a series of buoys that stretch between beach headlands? While many may feel it may be an eyesore to look out at Freshwater beach for example, with a row of buoys between the headlands, at least we are using technology to protect ourselves at our beaches and protect our way of life, while protecting our unique and diverse marine life, a happy medium – I think it would be important for all to be educated about what shark-friendly conditions are as well, here the media could use its power for good rather than for creating hysteria to sell papers. While I know this may be more difficult in reality, I think it is a better option than simply killing sharks because we do not understand them are hence scared of them.

I simply have a strong belief that we need to respect the wildlife that we are lucky enough to live with here in Australia and not go down the path that other cultures have gone in simply killing, eating or destroying native wildlife.