Post by KrispyKoala on Jan 16, 2009 0:58:41 GMT
Australia Facing Shark ‘Plague’ After Three Attacks in Two Days
By Gemma Daley
Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Australia is in the middle of a shark “plague” and beachgoers have been told to swim in groups after three attacks in two days and increased sightings in aerial surveys.
Surfwatch Australia, which conducts daily observation flights across beaches on the east coast, is seeing twice the number of hammerhead, bull and white pointer sharks than five years ago, managing director Michael Brown said.
An abundance of nutrient rich waters, following storms three years ago, has boosted the volume of bait fish near the coast, increasing the number of sharks in the midst of a “feeding frenzy,” Brown said. A 25-year-old man was attacked yesterday while snorkeling about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Sydney. On Jan. 11, a 13-year-old girl was bitten by a 5-meter shark off the coast of Tasmania state and a 31-year-old male was assailed off the New South Wales north coast.
“A plague of sharks has been attracted to the shore and they are in the middle of a feeding frenzy,” Brown said from Ingleside, 28 kilometers north of Sydney. “That means not only are there more of them, they’re bigger as well.”
“We have a beach meshing program to protect beachgoers,” McDonald said in an e-mail. It “is highly successful but there are no 100 percent guarantees.”
50 Years, 60 Deaths
In the past 50 years, there have been 60 human fatalities off Australia’s 27,000 kilometers of coast as a result of shark attacks, an average of about 1.2 a year, according to the Taronga Conservation Society Australia, which operates the Sydney Zoo. That compares with an average rate of 1.8 deaths a year from bee stings.
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=an4reKqp6cEM&refer=asia
By Gemma Daley
Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Australia is in the middle of a shark “plague” and beachgoers have been told to swim in groups after three attacks in two days and increased sightings in aerial surveys.
Surfwatch Australia, which conducts daily observation flights across beaches on the east coast, is seeing twice the number of hammerhead, bull and white pointer sharks than five years ago, managing director Michael Brown said.
An abundance of nutrient rich waters, following storms three years ago, has boosted the volume of bait fish near the coast, increasing the number of sharks in the midst of a “feeding frenzy,” Brown said. A 25-year-old man was attacked yesterday while snorkeling about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Sydney. On Jan. 11, a 13-year-old girl was bitten by a 5-meter shark off the coast of Tasmania state and a 31-year-old male was assailed off the New South Wales north coast.
“A plague of sharks has been attracted to the shore and they are in the middle of a feeding frenzy,” Brown said from Ingleside, 28 kilometers north of Sydney. “That means not only are there more of them, they’re bigger as well.”
“We have a beach meshing program to protect beachgoers,” McDonald said in an e-mail. It “is highly successful but there are no 100 percent guarantees.”
50 Years, 60 Deaths
In the past 50 years, there have been 60 human fatalities off Australia’s 27,000 kilometers of coast as a result of shark attacks, an average of about 1.2 a year, according to the Taronga Conservation Society Australia, which operates the Sydney Zoo. That compares with an average rate of 1.8 deaths a year from bee stings.
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=an4reKqp6cEM&refer=asia
