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This was published in todays local paper:
Fisherman in latest encounter with shark
April 26 2004 at 02:35AM
By Janette Neuwahl
Seeing a great white shark breach off Seal Island is no surprise to most False Bay fishermen, but a rise in shark incidents in the past month has Capetonians wondering what is causing the increase in shark and human interaction.
Three weeks ago, on April 5, 16-year-old John Paul Andrew was attacked by a great white off Muizenberg beach.
Over the weekend, Kalk Bay fisherman Mogamat "Achmat" Hendricks came face to face with a breaching great white shark, who's eye was just centimetres from his own.
'Sharks breach the surface to fetch cape fur seals'
On Saturday afternoon, Hendricks had finished pulling in a line off Strandfontein when a great white shark emerged from the water, twisted upwards and brushed Hendricks's shoulder before returning to the water. The brush with the animal caused him to fall backwards into a cubbyhole of the Sea Breeze fishing boat.
After these incidents, the fishing and surfing fraternities along the Indian Ocean coast are trying to understand what is causing so much shark and human contact.
On Monday morning surfers will meet with Muizenberg councillors to discuss safety plans to prevent shark attacks.
Fishermen in Kalk Bay spent time on Sunday talking about how to prevent people from feeding sharks, which may be attracting them closer to shore.
Chris Fallows owns Apex Images, a company that specialises in shark conservation and photography.
Throughout his career, Fallows has captured images of great white sharks breaching the waters of False Bay. He believes the sharks are not leaving the water to bite humans, as Hendricks's experience might suggest.
"Sharks breach the surface to fetch cape fur seals - they do it purely as a predatory response," Fallows said.
"Unfortunately the press has gone into a shark frenzy trying to create mass public hysteria but I've never personally felt threatened by great white sharks. If a great white shark wanted to take out a human being, it would certainly be able to do so by swimming a few metres into shore and grabbing a bather any day."
Alison Kock, a University of Cape Town student researching shark's behavioural ecology at the South African Museum, agreed.
"A lot of the time with the fishing boats the sharks follow large fish on the line," said Kock, who was studying the swimming patterns of great whites off Seal Island on Sunday.
"When someone is fishing, they are attracting a lot of attention, whether it be from sharks or others, and the fish is sending out a lot of distress signals so the people on the boat (on Saturday) might just have been in the way."
Hendricks admitted that fishing off Seal Island does attract sharks. He has lost many fish and lines to the overpowering animals, but on Saturday he was not fishing when the shark breached.
Hendricks believes the tourist boats that feed sharks probably led to his encounter.
"We always see people feeding fish to the sharks, so when they aren't there, the sharks look for something else - that's when they give us problems," said Hendricks, 57.
This article was originally published on page 3 of The Cape Times on April 26, 2004
This was published in todays local paper:
Fisherman in latest encounter with shark
April 26 2004 at 02:35AM
By Janette Neuwahl
Seeing a great white shark breach off Seal Island is no surprise to most False Bay fishermen, but a rise in shark incidents in the past month has Capetonians wondering what is causing the increase in shark and human interaction.
Three weeks ago, on April 5, 16-year-old John Paul Andrew was attacked by a great white off Muizenberg beach.
Over the weekend, Kalk Bay fisherman Mogamat "Achmat" Hendricks came face to face with a breaching great white shark, who's eye was just centimetres from his own.
'Sharks breach the surface to fetch cape fur seals'
On Saturday afternoon, Hendricks had finished pulling in a line off Strandfontein when a great white shark emerged from the water, twisted upwards and brushed Hendricks's shoulder before returning to the water. The brush with the animal caused him to fall backwards into a cubbyhole of the Sea Breeze fishing boat.
After these incidents, the fishing and surfing fraternities along the Indian Ocean coast are trying to understand what is causing so much shark and human contact.
On Monday morning surfers will meet with Muizenberg councillors to discuss safety plans to prevent shark attacks.
Fishermen in Kalk Bay spent time on Sunday talking about how to prevent people from feeding sharks, which may be attracting them closer to shore.
Chris Fallows owns Apex Images, a company that specialises in shark conservation and photography.
Throughout his career, Fallows has captured images of great white sharks breaching the waters of False Bay. He believes the sharks are not leaving the water to bite humans, as Hendricks's experience might suggest.
"Sharks breach the surface to fetch cape fur seals - they do it purely as a predatory response," Fallows said.
"Unfortunately the press has gone into a shark frenzy trying to create mass public hysteria but I've never personally felt threatened by great white sharks. If a great white shark wanted to take out a human being, it would certainly be able to do so by swimming a few metres into shore and grabbing a bather any day."
Alison Kock, a University of Cape Town student researching shark's behavioural ecology at the South African Museum, agreed.
"A lot of the time with the fishing boats the sharks follow large fish on the line," said Kock, who was studying the swimming patterns of great whites off Seal Island on Sunday.
"When someone is fishing, they are attracting a lot of attention, whether it be from sharks or others, and the fish is sending out a lot of distress signals so the people on the boat (on Saturday) might just have been in the way."
Hendricks admitted that fishing off Seal Island does attract sharks. He has lost many fish and lines to the overpowering animals, but on Saturday he was not fishing when the shark breached.
Hendricks believes the tourist boats that feed sharks probably led to his encounter.
"We always see people feeding fish to the sharks, so when they aren't there, the sharks look for something else - that's when they give us problems," said Hendricks, 57.
This article was originally published on page 3 of The Cape Times on April 26, 2004
