Next on the menu ?

Firstly not knowing the latest victim personally I would like to wish both his family & friends all the best wishes at this traumatic time.

With yet another surfing brother taken ,I was asked by a grommet as to why I think this is happening ?

Well ????? could it be ; more surfers in the water
; more sharks (the present quota system in NSW makes it unviable to fish them)
; protections on known "man-eater" species
; encouraged shark interactions ( burley /cage diving operators)
; less natural food sources for the sharks (human over fishing)
; better surfing equipment allowing us to surf in areas previously "off limits"
; global warming (ocean current/temperature/nutrient changes bringing bait fish closer to shore)

What do you lot think ? are we the next alternative on the menu for creatures that are simply starving ?

They arent starving in WA. Loads of migrating whales, sea lions and huge numbers of big salmon currently. 2 fatal attacks in Perth in 1 week is not right. Especially after they killed a 4m white last week.

It's a giant buffet for an apex predator that is able to reproduce with ease.

Edit: i get the feeling Colin Barnett is happy to cull but cops so much grief from the likes of JBshack.

The only other option is to open up a gws game fishery where every shark caught must be tagged with a real time tracking tag. The technology is there and it's loads more reliable than a 3hr old SLSWA twitter alert.

I sincerely feel for the people who have lost loved ones in these incidents recently and previously. It hurts so much to loose one we care so much about.

I'm quite sure we all know there is a danger in entering the water. It plays on my mind sometimes when I'm in the water, but I'm aware of it and I take the risks (as the majority of water uses do). I do not support the cliched 'knee jerk' reaction to catch and kill, I feel it often does not catch and kill the 'target individual' but what ever is caught can help make people feel like there is some retribution on the offending creatures. I think it could be true that shark numbers are growing to a level where the rate of attacks are increasing on what we see as normal. But what is the normal and acceptable level of attacks? I think that there should be funding going to further the research of the GWS. Otherwise aren't we potentially only looking the issue from the wrong end? Prevention is better than cure and drums lines are only looking at the issue from a cure problem. If once research is carried out it is decided that the GWS can be taken off the protected list and be caught by fishermen to possible help control numbers then, ok lets do that. But lets do it with knowledge not just because we are scared and angry. I think it is natural selection and a part of life, we must take responsibility for our choices and not go shooting/killing of things we deem are a threat when we are doing activities that are dangerous by our own choosing. It could be like if a few people died at a reef break and then people decide to blow up the reef, let us make our own choices to go in the water. Let us make our choices and not be nannied with regulations and realise that life is dangerous and brutal at times. I think we as humans are wanting to live a life that is risky with no risk. We are trying to protect our population from everything when it is a natural part of life that people pass away. This could then stem onto the whole different issue of population control. Now I am not saying that sharks are a great method of population control but they would have been a contributing factor for the thousands of years. Shark population control vs human population control, who is more out of control?

On a slightly different note has anyone seen that movie Idiocracy, I feel like we are really heading that way these days with Trump and Kanye even thinking about going for presidency. It is a scary time we live in.

Sorry for those who would like to red thumb, I wish they were brought back too.

Unfortunately the tide will change and so will public sentiment towards sharks at some point, that day is getting closer. We don't live in a natural world with a finely balanced ecosystem, its been plundered, polluted and abused. Humans are top dog, every other living creature is fair game to be used, abused and exploited with cuteness the only reprieve.

They will start culling larger GW.

ok so what is the difference from northern Aus and Crocs to southern Aus and sharks.

The entire North Queensland and NT is covered in croc warning signs. The attitude up there is you enter The waters you are at your own risk and if you get taken it was your own fault.

Why is this not the same with sharks. There are shark hot spots you enter at own risk. You get taken it was your own fault.

Hey oldgina,

The wording of your topic title is in bad taste.

(No pun intended)

Problem with tagging and tracking is there are soooo many.
If you tagged and tracked them ( and publicly displayed their whereabouts ) the beaches would soon be deserted.

I went to secret harbour on Mon, one day before the Gearies shark. I was thinking about going again this morning, nah too sharky at the moment. A few years ago, chased out the water an hour before the body boarder was taken at the Farm. I'd love to go back to some isolated south coast spots that work in Winter, but I might give it a miss this year. 20 years ago, sharks weren't really a consideration. Our lifestyle is being compromised by big sharks, which in reality are no more special than any other species we eat. The support for the protection of these fish is basically killing several people a year and keeping people out if the water. I find that hard to understand, especially when you know most of them are eating meat, fish etc etc.

The obvious and easiest solution, just allow fishing like any thing else, and monitor the numbers. Even have a minimum size limit for sharks kept would work. We do this for dozens of species.

On top of that, stop using the cull word, its certainly not helpful.

And ban the ridiculous cage diving rubbish.

I think that humans just can't live without creating constant danger for themselves.

Very soon we will be colonizing next planets and just cant imagine the somebody come with idea of nice clean environment over new land.

They will definitely bring crocks and snakes, spiders to crawl a Mars deserts, toads will jump 3 times the distance across in lower gravity.

Everything to remind us the sacred Earth mother planet.

In few years time our shark problem will be resolved by electronic devices repelling them from beaches or even automatic underwater drones detecting and chasing them away from shores. But for now we could only use what we have in our disposal and I doubt that any methods will really could make sharks exit. In similar way you could argue that removing mold from your bathroom and kitchen with chlorine will effect natural habitats, and that mold fungi may disappear from planet forever.