Shark Spotters - Protecting Surfers, Saving Sharks
by Cheryl-Samantha Owen
The world has not yet realized that in a game of man vs. shark, a loss for sharks is also a loss for us. The movie JAWS and the subsequent media frenzy to demonize sharks have left the subconscious of most ocean users with a lingering am I being watched feeling. Myth and wild imaginations aside, the reality is that our most feared foe should in fact be watching their backs or rather, dorsal fins, for as many as 100 million sharks are killed each year. With every drowning at the end of a long liner’s hook and with each fin that is barbarically sliced off a living shark we are pushing species that have roamed the oceans for 400 million years closer to extinction. Older than dinosaurs, they sit at the top of the marine food web playing a vital role in maintaining the delicate ecological balance and health of our oceans.
The waters of False Bay, Cape Town are a great white shark hotspot. In 1991 South Africa became the first nation in the world to proclaim white sharks a protected species and in doing so helped prevent these large fish from following the fate of the dodo. Globally white sharks are still threatened with extinction but here they thrive in abundance. False bay hosts a seal colony over 70,000 strong that provides a bounty of blubber rich, calorific meals for these apex predators.
Another species, lacking in calorific content but clad in layers of neoprene to compensate, is also attracted to these waters. Drawn to the never-ending sets of waves along beaches such as Muizenburg and Kalk Bay, surfers brave the Cape’s infamous waters. The popularity of water sports, easier access to beaches, and the manufacture of more efficient wetsuits has resulted in both an increase in the number of surfers and a higher tolerance to cold water for longer periods.
Sharks are sharks, and surfers are surfers, but with this exponential growth in the number of people spending time in the sea the chances are the twain shall meet. Inevitably, more encounters equal an increase in the number of bites.
Despite the fact that white sharks swim inshore year round, with concentrations peaking from October to December when the Cape’s beaches are packed, the numbers of shark bites are in fact extremely low. Last year there were no fatalities caused by sharks in South Africa, and over the past 83 years, there have only been 22 attributed to white shark bites. In 2005 toasters were responsible for the deaths of 791 people, accidents with chairs accounted for 652 deaths, and only 9 people were killed by sharks worldwide.
Putting sharks into perspective seems an almost impossible task, and when shark bites do occur waves of panic ride through the public faster than reality checks. Following two shark bite incidents in 2004 False Bay’s waves were vacated.
Desperate to get back in the water, surfers at Muizenburg asked the local car guards to keep an eye out for sharks from the beach. From this dark beginning dawned the Shark Spotting Program, the world’s only permanent shark monitoring corps. “The program is an effort to keep the peace between surfer, swimmer and shark - to find a middle ground between white shark conservation and the concerns of the public, says Alison Kock of the Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF) and director of research for the Shark Spotters.
During 2005 to 2007, the shark spotters recorded 483 shark sightings at popular beaches in Cape Town. “This demonstrates that the program works and is an effective warning system.” Through her research with SOSF Alison has tagged and recorded the movements of 78 white sharks in the bay. As marine biologist for SOSF’s Shark Centre near Cape Town, Alison will integrate her research findings with the shark sightings to gain a clearer understanding of the presence of white sharks along the coast. “The aim is to use the results to build better relationships between coastal communities and sharks and to try and change the misconceptions surrounding these villainized animals.” Having followed their movements for over six years she states, “If sharks were the monsters they are made out to be the popular surf spots would be worse than a war zone, but they simply are not.”
With eyes glued to binoculars for five-hour shifts the shark spotters scour the sea daily for dark patterns merging with the waves. Armed with four flags the spotters are able to communicate the visibility conditions for spotting and the status of sharks in the area. Radios at their hips and sirens in hand, they are always ready to blow the whistle on a shark in the vicinity. “Since we started, there have been no attacks on humans. We try and minimize the risk of attack, but we can’t say 100 percent - nothing out there ever is - that there will never be another one,” says Patrick ‘Rasta’ Davids. “The ocean is their territory – it always has been and now we have to find ways to use it together because we need them.” More than a game of I spy, this is about life and death that relates not only to the safety of surfers but also to the future of sharks and people’s willingness to protect them.
For more information please visit:
www.sharkspotters.org.za
The world has not yet realized that in a game of man vs. shark, a loss for sharks is also a loss for us. The movie JAWS and the subsequent media frenzy to demonize sharks have left the subconscious of most ocean users with a lingering am I being watched feeling. Myth and wild imaginations aside, the reality is that our most feared foe should in fact be watching their backs or rather, dorsal fins, for as many as 100 million sharks are killed each year. With every drowning at the end of a long liner’s hook and with each fin that is barbarically sliced off a living shark we are pushing species that have roamed the oceans for 400 million years closer to extinction. Older than dinosaurs, they sit at the top of the marine food web playing a vital role in maintaining the delicate ecological balance and health of our oceans.
The waters of False Bay, Cape Town are a great white shark hotspot. In 1991 South Africa became the first nation in the world to proclaim white sharks a protected species and in doing so helped prevent these large fish from following the fate of the dodo. Globally white sharks are still threatened with extinction but here they thrive in abundance. False bay hosts a seal colony over 70,000 strong that provides a bounty of blubber rich, calorific meals for these apex predators.
Another species, lacking in calorific content but clad in layers of neoprene to compensate, is also attracted to these waters. Drawn to the never-ending sets of waves along beaches such as Muizenburg and Kalk Bay, surfers brave the Cape’s infamous waters. The popularity of water sports, easier access to beaches, and the manufacture of more efficient wetsuits has resulted in both an increase in the number of surfers and a higher tolerance to cold water for longer periods.
Sharks are sharks, and surfers are surfers, but with this exponential growth in the number of people spending time in the sea the chances are the twain shall meet. Inevitably, more encounters equal an increase in the number of bites.
Despite the fact that white sharks swim inshore year round, with concentrations peaking from October to December when the Cape’s beaches are packed, the numbers of shark bites are in fact extremely low. Last year there were no fatalities caused by sharks in South Africa, and over the past 83 years, there have only been 22 attributed to white shark bites. In 2005 toasters were responsible for the deaths of 791 people, accidents with chairs accounted for 652 deaths, and only 9 people were killed by sharks worldwide.
Putting sharks into perspective seems an almost impossible task, and when shark bites do occur waves of panic ride through the public faster than reality checks. Following two shark bite incidents in 2004 False Bay’s waves were vacated.
Desperate to get back in the water, surfers at Muizenburg asked the local car guards to keep an eye out for sharks from the beach. From this dark beginning dawned the Shark Spotting Program, the world’s only permanent shark monitoring corps. “The program is an effort to keep the peace between surfer, swimmer and shark - to find a middle ground between white shark conservation and the concerns of the public, says Alison Kock of the Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF) and director of research for the Shark Spotters.
During 2005 to 2007, the shark spotters recorded 483 shark sightings at popular beaches in Cape Town. “This demonstrates that the program works and is an effective warning system.” Through her research with SOSF Alison has tagged and recorded the movements of 78 white sharks in the bay. As marine biologist for SOSF’s Shark Centre near Cape Town, Alison will integrate her research findings with the shark sightings to gain a clearer understanding of the presence of white sharks along the coast. “The aim is to use the results to build better relationships between coastal communities and sharks and to try and change the misconceptions surrounding these villainized animals.” Having followed their movements for over six years she states, “If sharks were the monsters they are made out to be the popular surf spots would be worse than a war zone, but they simply are not.”
With eyes glued to binoculars for five-hour shifts the shark spotters scour the sea daily for dark patterns merging with the waves. Armed with four flags the spotters are able to communicate the visibility conditions for spotting and the status of sharks in the area. Radios at their hips and sirens in hand, they are always ready to blow the whistle on a shark in the vicinity. “Since we started, there have been no attacks on humans. We try and minimize the risk of attack, but we can’t say 100 percent - nothing out there ever is - that there will never be another one,” says Patrick ‘Rasta’ Davids. “The ocean is their territory – it always has been and now we have to find ways to use it together because we need them.” More than a game of I spy, this is about life and death that relates not only to the safety of surfers but also to the future of sharks and people’s willingness to protect them.
For more information please visit:
www.sharkspotters.org.za