Shark Attacks In Australia

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Shark Attacks

The serious attacks are mainly by four species. The Bull shark. the Tiger, the Great White and the Oceanic Whitetip shark. The Grey Nurse (Sand Tiger) and the Bronze Whaler have for many years been blamed for many attacks but it seems nearly all were mistaken identity. The Grey Nurse is now protected in most States in Australia.
The Great White is the largest and has a high percentage of fatal attacks. The Bull shark is responsible for a lot of attacks on swimmers and people in shallow water. From reports it seems a lot of these attacks were only one bite but a large percentage of the victims died of blood loss and shock. It is likely to be the worlds number one killer shark on swimmers. I have heard of a lot of encounters …show more content…

Many of these fatal attacks have occurred in South Australia in areas well known for Great Whites. Abalone divers nearly always work in areas where seals are present and the water is cool. This is ideal for attracting the Great White. Add to this the fact that they spend an enormous time in the water and it is a recipe for disaster. It was noticed in California USA, that Abalone divers were only attacked north of Point Conception. It was later discovered that the law in North California did not allow abalone divers to use scuba equipment, which meant they spent much more time at the surface. In southern California scuba was permitted! Spearfishing has two major negative factors. The first is that they are working on the surface as it is illegal to spearfish with scuba equipment. It is well known that the Great White usually attacks on, or very close to the surface, coming up from below its intended prey. The second problem with spearfishing is obviously the dead fish and blood attracting sharks. Even usually non-aggressive species of sharks will attack a spearfisherman if he has killed a fish. The book 'Shark Attacks' by Alex MacCormick (1996) also wrote of this incident. It seems this information was taken from 'The Adelaide Advertiser' newspaper in 1962. The book wrote the …show more content…

Incidentally I have never stopped diving and still enjoy the activity. Regards Brian Kennington
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This information was sent to us by Humberto Fontova in the USA. who has just written a book called 'Hell Divers'.
"You mention how unreliable even the official stories about Shark attacks are. Yes indeed. In the book Shark Attack by Alex MacCormick, they list an "unprovoked" shark attack by a Sand Tiger off Cocodrie Louisiana. They say the guy was just sitting on a beam and CHOMP a sand tiger grabbed both his legs and tried to twist them off.
I know the divers involved. They're featured in my book. One Diver had SPEARED the shark (for a Bar-B-Que) and it was twisting around in the bottom murk with mouth agape and grabbed the other diver's leg. Simple as that. They chuckled about it. "Those newspapers believe anything". Anyway that was ten years ago."
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RODNEY

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