Source : Perth Now news
A marine biologist has revealed a blunt theory for a recent spark of shark sightings which have seen a major NSW beach close four days in a row.
Thus far, Saturday is the first day in five that authorities have not been forced to block off waters at Bondi Beach following reports of a shark sighting.
But marine biologist Lawrence Chlebeck, of Humane World for Animals, suspects this may not necessarily mean that the fierce fish are becoming more prevalent than before.
Instead, he said that sometimes the most obvious explanation is the best, and that recent tragedies have meant people are simply looking for them more.
“The more eyes on the water the better and that is the appropriate response, but it is also inevitable that the more eyes on the water there are, the more sightings there will be,” he said.
“I think it is important to remember that shark bites do remain incredibly rare and perhaps people don’t realise quite how often we have been close to sharks in the water and nothing occurs.
“Sharks have been in the water for 400 million years, long before we dipped our toes in.”
Mr Chlebeck said that recent tragedies, which have seen four major shark attacks in Aussie waters in the space of the last month, will have inevitably raised public alarm.
But he added that other environmental factors may also come into play – and that people needed to get better at reading signs that might see increased shark activity, such as spells of heavy rain.
“In January, we saw a spate of four bull shark attacks in the space of 48 hours following a spell of heavy rain, which can have an impact on the water and whip up shark activity,” he said.
“It also stands to reason that climate change will be having an effect too, whether that is on currents, or prevalence of prey. If smaller fish are coming closer to the shore, so too will sharks.
“Another factor is human population, as if there are more of us, there will likely be more use of the oceans and therefore more opportunity for shark interactions.”
The heightened awareness of shark attacks comes after three fatal attacks in Australian seas since the beginning of May.
On May 16, 38-year-old Steven Mattaboni was killed while spearfishing in Rottnest Island.
On May 24, 39-year-old Michael Jensz was killed in Cairns, while Daniel Turpin, 35, was fatally attacked in Albany on June 6.
Then, on Saturday, June 13, mother-of-one Leah Stewart fell victim to a brutal attack while she was swimming at Coogee Beach, in Sydney.
Earlier this week, her brother shared the “wonderful news” that she has woken and spoken her first words since her near-fatal attack, and remains in a stable condition.
