The " Shark Question " !

We are about to undertake a hundred thousand dollar review of shark detection technology as we grapple with the question of whether to deploy shark nets off the beaches of our north coast. It seems to be a fact of life that beaches from Wollongong to Newcastle have been almost free of shark incidents and many people believe that this is because those beaches are protected by shark nets.

Experts from many scientific disciplines will confer and study new developments in sonar technology, electric deterrent barriers and what are termed " clever buoy detection "  to determine if this can improve on shark netting, which gets a bad press because it also entangles and kills dolphins and whales.

Sharks have always been a risk to humans swimming in the ocean but fifty years ago a shark fatality in Australia was a once a year event, and when it happened it would be treated as the main news story of the day, with banner headlines in newspapers.  In the past year there have been over fifty shark attacks or close encounters on just our far northern beaches - with two of them fatalities.   There seems no doubt that shark attack is a rapidly increasing phenomenon.   It would be a fair question to ask - why ?

Certainly there are more of us in the water these days.   Australia now has a population approaching twenty-four million people but that increase in shark encounters is also happening in other parts of the world where climate makes the sea hospitable to bathers.  Why are sharks changing their meal habits ?  Discovering that is equally important as seeking ways to provide protection for those using our beaches.

Could it be that world over-fishing has depleted the fish stocks that used to be their main diet ?  Could attacks on humans be desperation because of hunger ?   We know that sharks often come close inshore because they are feeding off great schools of bait fish.   Are these schools diminishing and do we need to try and encourage their expansion ?

Rounding up the " usual suspects " will certainly raise the question of global warming and it's possible iteraction with the oceans.  The seas are now fractionally warmer than they were half a century ago.  Could colder seas have suppressed the appetite of sharks ?  Will they become even more interested in human fare as further temperature rises continue ?

The seas are a known sump for carbon dioxide - and as a consequence they are becoming more acidic.   What do we know about this change and how it will affect the food chains of all the creatures that live in the sea ?   Could this be what is making sharks more aggressive  ?

Then there is the question of why shark attacks seem to be concentrated on a particular area of coastline ?   What is different on our far north coast that makes swimming there immensely more dangerous that other parts of the state ?   Is runoff from some sort of inland industry polluting the water or changing the mix so that it has an effect on shark psychology ?

Most people will wish this enquiry the best of luck in selecting a cost effective way of protecting bathers on the north coast, but it would also be rewarding to get the boffins to give some thought to why change has occurred.   There is absolutely no doubt that shark attacks are on the increase - and it would be helpful to discover the reason why this is happening !