Thread: Shark Attacks .

Unless specifically stated, shark nets are set up as a broken line with gaps in it and are used to effectively thin out numbers of sharks, not completely seal off an area. They do reduce the numbers of sharks, but also manage to take out a whole bunch of other marine life as well.


Beach/Shoreline--------------------------------------------------------------


Ocean


Shark nets -------- gap ------------- gap ----------- gap ----------


Ocean

Originally Posted by cripesamighty

Unless specifically stated, shark nets are set up as a broken line with gaps in it and are used to effectively thin out numbers of sharks, not completely seal off an area. They do reduce the numbers of sharks, but also manage to take out a whole bunch of other marine life as well.


Beach/Shoreline--------------------------------------------------------------


Ocean


Shark nets -------- gap ------------- gap ----------- gap ----------


Ocean

Which is a bonus for the netters.
Commercial fishing has been stoped in Sydney Harbour and Botany Bay. The result is more fish in the Harbours and because these estuaries are hatcheries, in the sea beyond.
This has resulted in an increase in the number of sharks. I would hazard a guess and say that better management of fisheries in our EEZ is the reason for the increase in shark numbers around the country. So a few fish being caught in shark nets probably isn't that much of a problem.

We've been screwing with the oceans for a long, long time. Any input by us will always affect something, somewhere else. We just have to manage things correctly for the right outcomes - namely keeping people safe in this case.

If humans where meant to swim, they would have gills...

If sharks where meant to eat humans, they would have feet...

Looks like we are doing the usual thing, blame the sharks for our own stupidty...

I know I can swim well, but I dont plan on swimming in the ocean unless I really have to, then I am just another bait waiting to be taken, if I'm lucky I may be like my fishing ability and get taken to shore with no marks....

Originally Posted by Chenz

You don't need to cull sharks but the placing of shark nets on well used suburban beaches helps both sides of the equation. People feel safe and the sharks are deterred from coming into these locations. If you add up the length of shark nets used around the country it would be less than 1% of the total coastline. Humans get 1% to swim safe and sharks get the other 99%. If you want to swim at non netted beaches, do so at your own risk. Seems fair to me

Well, you miss the part where nets cost money, and nobody wants to spend money on nets when it can be spent on virtue signalling instead.

Sydney used to have quite a few beaches that were netted, maybe 40 years ago. Funny how time and priorities change.

Originally Posted by cripesamighty

We've been screwing with the oceans for a long, long time. Any input by us will always affect something, somewhere else. We just have to manage things correctly for the right outcomes - namely keeping people safe in this case.

.

Read up on how well people have "managed" Yosemite National Park, all with the best intentions. It has been a total disaster from the time people interfered, with new lots of people trying to 'fix' what the last lot did.

As for keeping people safe- surely that is their job? Or do we now have to do everything for the lowest common denominator, which in this case would be people too stupid to know that sharks swim in the sea? I'm not sure protecting people from their own stupidity is "the right outcome". Maybe Charles Darwin had a point.

Just sayin'.

He certainly did. There are so many people wrapped in cotton wool nowadays who expect the world to be made 'safe' for them. In this case, against sharks. The day I start worrying about sharks is the day they come knocking on my front door. Until then, live and let live. Definitely too many top order predators taken out of the system as it is, so there's not many healthy marine ecosystems left out there with intact trophic levels. If you've seen an intact system, you can tell the difference instantly.

For many years after the croc attacked me , the main question I got asked was did I think they should be culled.

The human brain certainly works in funny ways especially when my answer then was the same as it is now . NO . I got some very strange responses . Altho the difference with Crocs is they are bred very successfully in captivity.

Cheers Ean