Western Australia has reacted to a string of deadly shark attacks along the state’s coastline … and it that could mean killing some of the king predators before they attack.
The government’s $6.85m package includes funding for catching and, if necessary, killing sharks “posing an imminent threat” to beachgoers. Other funding is allocated to tagging and research programs. So far this year, there have been six shark attacks on swimmers and surfers in Western Australia, an unusually high number. Five of the attacks have been fatal.
There have been growing concerns that the publicity surrounding the incidents could frighten away grey nomads and other tourists. While calls for a shark cull have been so far been rejected, there is nonetheless a definite shift in approach. Several of the recent attacks are believed to have involved great white sharks, which are protected.
While, previously, fisheries authorities had only sought to kill great whites in response to an attack, now they will be allowed to take “proactive action” if a shark presented an imminent threat to people. Funds will also be used for tagging systems including the use of real-time GPS tracking, more research, community awareness programs, helicopter patrols, the provision of jet skis to improve beach safety, and a smartphone application to alert beachgoers of potential threats.
“These new measures will not only help us to understand the behaviour of sharks but also offer beachgoers greater protection and confidence as we head into summer,” State Premier Colin Barnett said in the statement.
There have been at least 869 shark attacks in Australia since 1791, 216 of them fatal, according to the Australian Shark Attack File based at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo.
The deaths in Western Australia in the past year include an American scuba-diving tourist, a body boarder and a swimmer at Perth’s Cottesloe Beach. Has the recent spate of shark attacks frightened you out the water? Email us here with your views on this story
