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Re: Nth NSW sharks. Can they p!ss off already?
Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:58 pm
by Nick Carroll
steve shearer wrote: ↑Sat Jul 22, 2017 7:32 am
I'm sure, well I know, there's been a whole host of subjective changes in peoples behaviour: including stopping their kids surfing, not surfing certain spots, clustering in crowds, reducing the time they surf etc etc but my point is I'm not sure any of that reduces the macro chances of a shark interaction/encounter/attack.
What was so interesting about that J-Bay shark was seeing just how comfortable they are cruising in clear, shallow water along and in the surf line. And that shark- sub-adult in the 10 ft range- is very similar to the ones we are seeing so abundantly around here.
I've told this story many times but winter 2014 I watched a similar sized white cruise the lineup at Lennox Point on a beautiful winters afternoon. That shark cruised within 6 ft of about 25-30 surfers and not one of them saw it due to the angle of the sun. It was the perfect line for an ambush predator.
But maybe that crowd was protective, the shark didn't feel confident enough in picking off a single target. And maybe just 2 guys in the water, as there was at J-Bay was less protective and a white shark might have been more emboldened to circle and attack a surfer.
This is classic predator/prey behaviour. The predator has to pick out an individual to attack, the prey animals cluster together in herds/schools etc etc. The predator wants to get the slower/weaker individual to reduce energy expenditure, reduce chances of injury to itself.
So I guess a major behaviour change is now a reversion to classic biological prey behaviour en masse.
Do you get the drift of what I'm saying?
I'm very wary/attentive in the water now, but I know that sometimes, paddling back along the surf line with the winter sun behind me, a white could be a foot away and I would never see it.
Oh I get that.
I would reckon sharks like that one move through the Bay lineup almost every day. Everyone saw this one because there was a massive circus going on, skis, drones etc etc. But in a normal surf you would only see that thing if it swam directly underneath you -- and you were paying attention at the time. I only saw that one the other day because it surfaced for a while. I dunno if they are always in hunting mode or not.
But you know, there's "not sure" and then there's taking a close look over time. There hasn't been an attack for a while along your bit of coast. Maybe it's just my curiosity about it. I totally don't reckon this is all over that's for sure.
Re: Nth NSW sharks. Can they p!ss off already?
Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 3:08 pm
by crabmeat thompson
A cruising shark is no threat. Like godsave said. The ones you dont see are the ones that want you.
Re: Nth NSW sharks. Can they p!ss off already?
Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 5:17 pm
by Hollowed out
Hey Nick,
I know it was on the JBay thread but did you find out if those Jet Skis had a Shark Shield Fitted?
Re: Nth NSW sharks. Can they p!ss off already?
Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 6:11 pm
by Beanpole
Of course Great Whites can easily swim from WA to the east coast of South Africa.
Re: Nth NSW sharks. Can they p!ss off already?
Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 12:32 am
by Nick Carroll
Hollowed out wrote: ↑Sat Jul 22, 2017 5:17 pm
Hey Nick,
I know it was on the JBay thread but did you find out if those Jet Skis had a Shark Shield Fitted?
I haven't yet. Will though.
Re: Nth NSW sharks. Can they p!ss off already?
Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 7:34 am
by steve shearer
This one makes 5 for Evans in a 48hr period. Pretty good going for an endangered species.
SharkSmart @NSWSharkSmart 2d2 days ago
More
NSWDPI report a 2.45m Female White Shark caught off SMART drumlines at Main Beach, Evans Head. Shark tagged and released offshore.
Looks like we've got close to a royal flush this morning.
DPI Fisheries advise: tagged bull shark detected by Sharpes Beach, Ballina receiver at 06:30:00 PM (AEST) on 22-Jul-2017
DPI Fisheries advise: tagged white shark detected by Lennox Point, Lennox Head receiver at 04:51:00 AM (AEST) on 22-Jul-2017
DPI Fisheries advise: tagged bull shark detected by Lighthouse Beach, Ballina receiver at 11:13:00 PM (AEST) on 21-Jul-2017
sorry, yesterday.
Re: Nth NSW sharks. Can they p!ss off already?
Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 8:23 am
by crabmeat thompson
you do realise this could all be normal activity we're seeing here, shearer? it's only now we're looking for them, and recording/ tracking their movements.
Re: Nth NSW sharks. Can they p!ss off already?
Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 8:31 am
by steve shearer
That is a theory, there's just been too much evidence to the contrary: from pro fishos, DPI, CSIRO and life long surfers, not to mention the attack clusters to seriously entertain it.
When a juvenile white shark washed up on main beach Byron in 2007 the manager of the newly minted Cape Byron Marine Park refused to believe it because white sharks were not considered a species found with any regularity in the park.
That obviously is not the case now.
Re: Nth NSW sharks. Can they p!ss off already?
Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 8:45 am
by crabmeat thompson
bull sharks have been around in mass numbers for eons, and that is still the most common shark tagged and pinging the receivers.
and they're doing it at a number of 3 or 4 to every one gws.
Re: Nth NSW sharks. Can they p!ss off already?
Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 8:51 am
by Beanpole
Just remember Ben Cropp introduced the power head speargun in the sixties and proceeded to blast every shark he could find around SE Queensland and Nth NSW. Mostly Grey Nurses but anything was fair game.
Re: Nth NSW sharks. Can they p!ss off already?
Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 9:30 am
by steve shearer
crabmeat thompson wrote: ↑Sun Jul 23, 2017 8:45 am
bull sharks have been around in mass numbers for eons, and that is still the most common shark tagged and pinging the receivers.
and they're doing it at a number of 3 or 4 to every one gws.
Not around here. Overwhelmingly it is white sharks that are caught on the drumlines and that are seen by aerial surveillance and are pinging the receivers.
Toots put the stats up a few posts back.
Re: Nth NSW sharks. Can they p!ss off already?
Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 9:44 am
by tootr
It's 80-85% GWS that are caught on the drumlines. (From incomplete DPI records)
AFAIK the drum lines are pulled up, i.e. not left overnight. Could speculate this is why not many bulls are tagged as they are active dusk to dawn. GWS active any time, as shown by tags/pings/observations/encounters.
One would like to think the DPI records all this data and are crunching the statistics. It's not on their site, and Dorsal are on record they put everything the DPI gives them on their site.
Re: Nth NSW sharks. Can they p!ss off already?
Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 12:39 pm
by Cranked
You gotta remember that its only surfers lives that are at risk here so it doesn't really matter.
Re: Nth NSW sharks. Can they p!ss off already?
Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 1:18 pm
by Trev
Cranked wrote: ↑Sun Jul 23, 2017 12:39 pm
You gotta remember that its only surfers lives that are at risk here so it doesn't really matter.
Wait until the first lifesaver gets taken then.......................
Re: Nth NSW sharks. Can they p!ss off already?
Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 2:37 pm
by Nick Carroll
crabmeat thompson wrote: ↑Sun Jul 23, 2017 8:45 am
bull sharks have been around in mass numbers for eons, and that is still the most common shark tagged and pinging the receivers.
and they're doing it at a number of 3 or 4 to every one gws.
No they're not. White sharks are the drumline catch/tag species du jour, and tigers in central and northern Qld.
Way more tigers caught on drumlines in Australian waters than any other species.
Bull sharks are more typically found in meshing. Quite a few were GPS tagged by boat-fishing after the diver Paul de Gelder was attacked in Sydney Harbour. The tracking showed for the first time that bull sharks regularly migrate up and down the coast.
Re: Nth NSW sharks. Can they p!ss off already?
Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 2:58 pm
by tootr
Apparently a good number of bulls were tagged in the Bellinger river while testing the smart drum line alert system.
Also numbers tagged at various times in the Richmond, Macleay, Manning etc.
Re: Nth NSW sharks. Can they p!ss off already?
Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 8:01 am
by the prawn
What is not being talked about is that when the CIA kidnapped Harold Holt, they put him in a ultra dark project where he was transformed into a GWS.
This transformation took decades, and he's recently been released off Byron to sort out all the blow ins there, but being an ex-Victorian, he doesn't know the area so has confused Lighthouse Beach with the Pass.
Re: Nth NSW sharks. Can they p!ss off already?
Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 7:44 pm
by Beanpole
tootr wrote: ↑Sun Jul 23, 2017 2:58 pm
Apparently a good number of bulls were tagged in the Bellinger river while testing the smart drum line alert system.
Also numbers tagged at various times in the Richmond, Macleay, Manning etc.
We always swam west of the weir at Murwillumbah. Don't think sharks could climb over. You still occasionally hear of things like seals and dolphins going up river.