RealSurf Surfers' Forum

Well the beach itself is 1 klm long so I'd say 1.5 to 2 klm headland to headland.

Dolphin by catch should be the least of Dr Bucher's concerns. In another lifetime, one of toil and blood, when blackness was a virtue the road was full of mud. I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form and did a lot of game fishing, another emotive full on shit storm. And I can tell tell you that while watching a spread of lures set out to attract billfish and such, schools of dolphins would often be attracted to the "witchdoctor" and spread, but never fell prey to a lure. Its happens, but on very rare occasions ... most accidental dolphin catches happen with bait and switch techniques. Dolphins are smarter than nets.

Go Doc ...

steve shearer wrote:
"In the end, its a wild environment, not a swimming pool. I'd prefer to keep it that way."

this and this again, plus one.

but i admit, that's my personal preference.

steve shearer wrote:
Dr Bucher

Here, he raised the question of why no one has been killed on a netted beach in more than 50 years.

"The answer lies in the case of the surfer bitten by a white shark at Bondi in 2009, while the beach was netted."

"His left hand was nearly severed and later had to be amputated - a potentially fatal injury. Did the net save him? No, Bondi, like all the other netted beaches, is also a full-time patrolled beach and it was the lifeguards who saved his life."

"There are many more effective methods of reducing the risk that do not involve lethal approaches. Use shark shields when surfing, support surf lifesaving clubs and observation programs, swim between the flags, stay out of the water when sharks are spotted and no person or animal needs to die.

FFS, full time beach patrols are the answer because they can save an attack victims life!

Most deaths from great whites in Australia are from catastrophic injuries, ain't nobody gonna be saving their lives.

Far more effective means for saving lives:

1. Stay out of the water if theres sharks around.

Again FFS, has he seen the number of shark sightings in WA, its almost continuous. And most sharks go unsighted as its near impossible to see them in most conditions.

Helicopters, the most effective, are still very flawed as a means of sighting them, and in addition are only used for an infinitesimal amount of time anyway *

2. Shark shields

Good luck with those

3. Swim between the flags

Laughable.

This turkey is an expert? God save us.

* I must admit though that there's an excellent chance one did save my life. Thanks guys

I'll subsidise a shark shield if anyone can identify the last fish he is holding.*

*Boo not included.

I will be attending Dr Buchers (aka the Butcher of Ballina) lecture on Nov 8.

Meet me for drinks before and after if keen.

A full transcript will be made available.

steve shearer wrote:I'll subsidise a shark shield if anyone can identify the last fish he is holding.*

*Boo not included.

Striped scat?

Yeah striped scat/old maid.

got to pay that.

striped scat or striped butterfish/old maid

Righto, let's do an image search for scat just to check....



Oh

saltman wrote:It's not the deaths from shark attacks / bites that worry me so much

It's the bloody biting that I want to minimise

yeah i gotta admit, the biting wigs the fuck outta me too. it's not nice at all.

steve shearer wrote:I will be attending Dr Buchers (aka the Butcher of Ballina) lecture on Nov 8.

Meet me for drinks before and after if keen.

A full transcript will be made available.

if i get this apartment i applied for on the weekend, i might rumble down the m1 in the truck and come see you on this date.

brewskis with my bruski.

godsavethequeen wrote:Righto, let's do an image search for scat just to check....



Oh

erm, that's not a fish is it?

Mr Carroll's fourth myth: "Nets aren't just for catching sharks: they disrupt local shark territorial patterns" is also incorrect according to Dr Bucher.

Referring to the State Government's shark tagging program, Dr Bucher said the data reveals large sharks on the east coast are not territorial.

"Bull, Tiger and White sharks are all long-distance travellers. There are no territorial patterns to be interfered with," he said.

Huh? Isn't this exactly how nets work? To stop sharks from setting up a "beat"? (shrugs shoulders)

steve shearer wrote:I will be attending Dr Buchers (aka the Butcher of Ballina) lecture on Nov 8.

Meet me for drinks before and after if keen.

A full transcript will be made available.

It occured to me that environmental scientists like Blucher, Gilbert and others are attempting to go outside their area of expertise when they rank or choose solutions to the shark attack problem.

I think they should stick to providing the facts. Assessment of the possible solutions would be better done by others, perhaps those in the social sciences?

This would save everyone from witnessing the embarrassing displays we have seen above.

Um, what?
Social scientists are best places to assess fishing methods?

That Bucher bloke is a marine ecologist, but his background seems completely unrelated to the question at hand.
He works on age-growth relationships, spatial ecology and diver-fish interactions.
Bit like asking a dermatologist to take out your tonsils.

The main arguments are about belief systems, the value of human life, the value of animal life. What is good what is bad. I would not expect a marine ecologist to have an unbiased view.

I said the scientist should stick to their area of expertise, I imagine fishing methods would be a part of that expertise for a marine ecologist.

I reckon The Butcher has a big conceptual/philosophical/historical problem with his swimming pool hypothesis.


it's more of a green fantasy of some kind of utopia that has never existed, and could never exist.