Nth NSW sharks. Can they p!ss off already?

[Beanpole]

You haven’t come close to providing a rational argument against it though. Humans don’t cohabit oceans, we use them for recreation. There is always the choice to completely avoid the apex predator in a way that a village living next to a tiger doesn’t have

I would have thought Steve would be up to speed with the fishing and using boats factor. Rather than just jumping in the water and wrestling a fish. You aren’t actually in the water with the fish.

[buddy]

Hi Steve, nice article.
Felt to me like a succinct essay of all your Realsurf and swellnet comments over the last 5-8years so nothing really new there. A good read nonetheless.

Personally, I have accepted the risk. I decided not surfing is detrimental to my way of living 100% and continuing surfing has the risk of whatever shark attack is.
I’ve stopped worrying, not that I ever worried that much in the first place.

[godsavetheking]

Fuck, 10 turtles and a few other big fish so a city of nearly 5million can play safely in the ocean. As if you wouldnt.

Absolutely loof. Let’s call it what it is though instead of trying to dress it up in some weird aquatic ape costume

[steve shearer]

Every so often I feel like I am forced to severely downgrade my estimation of Godsave's intelligence.

He's probably trolling though, so fair play. He got a rise.

There's some fantastic info out there Godsave about aboriginal people's use of the ocean, inshore, estuarine habitats, if you would like to educate yourself.

From the NSW Dept of Environment.

"For coastal Aboriginal people, there is no distinction between land and sea: ‘Country’ extends offshore to include the sea and its resources. This holistic view ‘of continuous land and sea Country “as far as the eye can see”’ means that Aboriginal people conceptualise the coast very differently to non-Indigenous Australians, and to the worldview which underpins the Australian legal system.

When living or camping by the sea, Aboriginal people spent their time fishing, swimming and collecting shellfish and crustaceans. Men, women and children all engaged, and continue to engage, in resource collection."

For Aboriginal people, fishing anywhere in NSW – whether on ocean beaches or coastal estuaries or inland rivers and lakes – has always been about more than simply collecting food. It can be deeply spiritual, a chance for people to connect with their ancestors. It provides Elders with opportunities to pass their knowledge and skills down to younger generations, and for these younger generations to learn about Country, learn to manage Country, connect with Country and their Elders. Sharing food and marine resources throughout families and communities was, and is, a critical part of Aboriginal coastal life".



I accept Aboriginal people have a different world view to Welsh people but to claim they didn't cohabit marine areas with predators like sharks and crocodiles is just plain ignorance.

[marauding mullet]

Jeezuz, not that old chestnut again.

sigh.

There's always one simpleton ready to trot out the Guardian line.

Steve you asked for feedback on your article, godsave gave you some in a courteous way. Why the need for the churlish responses.
I was going to comment but I don’t think I will now.

[godsavetheking]

Are we at the personal attack stage already steve? Unlike you to concede so early

[steve shearer]

Yeah, OK, back to evidence.

I assumed you were trolling. It just seemed too dumb to be a serious argument.

If in good faith (sorry), there's a mountain of evidence of human habitation of coastal, inshore areas (your main objection?). I chose Australian indigenous history because it's what I know best, but it's widespread across Eurasia, Oceania and the Americas. Including across Ice Ages when current coastlines were very much different.

The inshore marine Environment is as much a human ecological habitat as it is a shark. Even moreso estuaries and rivers.

If you don't want to accept that, or refute the mountain of evidence then thats fine- you're having a lark- no probs.

Do you have anything serious to contribute?

[steve shearer]

Fuck, 10 turtles and a few other big fish so a city of nearly 5million can play safely in the ocean. As if you wouldnt.

Thats the current status quo.

Default position.

I think community attitudes are shifting though Loof, and it won't be default forever.

Dead dolphins make great Guardian clickbait.

[Drailed]

Fuck, 10 turtles and a few other big fish so a city of nearly 5million can play safely in the ocean. As if you wouldnt.

Absolutely loof. Let’s call it what it is though instead of trying to dress it up in some weird aquatic ape costume

Totally, I am willing to sacrifice the death of a few sea animals so there is less chance of my son or I getting killed by a shark when we play in the sea.

Just like any of you cnuts are willing to kill a few animals to get to the beach quicker by driving on roads.

[steve shearer]

It's an honest position.

[Drailed]

Fuck, 10 turtles and a few other big fish so a city of nearly 5million can play safely in the ocean. As if you wouldnt.

Thats the current status quo.

Default position.

I think community attitudes are shifting though Loof, and it won't be default forever.

Dead dolphins make great Guardian clickbait.

Yep agreed, a few mongs around here who bleat on about removing nets while swanning around in land rovers.

[buddy]

The people that post on social media news articles after someone has just died by shark attack, “who would think there’d be sharks in the ocean?”

Fuck, they must be the up there with the biggest losers on the planet.

[steve shearer]

Yep, so fcuking trite and banal.

I was hoping to move the debate along which is why I reacted to Godsave taking it back to typical Guardian level below the line level.

[steve shearer]

Anyway the next article will be about personal deterrence and individual risk reducing behaviour (or acceptance).

Might get an interview with Buddy for it.

[swvic]

I admire buddy. I'm all over the place. Acceptance mixed with anxiety. Sometimes it's set in stone before I paddle out, other times it changes while in the water. Most of my ocean time is a definite death if bitten

[godsavetheking]

You’re not moving the debate along at all. Yours is an essentially Old Testament viewpoint, no matter how you dress it up in pretty words:

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

[Cranked]

Australia has the highest number of fatal shark attacks in the world, with Western Australia recently becoming the deadliest place in the world for shark attacks with total and fatal shark bites growing exponentially over the last 40 years

[swvic]

Wondering how the swellnet discussions are progressing


Not really