world

Australian authorities hunt great white shark after American diver killed

29 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

29 Comments
Login to comment

As someone who dives and who is rather sensitive about the killing of sharks, I have to say, this shark is not "normal". Chances are it is ill. Sharks don't go after humans just for the heck of it. Could be the same shark.

RIP to the divers. Divers are generally well aware of the risks with diving, are huge shark/nature lovers and don't want to harm anything. Shame.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

What the ***** is a 'rogue predator'?

The shark is a natural predator and hunts in the sea-the writer of this article is inane to suggest otherwise!

Humans do not swim in shark infested waters......it is dangerous!

5 ( +6 / -1 )

@presto345

(Don't tell me the ocean belongs to the sharks!)

I would like to take it that you are only joking here.

Otherwise, your human arrogance is unbelievable !

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Actually, this is where I live. Yesterday was overcast - I was surfing about an hour to the North when the attack happened, and almost all attacks take place when there is cloud cover and it is a dull day. This man is the 3rd person in 6 weeks to be killed by a Great White in this area. Most of us in the surfing community believe that the number of sharks has increased considerably in the least few years as the whale population that migrates up and down our coast (at this time of the year they are heading south for their annual date with the Japanese whalers in Antarctica) continues to rebound and prosper. The sharks follow the whales to eat the sick and the small. The shark is not sick, there are very large numbers of them around at present and they roam all over the coast and are often sighted close in to shore. Should the shark be killed? No, I don't think so. I think the idea of a man eater is silly - sharks are just animals at the top of the food chain, and humans swimming around in a wetsuit in the ocean become part of that foodchain. Killing sharks won't change their nature. Having said that, for the first time in my surfing life (30 years) the surfing community hereabouts are genuinely nervous in the water, and the same is true for me. We also have lots of dolphins around here, and there is nothing that will momentarily freeze your heart like a dolphin fin surfacing 20 meters in front of you....

2 ( +3 / -1 )

"Don't tell me the ocean belongs to the sharks!"

Umm... The ocean belongs to the sharks.

Along with any other creature that has adapted to live, hunt, and procreate in that environment.

Don't want to become a shark's dinner? Stay out of the water when there are sharks around.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@presto345 - you obviously have not been in the sea much then..........

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The shark, behaving perfectly as a shark will, now has to be killed? What utter nonsense. The oceans and seas of the planet are wildernesses where wild things live. Treat them as such. Don't we kill enough sharks a year?

1 ( +5 / -4 )

agree! you dont go to a lion infested area to take a walk, same as shark infested seas... its their natural habitat go swim somewhere else and stop bothering those animals

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Don't tell me the ocean belongs to the sharks!

They're the ones with the receipt.

Taka

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Tamarama, indeed people get "mouthed" by sharks but three deaths is odd. Very rare that shark attacks end up with deaths. I am wondering if it is not the same one.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Shark deaths in Australia are so rare it is not even worth talking about. On average there is 1 death due to shark attack per year. Nothing whatsoever to worry about.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Burakumin, this is why everyone is talking - three in a span of a few weeks in one area.

Presto, your ignorance is showing.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Tmarie,

I am wondering if it is not the same one.

Nobody is really suggesting that at this point, as shark sightings up and down the coast are a dialy event at present. I also don't think many people buy into this idea of a 'man killer'.

presto,

(Don't tell me the ocean belongs to the sharks!) You obviously haven't spent enough serious time in the water to develop a respect for the environment. Any time you would like your fragile little ego levelled, head down to the beach, it will be more than happy to oblige you.

Burakumin

Shark deaths in Australia are so rare it is not even worth talking about. On average there is 1 death due to shark attack per year. Nothing whatsoever to worry about.

3 deaths in 6 weeks, along with dozens of sightings and beach closures. Try telling this community not to worry. They are very nervous at present.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I don't think it is a "man killer". I think it is sick and doesn't really have a clue what it is doing.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

" I think it is sick and doesn't really have a clue what it is doing.

On the contrary, this shark -- if it is indeed only one -- knows precisely what it's doing: It's hungry and knows just where to get an easy meal.

Seriously, where does all of this, "The predator seems to have acquired a taste for humans" or "the predator just doesn't know any better" silliness come from?

These are wild animals. They're predators, for Pete's sake. Eating things is what they do. They can't be bargained with. They can't be reasoned with. They don't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And they absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are eaten.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

LFRA, he's not getting "meals". The bodies have all been recovered. He also wouldn't be fulfilling his dietary needs on a diet of skinny humans.

I think the if it is one shark, he's sick. Many sharks "mouth" their prey before eating. In these cases this seems to be what has been done but to rather and extreme level. Perhaps his sonar/sense of prey is messed up.

Sharks don't just "attack" everything and anything that moves. They're predators but so are humans. We don't kill everything we see (though it may seem like it at times) and neither do sharks. The whole 'They are predators, they have no feelings" is BS. You're tarring all sharks as man eating killing machines when they are not. I am swam and dove with sharks dozens of times and I'm still around.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

tmarie, no I don't think they got Bryn Martin back two weeks ago. His body was not recovered. The shark spat out his bathing trunks though.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

tmarie,

" You're tarring all sharks as man eating killing machines when they are not."

No, I'm tarring sharks as animals that will eat when hungry and near a ready source of food. Not a whole lot unlike will. In fact, sharks tend to exercise better judgement when deciding to kill prey or not, unlike humans, who have a propensity to kill indescriminately.

Please spare me the Steve Irwin "Isn't that shark a beauty, mate?" speech. They are animals that should be afforded the proper respect when in their natural habitat.

When humans start freaking out and pondering "cullings" of this endangered species because a few divers get chomped on after swimming in the same aformentioned natural habitat, it tends to piss me off.

Stay out of the the damned water if you don't want to run the risk of getting chewed on. And if you do find yourself in the unfortunate position of getting chewed on, count yourself lucky if you happen to be able to walk away after presuming humans and sharks are ANYWHERE near the same level of understanding.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Fair enough Nandaka but no facts that the body wasn't carried away by tides and whatnot either.

LFRA, I am not giving you a speech on the beauty of sharks. Just telling you that you clearly don't know much about sharks based on some of the absurd things you've written on here on the matter.

Indeed they should be afforded the proper respect. You don't know that in these cases, they weren't.

I am certainly not suggesting culling, I don't think many or any have on this board. You however seem fine in tarring sharks as animals that will eat anything when hungry which isn't the case.

Stay out of the water? What happened to that respect thing you stated above? You can dive, surf, swim and be respectful. Shame that sometimes sharks don't seem to get that and accident happens. Just like dog bites, bee stings...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

tmarie,

Are you kidding me? Did you really just suggest that sharks aren't holding up their end of some sort of unspoken bargain by not "respecting" a human's presence in their territory? Talk about absurd. Methinks you're taking this Tmarie the Shark Whisperer thing a bit far.

It also bears noting that the comment "They can't be bargained with. They can't be reasoned with. They don't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And they absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are eaten." is a slightly adapted quote from a fairly well-known 80s film with tongue placed firmly in cheek. If you aren't you aren't familiar with it, fair enough. But it's pretty clear from the rest of my posts that I don't believe it any more than I believe the asinine claim made by another poster that the oceans sharks live in don't belong to them.

We're supposedly an evolved species. The onus to exercise greater restraint and better judgment when dealing with nature fall squarely on our shoulders, not a shark's.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

LFRAgain,

With no offense intended, this would have been a better quote:

"This shark, swallow you whole. Little shakin', little tenderizin', an' down you go."

Better movie too.

Taka

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Judging by your comments then, we all need to stay indoors. Those killer bees, dogs, mozzies.... they all might attack us because we aren't respecting them enough. You clearly don't like the water. Shame as it is an amazing place.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

tmarie,

You really just aren't getting what I'm trying to say here. I'm not suggesting we all stay indoors or that we avoid nature wherever we encounter it. I'm suggesting that we use a modicum of common sense when traipsing around the backyard of one of the most efficient predators on the planet.

And I'm further suggesting we not freak out and throw our hands up in the air in a "let's cull the herd" tizzy (from the article, not from anything you've said) when a few folks decide to gamble against Mother Nature and lose.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

No you're right. I'm not. You're telling us to stay out of the water because... we might, just might get attacked? It is as dumb as saying we need to stay due to the fear of being stung by a bee. How many swim, dive, snorkel every year and how many people are killed??

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Sigh...

At the risk of violating forum decorum, I'M NOT SAYING STAY OUT OF THE WATER!

I'm saying that one should reasonably expect that things happen in nature that are largely beyond our control, like shark attacks. And when they do, the first reaction should NOT be to go out and start killing an endangered species. The first reaction should be, "Hey, maybe we should see where these sharks are hanging out and avoid that area for a while."

You seem to like and respect sharks. I do, too. So what's the disconnect here?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

That I would agree with. Shame you didn't say that at the beginning instead of "Stay out of the the damned water if you don't want to run the risk of getting chewed on".

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I'm glad we've finally sorted that all out.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The cycle never ends. A shark kills a man, so men go hunting sharks in revenge. Men kill random sharks, then sharks go hunting men in return. And it never ends.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

people get "mouthed" by sharks but three deaths is odd. Very rare that shark attacks end up with deaths. I am wondering if it is not the same one.

Norman Moore probably thinks so too. An animal acquires a taste for human flesh, so it should be exterminated. (Don't tell me the ocean belongs to the sharks!)

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites