Thousands rally against shark cull in Australia

"While sharks are common in Australian waters, deadly attacks are rare, with only one of the average 15 incidents a year typically proving fatal."

Seems a high enough number to me, and those are just the fatalities, not the non-fatal injuries. If the sharks are endangered and the method of killing cruel, I'm against it, but the bottom line is that in this case the killing of the marine animals is for protection. "Shark education" won't mean a whole lot when one unexpectedly creeps up on you and bites an arm or a leg off.

@smithinjapan

You need to see this in perspective. A handful of people are killed by shark attacks every year (about 1 fatal of 15 attacks in Australia) Whereas we humans kill over 11,000 sharks PER HOUR. Predominately for finning (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_finning) Who is the more dangerous animal and who should feel most threatened? You're chance of being attacked by a shark is miniscule. Sharks do not target humans. Not to mention killing an apex predator is a fast way to destroy an ecosystem. This 'shark cull' makes absolutely no sense.

Education about sharks won't stop attacks. Charge beach fees and put up a shark fence! Or just eat them once they are caught as fish and chips. I don't care.

Where is the sea shepherd bunch o morons now?

Is it that you think they approve or that you expect them to be at two places at once?

Charge beach fees and put up a shark fence!

Or they could require by beach rules that all swimmers wear wrist to ankle colorful wet suits.

Sharks are smart enough to be deterred by simple danger signs like bright colors, unlike swimmers in Oz who cannot be deterred even by threat of death.

Just catch them ,kill them eat them or turn them into fertilizer. People come first ,thanks for the government to keep shark under control.

Or they could rig up a large-scale electrical shark repellant. I'm not an expert on this, but I have used the system while scuba diving. The way it was explained to me was that sharks and rays have special electrical sensors that they use for close-range prey detection in their nose area. The personal one I used made the sharks twitch like they'd been smacked on the nose and then they swam off. Even if they're really intent on taking a bite they can't see you close up and rely on the electrical sense for targeting and if they get too close they suffer serious muscle spams and always veer off because they can't sense what they want to bit and it hurts.

The best part? No permanent damage to the shark, it gets a bit of a zap and swims off. A few bouys with these on them in the swimming area would do the trick nicely.

So, to those arguing that this is a human life versus shark life equation, it isn't. It is a question of how much the Australian government is prepared to spend to keep its international agreements.

Sharks are part of the ocean.. we surfers know they are there.. and they know we are there. Don't surf in murky water... don't spearfish and expect not to see sharks... In Hawaii there are an increasing number of shark attacks... but that is because mostly people are careless and do not respect the ocean.. it is not a swimming pool. Respect the sea and the sea will care for you is a rule.

As an Australian and an ex surf lifesaver. i am against the cull. Always taught to Respect the ocean. Always stay alert when in ocean. Its their home not ours.