IIRC Sharks are one of the only things left that are just barely controlling the population explosion of Humboldt Squid along the west coast of the US.
These squid are intelligent, hunt in packs, and have the potential to take down prey of any size.http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/animals/invertebrates-animals/octopus-and-squid/humbolt_squid.html
It's sad that a lad 'dided' but where you gonna draw the line there?
Start by banning dogs?
Dog Attack 1-in-147,717
Pussies! How often do you spend in actually the water each 'kiteboarding' session.
I have never heard so much shark hating BS than here in WA!
Totally sad news about that young man.
But seriously suggesting we go and cull great white sharks is just retarded
Dude after u watch this film that Rob Stewart made
Yeah... My head tells me to agree... My heart is still thumping from getting knocked off my board yesterday by a 2m shark at my local. My hair was dry after half hours kiting and hadn't body dragged once or been off my board. Scared the sh!t out of me... And I don't like being reminded that I can't control everything when I spend all my days trying to stop people getting hurt with all the means I have at my disposal! But I see your point lostinlondon.
Edited to say: I had an employee and good friend killed on his way home from work almost a year ago under my watch. Since then I've implemented a campaign of anti-fatigue, driver safety training "arrive alive", relaxation training to help people get good rest to ready them for their 12 hour shifts... There is an independent councelling program so people can sort their **** out if its something outside of work affecting their ability to work... And I am available 24/7 for their calls should they think in any way there is a risk or hazard that could be life threatening so I can go out and find a way to mitigate it. I fix thIngs! But this might just have to be one I cannot fix.
Do we really need them? Yes, we do.
We as a species need biodiversity to survive. Biologically diverse ecosystems are resilient and flexible. Monocultures - such as wheat fields, salmon farms, and chicken batteries are inherently unstable, vulnerable to epidemics, and require massive inputs of energy (fossil fuels) and other chemicals (antibiotics, pesticides etc) to keep them running. Sustainable harvesting is what we need, or there will be long-term consequences far harsher than our average annual shark-attack toll.
Apex predators are crucial to the health of an ecosystem, and the ocean, like the soil and the atmosphere, needs to be healthy if humans are to survive.
The range of species and food chains/webs existing today took many millions of years to evolve. We need them to survive because we can't replicate biodiversity.
As many of others have said, there are many of other causes of death we could attend to, and though they may not be as spectacular on an individual case basis, the statistics of people dying from lifestyle-related degenerative diseases are truly spectacular.
I'm not saying I'd be happy to be killed by a shark, but that I'd rather take that miniscule risk than risk our species' survival by deluding ourselves into thinking we only need species that have obvious and immediate benefits and that we can do without the rest. Cybernetics 101: part of a complex interactive system can never control the functioning of the whole system. We must learn to participate, not aspire to control.
Everyone has their opinions and are entitled to them
An unfortunate accident like this in an environment we all love to enjoy is a good time to take stock of how we feel about the ocean that we share with its natural inhabitants.
Condolences to the family and friends.
kill the sharks, kill the great barrier reef, kill australian economy, kill being able to afford new kites each year.
sharks are scavengars that feed on the sick and week. they keep disease down and increase the strength of the genetic pool in fish stocks. do you really want massive disease outbreak killing the australian fishing industry as well?
and do you honestly think a shark is quick enough to catch a kiter or be willing to breach to bite you?
how about before you jump into an unquestionable opinion you do just a little bit of research.
if sharks really wanted to "feed on humans" we would be long gone, no-one would dare enter the water.
good luck keeping a species that migrates such long distances away from certain spots.
and what kind of idiot decided you had to be a tree hugger to be able to think before you act??? how bout we introduce cane toads to kill cane beetles, good idea Mr idiot, those beetles kill one person every year, toads will solve everything.
a govt funded tagging and tracking system would surely be money well spent? keep an eye on their migration patterns? i see the irwins tag crocs at a cost of $7K per tag, the govt wastes $30K on PS3's for asylum seekers i'm sure they could spare a couple bucks to tag a few man eaters?
but no killing or culling. and east coasters calling west coasters red-necks is the pot calling the kettle black. -alot of us are from the east.
We live and run a Kite and Sup school in Pt Lincoln and i can assure you it's hard work trying to get people in the water around here.One of my best mates was taken here by a great white, my neighbour and my girlfriends schoolmate but hey we all still hit the water everyday.Your first reaction is kill the shark but after the angers has gone you start to think more. Do NOT agree with the chumming of GW to cage dive... do not agree with huge shark cage diving signage being put up around town and do not agree to killing the Great creature of our sea.And as we all know the statistics are low . Tagging and tracking def the answer but at what cost ?? And i agree to this our.. Dodgey Gov should save money elsewhere and consider the suffering of families that do lose a member of their family to a great white. It's a very strange death especially if the body is never recovered for the grieving process.
All respect goes out to anyone hitting the water and living the life you love to live and for anyone ever that's involved in a shark attack death !!!
Full respect to this guys family.
So the stats say that you have a 1 in 3,748067 chance of being killed by a shark.
Is that is stat counting ALL people... of which many don't even live near an ocean?
Stats can be made to say anything.
We are top of the food chain. Sure, we should be humane and preserve biodiversity but if something becomes a problem them we have need to deal with it.
Another sharkl attack and exactly the same bull sh1t debates.
Boring!
Very bad news about the attack though, but the risk we take!
We have the brains and tech to be custodians of the land and sea.
IF we decided to wipe out a species of animal then we could do it. I'd like to see sharks wipe out all humans.
Just by naturals prowess who should rule the earth? Lions, gorillas, elephants? They can all kill a human easily but they are not in charge are they? Like it or not, we are.
Select to expand quoteschmik said...
We have the brains and tech to be custodians of the land and sea.
IF we decided to wipe out a species of animal then we could do it. I'd like to see sharks wipe out all humans.
Just by naturals prowess who should rule the earth? Lions, gorillas, elephants? They can all kill a human easily but they are not in charge are they? Like it or not, we are.
how very post war of you. Destroy ecosystems will eventually destroy us.
Try killing cane toad first :) Not easy, is it? :) Bugs, microorganisms, even harder...Yet, we like to think we are in charge!
^^^^^Hunting "the" shark is not as easy either. Hard to ask a shark did you do it or was it one of your mates. So what do we do with these "ocean terrorists", a kill or capture policy or just kill?
Nature has provided many "monsters", polar/grizzly bears, lions, tigers, and hippoes. They are all killing humans more than ever as they encroach on our environment and eat/destroy our food sources (oops I think I got that the wrong way around). I'd hate to tell my 4 year old about all these apex predators and how they are almost extinct,"but you can still see them in a Zoo".
The greatest "monsters" are us.
I don't get the kill the rogue shark theory. If a shark tastes something it doesn't like
(they say great whites can't survive on our bony bodies) then surely if there smart they won't be back for more. Has a great white ever attacked more than one person
or do they learn after giving it a try
Condolences to the families of this boy lost and everyone else lost to the ocean.
I know the risks of entering the ocean, and in my view, i'd much rather die doing something i love, than say killed in a car accident on the way to a mundane job, or poisoning myself with cigs.
If you don't like sharks, then don't go in the water, and as a friend says "if sharks stay out of the pub, i'll stay out of the water"
Most ppl that surf, kite, dive, fish, swim or whatever know the risks.
Just saying, sharks should be protected, its not them entering our world, its us going into theirs.
Do these Shark Shields work? I'm led to believe the evidence is a bit sketchy, but if they were proven to work, would it really cost too much to have stronger, submarine versions of these placed 100-200m or so off some of the more popular beaches to try and deter the sharkies from venturing into the surf/ swim zones?
Sounds like fairly simple technology to me (the non-expert in marine acoustics)
here, here dusta.......kill everything we can't control.........stupid bloody humans!
First, condolences to family and friends involved, RIP Kyle
Every time we dip our toes in the big blue ocean, we enter an amazing marine world and with that, mostly a small degree of risk. Others mentioned more risk in our human world and I couldn't agree more, there is considerably higher risk, ie cars, one punch knock outs, road rage, vending machines, your poison/s etc etc
We all love the ocean sports we do, and I for one are prepared to integrate with the marine realm for this interaction.
The Bunker Bay area has somewhat higher risk than other areas due to a nearby seal colony (see attached) and a prime source of food supply for the Carcharodon carcharias - Great White Shark. We all revisit our favourite food supply be at home, restaurant or pizza bar. We all know we look similar to a playful seal when we don the black rubber and start thrashing around after the excitement of an awesome wave.
Not being alarmist, but anecdotal evidence suggests this colony is expanding and also establishing further south around Cowaramup Bay.
I dive regularly on the south coast of WA, and have yet to see such a beautiful beast but we take additional precautions and use the shark shield devices.
I for one don't want to see any culling and am happy to wear the risk, which is probably significantly less than your human life.
mf Monkeyfish
I agree with Monkeyfish we should kill the sea lions and remove the prime source of food supply for the Carcharodon carcharias - Great White Shark
bahahah :p
Yea we need them Rad because imagine how many less aquaphobes there would be without them.................and that many more kites on the water....not a problem you in your neck of the woods I know.
