We need great white sharks

THERE is every reason to be worried about the future of South Africa’s great white shark population. A leading marine scientist, Dr Sara Andreotti, this week claimed her research shows there are between 353 and 522 individuals left in our waters and that they face extinction because they have the lowest genetic diversity of all great white shark populations worldwide.

It is now well known the American thriller movie, Jaws, released in 1975, did a great deal of harm to the reputation of great whites, with a story line about a rogue shark terrorising a seaside resort. Many took the view the only good shark was a dead shark. It has taken a long time for attitudes to change. In 1991 South Africa was the first in the world to introduce legislation to conserve great white sharks by making them a protected species. Other countries followed, including Namibia, Australia, the US and Malta.

But according to Andreotti, they are at risk from shark nets and baited hooks in KwaZulu-Natal, poaching for shark jaws, habitat encroachment, pollution and the depletion of food sources. The KZN Sharks Board have disputed the existing shark nets are decimating the great whites. Promising research is going on into non-lethal electric barriers, which will further cut fatalities.

Within the scientific community there is debate about how many of this species are left in South African waters, with some suggesting the figure may not be as low as her research suggests. But this should give us no comfort. They are still a species that is at risk.

She points out the decline of great whites numbers would affect the ecological stability of South Africa’s marine environment. This species of shark is the top predator of Cape Fur seals, which feed on the same fish species that are harvested commercially. If these sharks disappear seal numbers will grow, and put fish stocks under even greater threat.