AUSTRALIA SUFFERS SPATE OF FATAL SHARK ATTACKS
LOCALS, SCIENTISTS POINT TO CLIMATE CHANGE, OVERFISHING, DOMESTIC TOURISM BOOM
Wylie Bay, a stunning white sand beach with a famous surf break, lies hauntingly empty. Only the sounds of the sea and the gentle breeze puncture the silence.
It is a week since Andrew Sharpe, a 53-year-old surfer and local businessman, was attacked by a shark believed to be at least 13 feet in length at Kelp Beds.
His friends tried desperately to save him, but he was pulled under the waves and not seen again.
“I’ve never seen a dorsal fin that big before, not even in media footage,” said Ross Tamlin, a witness to the attack.
Sharpe’s death marks the seventh fatal shark attack in Australian waters this year, the worst toll since 1929. The numbers are prompting questions from locals and scientists alike, who are pointing to warming waters due to climate change, depleted fishing stocks and a domestic tourism boom triggered by COVID-19.
A friend of Sharpe, who did not want their name used, had known him since primary school.
“He accepted everyone for who they were. No judgments. Beautiful, grounded family. Absolutely beautiful wife and children,” they said. “He is bringing a lot of mates together by default next week. He would love that.”
Ean Clare, a veteran abalone diver, said the seaside town of 13,000 people had been “rocked” by the latest death.
“I knew Andrew — he was a year younger than me ... I would see him around and say ‘ how are you goin’ Sharpey?’ ” he said.
Sharpe’s death was the second fatal shark attack off the Western Australian town of Esperance this year, and the third since 17-yearold Laeticia Brouwer was killed at Kelp Beds in April 2017, while surfing. In January, Gary Johnson was diving at Cull Island, about 6 kilometres off Esperance, when he was lethally mauled.
David Swan, a spokesman for Ocean Safety & Support group and commodore of the local yacht club, knows Sharpe’s family well.
“Melissa, Andrew’s wife, used to work here (at the vet clinic). We were gutted when we heard about it. Most people know each other and everyone feels the impact,” he said. “There are definitely going to be people who think twice about when or if they will go back in (to the ocean),” he said.
Dr. Simon Allen, adjunct research fellow at the University of Western Australia’s School of Biological Sciences, said there were many possible contributing factors leading to a rise in fatal attacks this year. “There has been continued overfishing (which can drive sharks closer to shore in search of food), an increase in human population, and also a far greater number of people using coastal waters for recreation. That is particularly the case in the time of COVID-19,” he said. “Regional tourism has exploded this year and there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of recreational fishing and other uses of coastal waters.”
Allen added it was possible the La Nina effect, which cools the Pacific, would correlate with large sharks following prey into areas of higher human population.
The latest attack has triggered calls for measures including the use of drum lines, and residents met with Peter Tinley, the state fisheries minister, this week to demand action.
Drum lines lure and capture large sharks using baited hooks. Scientists say there is little evidence they are effective in reducing attacks and have been condemned by environmentalists and animal welfare advocates.
“What’s a human life worth? It’s one shark. It might be one that comes back,” resident Paul Wymer told 9News in Esperance.
Tinley told The Daily Telegraph that the state government had spent A$37 million ($34 million) on measures to reduce the risk of shark attacks since taking office in March 2017. He said these included warning towers linked to receivers that detect tagged sharks. “There is also the SharkSmart app, which covers sightings reported by the public and tagged sharks detected.”
Clare, who has been diving for abalone for 20 years, now uses a cage. “There is no way in the world I would do the job without a cage.
“I don’t care what the pollies (politicians) are trying to push — there are definitely more sharks in the water. The diving industry in Esperance is dead and surfing will be next.”