Gold Coast shark attack season: What you need to know
Swimmers and surfers are being urged to keep shark aware as Gold Coast enters peak shark attack season. INTERACTIVE MAP >>>
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SWIMMERS and surfers are being urged to keep shark aware and invest in scientifically proven deterrents as Gold Coast enters peak shark attack season.
Analysis of significant Gold Coast shark attacks recorded on the Global Shark Attack File found 27 out of 33 of these incidents occurred between September and March.
It comes after the surfing community paid tribute to coast shark attack victim Nick Slater on the one year anniversary of his tragic death that rocked the city.
Coast surfing icon Andy McKinnon said surfers were more alert at this time of year.
“Even with shark nets, there’s no guarantee there won’t be any shark attacks,” Mr McKinnon said.
“You’re in their environment and there’s always that risk of a shark attack.
“I would support the notion of shark mitigation, but there should be better ways of doing that rather than shark nets that trap other marine life.”
Last month, rescuers freed a whale trapped in shark nets in waters off the Tweed coast after a mammoth 22-hour mission.
“When I grew up on the Gold Coast, living on Mermaid Beach, my mum got hold of a shark bell and she would set it up on our upstairs veranda,” Mr McKinnon said.
“If she saw any sharks while we were out surfing she would ring the bell. It was pretty effective.”
West Australian-based surfer Shanan Worrall said his thoughts were with Mr Slater’s family and friends during this difficult period.
Mr Worrall said professional divers reported more encounters with white sharks from October onwards.
“October and the next few months is definitely the time to be careful in the water,” he said.
“When I was younger and entering the commercial diving game, I was told from October onwards was the time you will see the most whites and that rang true from my own experiences.”
Numerous encounters with sharks left Mr Worrall with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and anxiety.
Working as an abalone diver until 2013, he had to perform lifesaving CPR on a close friend and another friend was killed.
Using his experience with sharks and techniques from abalone divers and fisherman, he came up with a product known as Shark Eyes.
The product is a sticker of large eyes that can be placed on surfboards and which is also used by abalone divers on their wetsuits or masks, to mimic human eyes to deter sharks.
The concept is backed by scientific studies analysing eyespots being used in nature as a defence mechanism.
Bond University shark expert Daryl McPhee said there was no modelling available to predict when sharks attacks will occur due to individual variations between sharks.
He said more shark attacks could occur between September to March because more people were in the water during these months, as well as more rainfall and the availability of food.
Dr McPhee said swimmers could reduce the risk of an attack by staying between the flags, obeying directives from surf lifesavers and avoiding “sharky” water where there are a lot of bait fish.
“No method is going to reduce the risk to zero, but it substantially reduces the risk,” he said.
“If surfers are interested in purchasing shark deterrents, they should focus on ones that are scientifically tested and proven to work.”
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