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NEWS
Kayker dies from shark attack
Hawaiian ‘yak fisher receives fatal bite on dangling foot, as WA moves to cull great whitesCNN reports a man fishing from a kayak half a mile off the island of Maui in Hawaii died on Monday (December 2) as a result of a shark attack. The man was reportedly jigging bait when a shark snapped at one of his feet dangling over the side. It's the first time we've heard of a fatal yak' fisher attack.
A friend fishing in another kayak rushed over and applied a tourniquet to try and stem the heavy blood loss before a tourist boat was flagged down. It was reported that the victim died on that boat during his transit back to shore.
Authorities say the attack is the 13th shark incident reported in Hawaii so far this year, and the eighth on Maui, which is well above the 20-year average of four incidents a year. Last year, however, there were 10 attacks and that was unprecedented, reports CNN.
Some years ago, two kayakers encountered a great white shark while fishing off Long Reef, just north of Sydney Heads. Other boats in the area rescued the men as the shark flipped one kayak and circled metres below. Some observers claimed it was only a matter of time before a 'yak fishing attack. There have been some close calls. See the Long Reef video (dramatised somewhat) and another viral 'yak shark encounter video posted below!
Sadly, another surfer died off the West Australian coast late last month after a shark, suspected of being a great white, attacked. But Professor Shaun Collin and shark biologist Ryan Kempster from the University of Western Australia say the perceived increase in shark attacks in WA is a result of a growing population leading to more people in the water. Increased sightings are from more vigorous aerial patrols, they say.
Writing in The Conversation, Professor Collin and Kempster make the point that when shark culling was carried out in Hawaii, between 1959 to 1976, over 4500 sharks were killed and yet there was no significant decrease in the number of shark bites recorded. A team from the University of Hawaii is now tagging sharks off the coasts of Maui to track their movements, as indeed we do here.
But Professor Collin and Kempster point to existing research that shows that the number of attacks per million people in Australia almost halved from approximately 60 per million people between 1930/1939 to approximately 30 per million people between 2000/2009.
The conclusion is that pre-emptively killing sharks is a response based on emotion rather than of scientific data. At the same time, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has told ABC that she is “sure it does have an impact on [WA] tourism but likewise we have other issues that we have to balance."
As we move into the shark season, heed the advice about how to avoid being attacked at http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/info/sharksmart.
One of the most popular great-white shark and kayak images of all time was taken by shark researcher and avid paddler Thomas Peschak.com. We share that above. You can read how the image was taken and buy his book on shark research at www.thomaspeschak.com.
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Written byBoatsales Staff
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Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
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