Recently there has been an increase in shark attacks in Australia. In the past three weeks there have been three shark attacks off the coasts whereas there would usually be that many shark attacks in a year. Thankfully the victims survived. The first was a snorkelling instructor who was attacked on the west side of Australia. On the east side two surfers had chunks taken out of them by a different shark. Graham Nickisson who is a member of the Westpac Rescue Helicopter aircrew, was flown out to find the "rogue shark". Here he tells us what he saw. "This was quite extraordinary to actually see them so close to shore on our city beaches. I've never seen it in all my years. It was frightening particularly being so close to swimmers. They were certainly unaware the sharks were there." Rodney Fox, who came close to death by a shark 40 years ago has his opinion on them. "I've spent my whole life trying to get people to understand that sharks just aren't as bad as people make out," he says from the deck of his boat in South Australia.
I don't think sharks are as bad as the jaws films portray them. They are actually amazing creatures, able to smell a drop of blood in, well, a lot of water. And, frankly you are more likely to crash your car than be attacked by a shark, so worry about seatbelts instead of these creatures.
Alfie, you just gave me a HUGE reason why not to go to Australia. Just kidding. Nicely done, though it could be a bit longer.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Alfie. Sharks are amazing creatures who have a bad rap, just like wolves around the world. Sharks are natural born predators who normally if they take a bite out of a human, they spit them back out. They just don't like the taste of humans which is a good thing...
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