|
Shark attack in South Africa today |
|
Written by Stefano
|
|
Thursday, 04 December 2008 |
Shark attack in South Africa today
 An analysis of South African shark attack records over the last four decades has shown some interesting patterns. Most importantly, the results confirm that attacks are rare events, with an average of only 6 incidents per year. Since 1990 only 26% of attacks have resulted in serious injury and only 12% were fatal. This equates to an average of one serious shark-inflicted injury every year and one shark-inflicted fatality every 1.6 years along some 2000 km of coastline from the Mozambique border to Table Bay (Cape Town). Initially most attacks took place on swimmers in warm, shallow waters on KwaZulu-Natal beaches, but the shark nets have greatly reduced the number of these incidents in the province to less than 1 per annum. There have been only two serious attacks at netted beaches in the last 25 years. Both involved surfers who incurred serious injuries when bitten in very clear water by what appeared to be great white sharks Carcharodon carcharias. The last attack at a netted beach took place in 1999, which bears testimony to the success of the shark nets in reducing shark attack.
In KwaZulu-Natal more attacks have taken place in the late afternoon than at any other time of the day, despite most people swimming in the heat of the late morning and early afternoon. This statistic is presumably related to the tendency of many sharks to venture inshore in the late afternoon to feed. Shark attacks have often taken place in very murky waters when the rivers come down in flood. Zambezi (bull) sharks Carcharhinus leucas find these situations extremely attractive and they have probably been responsible for many attacks in water no more than waist deep.
Recommend this article... |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Lesser Sandshark Fun on Light Tackle |
|
Written by Andro
|
|
Wednesday, 03 December 2008 |
Lesser Sandshark Fun on Light Tackle
You stand at the water looking for that big fish when you feel a light bite on the line. You get ready, but the line goes limp. It is when you tighten the line that you sudenly get surprised by a fish that runs away with your hook. All happy about the nice edible fish you have caught you start to reel in, but to your "disgust" you see a lesser sandshark, aka guitarfish or sand shark, at the end of the line.In pure frustration you just want to kick it back into the water - this is the reaction of many an angler.
Sandies are a bane of many an angler and considered a "nuisance fish", but many anglers have found out that they can have loads of fun targeting this species on light tackle if nothing else wants to bite. Growing to a maximum of 30kg's the sand shark puts up a remarkable fight, and the adrenaline rush catching these otherwise pesky fish on light tackle can turn an unsucessful day at the water into a remarkably fruitful one.
Recommend this article... |
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 03 December 2008 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Written by Hammertime
|
|
Monday, 01 December 2008 |
General Boating Courtesy
I think that a whole dummies guide could be made into a very simple couple of sentences on this issue.
Show some respect for yourself, your crew, your boat and other anglers.
If guys are broken down with wheel bearings, broken motors etc - stop and help.
If you break down on the slipway - do the right thing. Up the boat and go to the parking lot. Why fix it at the compromise of every one elses time. A major problem of late.
If you break down in the middle of a major intersection at the robots. How many cars you see left in the middle. That's right, you push it out the road. Same applies on the slip.
Remove buckles, straps, tail boards and insert drain plugs up top in the parking lots or in the queue. NOT ON THE SLIP.
Recommend this article... |
|
Last Updated ( Monday, 01 December 2008 )
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 Next > End >>
|
| Results 1 - 4 of 10 |
