Fatal shark attacks empty South Australia beaches

CANBERRA, Australia (Reuters) -- The waves off South Australia's rugged western coast were deserted this week after two surfers were killed in separate shark attacks about 200 kilometers (124 miles) apart in the space of two days.

The deaths of New Zealander Cameron Bayes, 25, on Sunday and local Jevan Wright, 17, on Monday were a reminder to surfers using these off-the-beaten-track beaches that southern Australia's temperate waters are prime shark territory.

The most ferocious of the shark family, the Great White, also known as the White Pointer and demonized in films such as "Jaws," is often sighted in these waters. They can grow up to seven meters (23 feet) long and weigh four tons.

Witnesses described a Great White about four meters (13 feet) long attacking Bayes at Cactus Beach, about 600 km (370 miles) west of Adelaide, an area nicknamed Shark Restaurant because of the frequent shark sightings.

Two friends who were out on the waves with Wright at Black Point, near Elliston, were uncertain what type of shark ripped the teen-ager from his board, seeing only its tail, but believe it was also a Great White, a protected species in Australia.

In both of the recent attacks only pieces of the mangled surfboards were recovered.

Thrill of the ride

Jim Clarke, chief executive of the South Australian Surfing Association, said surfers took the risk for the thrill of the ride, perhaps lulled into a false sense of security with an average only one person a year killed by sharks in Australia.

"It is a risk surfers accept," Clarke told Reuters.

"People may stay away for a while now but long term, it won't change the numbers of hardcore surfers going there."

Police spokeswoman Jenny Barrett said beaches were open as usual, since police did not have the powers to close areas after shark attacks. But locals living near Cactus Beach had put up a sign warning surfers about sharks prowling the area.

"That should scare some people off," she said.

Despite popular belief that shark attacks are common in Australia, only about six people are attacked each year and fatalities are low, less than the average three deaths a year from bee stings and compared with 1,760 fatal road accidents.

The Australian Shark Attack File (ASAF), kept at Sydney's Taronga Zoo, has recorded 33 fatal shark attacks in the past 30 years, including the two recent deaths.

Of these, 10 were in South Australia but the highest number, 12, were in Queensland on Australia's northeast coast where the Great Barrier Reef is a popular tourist destination.

Before Sunday the last reported fatal attack in Australia was in May 1999 when windsurfer Tony Donaghue, 22, disappeared off Hardwicke Bay in South Australia. A shredded wet suit and mauled board were the only clues to his fate.

Different sharks

"It is very unusual to have two fatal shark attacks in one year, let alone two days and on the same stretch of coast," said John West from the ASAF. It had been 23 years since one state suffered two fatal attacks in a year, he said.

"But I don't think it will be the same shark. The attacks were too far apart," West said.

Since records began in 1791, Australia has recorded 565 shark attacks and 184 fatal shark attacks along its vast coastline.

The last fatal attack in Sydney Harbour was in 1963 but officials at the Sydney Olympics still went to great lengths to ensure sharks did not spoil sporting events in the harbour.

Six divers on underwater scooters and wearing shark-pods, which emit a low-frequency electrical pulse, were used to keep the triathletes' swimming course in the harbour free of sharks.

Too bony, short memories

South Australian shark expert Rodney Fox said sharks do not like humans. Fox survived an attack by a Great White off Aldinga Beach south of Adelaide in 1963, though he needed 450 stitches in his chest. An Adelaide student was killed by a White Pointer while diving off the same beach in 1991.

"Basically sharks do not like humans so it is very strange to get two attacks so close like this," Fox told Reuters.

"We are too bony so sharks don't normally target people. A lot of people who have been bitten by sharks have survived because the shark spat them out."

Fox said the two latest attacks would scare surfers away from the area where sharks are attracted to the fish and seals which live in colonies along the coast.

"There are a lot of sharks around there but it is amazing how short people's memories can be," he said.

Surfers are the number one victims of sharks globally.

According to the International Shark Attack File compiled at the University of Florida, surfers made up 43 percent of 58 shark attacks reported worldwide in 1999, of which four were fatal.

Swimmers accounted for 38 percent and divers 11 percent.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Australian Shark Attack File
Shark Attacks - International Shark Attack File
NOVA Online - Shark Attack!

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