Australia has had a third attck for 2005. In March a Fatality occured followed by a Marine Biologist last month. 2 Fatal attacks and now 1 non fatal. Other species of shark have also been responsible this year in Australia, Bull Shark and Bronze Whaler. Australia ranks # 1 for Shark Attack fatality. It is easy for us to blame an animal, that really is doing what nature programmed it to do. We often hear the term rogue shark, which to this day is totally unfounded. Sharks are present in close proximity to bathers on a regular basis but do not attack people. If you choose to Salmon fish in area where Grizzly bears hunt, you do so at your own risk! Education and awareness is key. Better first aid response is vital for a Shark Attack victims survival.

Millions of Sharks are culled for soup every year. We have poisioned our Oceans to the point that Sharks carry a high level of Mercury.
We eat the shark and the Mercury, who is the smarter!

If we harvest Sharks that is fine, but it has to be controlled and done in a proper manner, not cutting fins and throwing the whole animal back alive. Sharks breed slowly and like everything else we harvest it is nearly gone! Cod will never recover as it has been over fished.

Solutions exist to minimize attacks and provide a level of security in the ocean.
However that comes at a cost and are you willing to pay a fee to go to your local beach for that added protection?

Shark attacks are not on the increase to the level that the media would have you believe. The summer of the Shark had less attacks than the year before, but as news was slow the media had a field day.

It is always easy for us to remove Nature to fix a problem, but did we really fix it!

It is easy to see the damage of removing jungles or animals, Our oceans are in just as much trouble, the problem is you can not see it and it is over looked!


ELEANOR HALL: Finally today to a tale of survival against the odds which comes from Port Lincoln on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula. Yesterday, 40-year-old Jake Heron was attacked by a Great White Shark while surfing at Fishery Bay, about 30 kilometres west of Port Lincoln.

This morning, Mr Heron described his ordeal to reporters from his bedside at Port Lincoln Hospital.

JAKE HERON: Yeah, I just caught a wave, heading back out, and yeah, I thought I was actually on a rock first because it just started rising out of the water and, yeah, and then I realised, I just looked around and saw a big sort of black tail, yeah, sort of body I guess, it wasn't even a tail, and then I felt the bite so I knew I'd been bitten.

And what happened after that happened really quickly. I think what's happened is the shark's actually, the next bite it's grabbed my board and, yeah, as it did that I went along the side of it and I was just punching and kicking it, and the fin was about there, so I've sort of rolled down its right side, and then my board took off, it had my board, it was underwater, and I got dragged for a bit, and the board popped up.

I swam over to the board, that was the worst bit - I had about 10 yards to swim, and a wave came along, perfect timing, and just yeah, straight over the rocks and in.

REPORTER: What about the pain from your injuries? Were you able to feel it at all?

JAKE HERON: No, no, none at the time. I knew I'd been bitten so, yeah? They weren't?

REPORTER: A lot of people die of shock in these situations. Why do you think you survived?

JAKE HERON: Well I don't? I don't know, I don't think the shock factor kicked in too much, you know, I sort of got my head around it a bit, but yeah, I sort of knew what I had to do, I had to get in, and my board was there, so yeah, that was all that was sort of going through my mind at that time.

The worst thing was the swim. I just had to go sort of from here to the door, and I was just, yeah, that was the worst bit, because if I was ever going to get hit again, that's when it was going to happen.

REPORTER: Do you think the board saved your life?

JAKE HERON: Yeah, in that regard, because I wouldn't? being 40, 50 metres offshore from the, yeah, sort of safety I guess you'd call it, it was a big rock sort of halfway between that but, yeah, I wouldn't have liked to swim that distance, it would've taken me three, four times as long.

REPORTER: Can you describe your injuries for us and what they are exactly.

JAKE HERON: Um, yeah, I've got just a little nick on my calf, but um, yeah, puncture wounds, you know, teeth are big so it's just sort of punctured it. I haven't really looked at em' that closely. It's the top of the food chain, you see, nothing affects it, the numbers are just going up. It's time they started controlling the numbers of the sharks in Port Lincoln.

REPORTER: So you agree with destroying?

JAKE HERON: Yep, controlled culls. They kill our national emblem out at Coffin Bay, you know, kangaroos. They kill elephants in Africa. It's time to keep the numbers down in Port Lincoln.

ELEANOR HALL: That's shark attack survivor, Jake Heron, speaking from Port Lincoln Hospital to reporters, including the ABC's Abigail Bowden.