The summer holidays are here and visitors from around South Africa as well as the rest of the world will flock to the fairest Cape. Sadly many people will not make their destination as they will die in tragic car accidents. However, should another shark-human encounter occur in False Bay during the festive season, it will be this event that makes the headlines and contribute further to the public’s paranoia about sharks and their safety in Cape waters.
However, the Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF), which is gaining recognition for its efforts in shark conservation and awareness in Cape Town, encourages the public to rethink the shark and to keep shark-human encounters in perspective. Using the award-winning Rethink the Shark campaign created by Saatchi & Saatchi and Groundglass, SOSF reminds people that they have more chance of being killed by faulty toasters, flying kites or simply by falling off chairs than ever being killed by a shark! There is even a higher risk of being killed by faulty Christmas tree lights than being bitten by a shark!
The SOSF Rethink the Shark campaign, which is being driven by the AfriOceans Conservation Alliance, in collaboration with the Two Oceans Aquarium, will run from 15 December 2006 until 15 January 2007. The public should look out for the mobile billboard doing the rounds at all the beaches in False Bay; the Rethink the Shark commercials on large screens at BP Blue Route, Shell Paradise Motors, Caltex in Camps Bay, and Shell Ultra City False Bay petrol stations and on plasma screens at Cavendish and Somerset Mall cinema booking areas; Rethink the Shark posters; Rethink the Shark peak caps which will be handed out on beaches and a Rethink the Shark competition in the Weekend Argus which will run for three weekends starting on 16 December 2006. Fantastic prizes are to be won.
A change in attitude towards sharks as well as responsible behaviour in the ocean will go a long way to preventing further shark-human encounters. The City of Cape Town has launched a successful Shark Spotting Programme which oversees the beaches of Muizenberg, St James, Fish Hoek, Mnandi, Blue Waters, Monwabisi, Strand, Koeël Bay, Glencairn, Long Beach, Kommetjie and De Hoek beaches.
If shark spotters are in place, the public should take note of the following:
- A green flag means visibility for the spotters is good and no sharks are visible to them;
- A black flag means visibility is poor, but no sharks have been seen;
- A red flag means that a shark has been seen recently but is no longer visible to the spotters;
- A white flag showing a black shark, along with a loud siren, means a shark sighted and you should leave the water calmly, but immediately; and
- If no flag is visible, it means that the spotters are not on duty.
SOSF encourages people to heed the shark spotters as well as follow additional guidelines which include:
- Pay attention to shark signage and the colour of flags on the beaches;
- If a shark has recently been sighted in an area where no shark spotters are on duty, use another beach;
- First time visitors to beaches should ask local law enforcement officials, life guards or locals about the beach;
- Obey beach officials if asked to leave the water;
- Stay within the breakers;
- Avoid swimming, surfing or surf-skiing if birds, dolphins or seals are feeding in the area;
- Avoid swimming, surfing or surf-skiing on your own – stay in groups and stay close together;
For too long sharks have been overexploited and have unjustly earned the reputation of being man-eaters when it is in fact humans who feed on them: up to 100 million sharks are being killed worldwide, mostly for their fins, while only four people were killed by sharks worldwide during 2005.
Sharks are apex predators which play a vital role in maintaining the delicate balance of the marine ecosystem. Without them the oceans as we know them will no longer exist: species and genetic diversity and predator/prey relationships will be dramatically affected. In order to protect our marine resources for our future the time has come to literally put things into perspective and Rethink the Shark!
For more information please visit www.aoca.org.za and www.saveourseas.com
Issued by Helen Lockhart (Two Oceans Aquarium) and Lesley Rochat (AfriOceans Conservation Alliance).
