Shark Attack: Panic Grips Beachgoers As ‘Great Whites’ Prowl Australian Shores

An unprecedented spike in shark attacks reported along northern Australian shores has sent beachgoers fleeing in panic as Great White Sharks infest beaches in bizarrely uncommon numbers, according to a recent report. The most recent shark attack, just weeks ago at Lighthouse Beach in East Ballina, has left one 20-year-old surfer battling serious leg injuries.

In 2015, 14 shark attacks along the New South Wales coastline have been reported in addition to several dangerously close encounters. Two people have died and three have been seriously injured in the recent spate of largely unprovoked attacks.

Shark experts believe that the inexplicably frequent shark sightings in these waters may be related to soaring ocean temperatures more than anything else. According to marine biologist Daniel Bucher, these are troubling developments and undoubtedly worth looking into.

“It would have to act in concert with other things to impact the food supply for the sharks. What was the combination of factors that generated the higher number of sharks close in shore? The answer is still very much up in the air. We did note in winter that the water stayed quite warm and with the current el Nino, the usual pattern is that the water should be cooler at this time.”

More recently, many exquisitely tranquil and serene shorelines stretching across vast swathes of the northern New South Wales coastal belt have become roaring epicentres of proliferating shark activity. Many of these dreaded marine predators have started to prowl the waters with intimidating frequency, sparking anxiety among visiting tourists and prompting panic-stricken residents to demand prudent countermeasures.

According to the The Australian Shark Attack File (ASAF), compared to injuries and fatalities from other forms of water-related events, unprovoked shark-related incidents in Australia have been rather infrequent. For instance in the last 50 years, 47 shark attack fatalities have been documented. However 23 such incidents were reported in Australian waters in 2014, with 11 of these as confirmed unprovoked shark attacks, demonstrating alarming trends.

More recently, in another shark attack in the US, a 28-year-old woman was confronted by a shark while she was swimming in the waters off Cocoa Beach in Florida earlier this month. Furthermore, a 25-year-old man lost his left leg to a shark attack in Hawaii in October.

Great White Sharks are believed to be among the largest known predatory hunters roaming the present seas with one of the widest territorial ranges of any marine animal. They can be spotted in temperate as well as tropical waters. However, they appear to be sighted rather infrequently compared to other widely spread species, being most frequently reported from South Africa, Australia, and the United States. For years, they were thought to largely inhabit coastal regions. However, more recently experts have concluded that these once-perceived “fiercely territorial” animals actually wander long distances, often-times navigating entire ocean basins.

Popular perception of the notoriously ferocious tendencies of white sharks is somewhat changing, with many experts downplaying the stubbornly hostile character of these ocean dwellers and advocating instead that these magnificent, yet menacing, creatures are actually not natural predators of man. Statistics reveal that nearly ‘one-third’ to ‘one-half’ of more than 100 annual shark attacks worldwide are attributable to great whites. However, most of these are not fatal.

According to others, while shark attacks across the world appear to gain prominence, common perception that sharks are almost always on the offensive against humans might in fact be heavily laced with exaggeration. Shark experts have confirmed that Great White Shark numbers have fallen sharply owing to ‘overfishing’ with the animals indisputably recognized as an endangered species.

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