Source: goldcoast.com.au
A 3M hammerhead shark and a 1.6m bull shark were caught off Broadbeach yesterday, prompting warnings about a seasonal surge in the number of man-eaters prowling the surf.
Holiday crowds have been told to leave the water immediately if they see schools of baitfish which attract larger fish — the sharks’ prey.
Tony Ham, manager of the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries’ shark control program, said eight sharks had been caught off Gold Coast beaches this month.
Mr Ham said the DPI had been assisting with the filming of a documentary when a contractor found the two sharks 600m off Broadbeach.
The contractor, who checks the sharks nets and drum lines every second day, found the hammerhead in a net and the bull shark on a line. Both were dead.
“The hammerhead and the bull shark were pulled onboard the boat where they were measured, the contents of their stomachs checked and the carcasses were dumped back into the ocean,” said Mr Ham.
“Both sharks were male.”
Mr Ham said it was important that swimmers knew the dangers lurking in the water.
“Summer means an increase in the activity of baitfish in Gold Coast waters,” he said.
“This also means that we see an increase in sharks, from hammerheads to tiger sharks.
“Swimmers should take caution when swimming this summer. If they see a large school of baitfish they should leave the water immediately.”
Mr Ham said the Gold Coast had 11 sharks nets and 35 drum lines spread from Main Beach to Point Danger.
Gold Coast Bulletin fishing writer Paul Burt said the measures were not a guaranteed deterrent.
Of the 40km of local beaches, Mr Burt said only a few kilometres had nets — but they were not anchored to the sea floor and sharks could swim under or around them.
“They’re not anchored to the sea bottom, they’re only about six to eight metres deep and they’re only a (total of) few kilometres (long),” he said.
“They should be there but don’t think they’re a 100 per cent deterrent. Take heed of the warnings.”
Mr Burt said the sharks were chasing fish such as mackerel which in turn were chasing schools of baitfish.
Three hammerheads were caught in nets off Tallebudgera Beach last week. All three were a metre long.
On Sunday, lifeguards spotted a pack of about 20 hammerhead sharks about 400m off North Kirra.
Grant’s Guide to Fishes says hammerheads are ‘proven man-killers’ although have not been implicated in any Australian attack.
National Geographic says the sharks’ oddly-shaped head helps them find food.
Their wide-set eyes give them a better visual range than most other sharks and by spreading their highly specialised sensory organs over their wide, mallet-shaped head, they can more thoroughly scan the ocean.
Bull sharks are particularly aggressive and are believed to have been responsible for fatal attacks on Beau Martin in a Burleigh Waters canal in 2002 and Bob Purcell in Burleigh Lake in 2003.
Gold Coast Bulletin records show there have been at least 28 shark attacks on the Gold Coast since 1934, including eight fatalities.
Hammerhead, Shark Caught
