CT to leave its mark on sharks
05/09/2006 22:48  - (SA)  

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Cape Town - Several Cape beaches will be closed to swimmers for three days in October so that researchers can mark sharks in the area.

The sharks will be marked with electronic devices, among others, so that their movements in False Bay and the Atlantic coastal waters can be monitored.

The beaches that will be closed for three days are in False Bay between Simon's Town and Muizenberg and along the Atlantic coast at Kommetjie and Noordhoek.

30 sharks marked so far

Greg Oelofse of Cape Town's environmental resources management said on Tuesday the three days would fall in the middle of the week to try to avoid inconveniencing the public.

Oelofse said in a submission to a city council committee on a draft policy on Great White sharks that more than 30 sharks had been marked in this way at Seal Island.

The plan was now for researchers to mark sharks that were closer inshore.

The research was being done after shark attacks in False Bay had increased in the past three years.

There could be several reasons for the increase, but no one knew what they were.

Various possibilities for safe recreation along the coast were being investigated, but it was impractical to use shark nets in the seas around the Cape.

Shark nets like those used along the KwaZulu-Natal cost actually killed off the sharks in a particular area because they got caught in them.

The kinds of sharks in the seas around the Cape were not as territorially bound as the Zambezi sharks along the KwaZulu-Natal coast. That was why the same methods would not succeed.

Shark-diving businesses

Other nets which could create safe areas - for lifesavers to train, for example - were being investigated, but these would not work everywhere as they could be used only in calm water.

Oelofse said in response to councillors' questions, that 12 or 13 operators had permits to run shark-diving businesses at Gansbaai.

Only three operators in False Bay had permits to take people on shark trips.

One of them used diving cages, but not in summer when sharks moved closer to shore.

- Die Burger

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