Suspected shark attack in KZN
2009-04-07 08:04
Durban - With just days to go before the Easter weekend, speculation that a lifeguard may have been attacked by a shark on the KwaZulu-Natal coastline has surfaced.
However, most authorities have strongly denied this, even though none could rule out the possibility.
According to the police, the Port Shepstone lifeguard and two colleagues - all contracted by the Hibicus Coast Municipality - went on a routine swim at Umtentweni beach when he disappeared.
It is alleged that the trio had been caught in a rip tide. Only two managed to swim ashore.
"When they looked for their colleague, they could not see him,î said police spokesperson, Captain Vincent Pandarum.
Members of the Sharks Board and the Port Shepstone SAPS Search and Rescue Unit responded. They even conducted an aerial search by helicopter which "proved fruitless".
"It is believed that a shark was seen in the vicinity," he said. "However, there is no indication at this stage that the missing man may have been the victim of a shark attack."
According to a correspondent, it is believed that the two lifeguards, who were able to make it ashore, said they saw a fin in the water.
However, the owner of Ubuntu, the lifeguarding service that they work for, Hilgard Muller, said he personally spoke to everyone on the beach and they all (including the lifeguards) denied seeing a shark.
"We can't just jump to conclusions if the body hasn't been found," he said.
Geremy Cliff, head of the research department at the KZN Shark board, said the chances of this incident being a shark attack are very unlikely.
"The helicopter patrol told our guys that they saw a five metre long Zambezi shark in the water," he said.
"They were adamant that it was a Zambezi shark," he continued.
"But Zambezi sharks do not grow to that length." He added that Zambezi sharks are seldom spotted at the water surface, and that the only kind of shark that they might have seen, judging by the description, is a Whale shark.
"These are harmless." Craig Lambinon, spokesperson for National Sea Rescue Institute reiterated this. He said it is more likely that the lifeguard had drowned.
He added that the search for the lifeguard was still underway.