A diver and surfer were both the victims of shark attacks in the Eastern Cape this week. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
It’s highly unlikely that there is any connection between two shark bite incidents in the Eastern Cape this week, experts say.
On Monday, the National Sea Rescue Institute said a local man was bitten by a shark while he was freediving at Mdumbi Beach near Coffee Bay. The man, believed to be 40 years old, was airlifted to hospital in the care of paramedics and is recovering.
On Wednesday, another man was bitten by a shark while surfing at Supertubes in Jeffreys Bay. The patient, believed to be 50 years old and from Cape Town, was in a stable condition and in good spirits, the institute said.
Ryan Daly, a marine scientist at the Oceanographic Research Institute, a division of the South African Association for Marine Biological Research, referred to Black December, when there were at least nine shark attacks, causing six deaths, along the coast of KwaZulu-Natal from December 1957 to April 1958.
“There have been incidents before where, for example, there were six shark attacks in a short space of time in one place. In that sort of case, where you’ve got multiple interactions taking place in the same area, you could think maybe that they’re related, but in this case one was at Mdumbi and one was at Jeffreys Bay. They are quite far apart, so it’s unlikely that they’re linked in any way,” said Daly.
According to Google Maps, the areas are 700km apart.
Daly said there had been “ongoing incidents between sharks and people” in South Africa over the years, most recently in Plettenberg Bay, where there were incidents with white sharks. “Somewhere like that, we can say for sure that it was a great white shark but, for example, now at Mdumbi and Jeffreys Bay, I’m not sure about the species, which would help understand it more.”
Very low risk
It is an “interesting time” of year in the marine environment, he said. “Normally, at Mdumbi, for example, I do sardine runs from there every year, and coming into June, you’re going to have the sardines, where you usually have an influx of species of sharks, such as dusky and blacktip, but it is still quite early in the season, so it’s probably not related to the sardines either. But again, I don’t know what the exact conditions are on the ground there.”
In KwaZulu-Natal, he said, in terms of beach safety, drowning remained much more of a risk than any sort of shark attack.
“And in KZN, we haven’t had a shark attack for many, many years. It certainly remains very low risk and, as far as I understand, with these two most recent incidents, they were not fatal.
A key reason for that is shark nets installed between the 1950s and 1960s.
He said shark attacks remain rare. “The reality is that more and more people are surfing, using the water, especially in places like Jeffreys Bay … Again, I think in places like that the chances of an interaction might be higher than ever, but what we do also know is that almost all of our shark species that occur along our coast are under threat.
“We’ve done numerous studies recently that have shown multiple shark species are now endangered or even critically endangered on our coast, so for them, it is also a changing environment.”
We need sharks
Sharks are part of a healthy ocean ecosystem. “They benefit our economy. We’ve got incredible tourism revenue and income from sharks. Years ago Aliwal Shoal was bringing in R12 million in tourism a year; the great white shark diving in Gansbaai was bringing in millions every year, and the annual sardine run brings in millions every year. So they are really part of our national heritage. We need to look after the ocean, and sharks represent a sign of a healthy ocean, too,” he said.
Shark attacks are “very sporadic and very rare”, said Sarah Waries, the chief executive of the nonprofit, Shark Spotters. “In South Africa we only had two last year and globally, it’s literally a few. These are the first two this year.”
She agreed that given the distance between Mdumbi and Jeffreys Bay, it was unlikely the incidents were related.
“What’s most likely is that this time of the year, we know that towards the Eastern Cape area when we do get more shark activity is inshore, that it’s sort of to do with the sardine run. We’ve got spotters in Plettenberg Bay and they’ve just seen white sharks recently over the last week or two.
“And so it’s been normal for sharks to be close to shore, and unfortunately when you do have sharks and people sharing the same space, there is always that chance of an interaction occurring. There are conditions that will bring sharks closer to shore that may just mean there is a higher chance of an interaction.”
Both cases were minor incidents, “which is what the majority of shark bites are — there’s very few fatalities, thankfully”, she said.
Fear, collective trauma
“The really interesting thing about shark bites is that they are very low frequency, very unlikely events, but they have these big impacts. It’s the same with any wild area, you always have a risk of encountering an animal.
“Even though it’s only one person that’s injured, they have these wider socio-economic impacts and sometimes even environmental impacts as well if people resort to lethal control of sharks to try to reduce risks.”
The “fear and collective trauma” the incidents induce can harm local businesses, and tourism.
“But actually, they’re very small events in and of themselves, not to minimise the incidents that have happened — I know, for the person involved, it is an incredibly life changing event … but it’s a challenge of dealing with shark bites. They affect whole communities, even though they’re so infrequent.”
Sharks are crucial to the functioning of marine ecosystems, she added. “They have so many roles, whether it’s the top apex predators like the white sharks or the so-called middle level middle order sharks that are lower down on the food chain, but still play an incredibly important role. We need healthy oceans and we need sharks. We can’t have healthy oceans without sharks.”
Jeffreys Bay is no stranger to sharks, with the great white attack on professional Australian surfer Mick Fanning in 2015 propelling it to new shark awareness heights. Three-time world champion Fanning was attacked just minutes into the J-Bay Open, and ended up frantically punching the shark. The incident was filmed.