A surfer is recovering in hospital after a Shark attack off the coast of Bunker Bay, near Dunsborough, in southern Western Australia on Friday 31 July 2020. The incident happened at about 2.15 pm local time, when he was attacked from below by the animal, believed to have been a Great White, Carcharodon carcharias, which bit him on the legs before disengaging and swimming off, a pattern typical of Great White attacks. The victim was able to reach shore with the aid of other surfers, where he received first aid at a nearby home before being airlifted to hospital for further treatment.
A Shark near the beach in Bunker Bay in 2011. Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter.
Despite their fearsome reputation,
attacks by Sharks
are relatively rare, and most attacks on Humans by Great White Sharks are
thought to be mistakes. The species feeds principally on Marine Mammals,
which we superficially resemble when we enter the water, gaining the
majority of their nutrition from the thick adipose (fat) layers of these
animals, which we lack. Due to this, when Great Whites do attack Humans
these attacks are often broken off without the victim being consumed.
Such attacks frequently result in severe injuries, but are seldom
immediately fatal, with victims likely to survive if they receive
immediate medical attention.
Despite this general rarity, Australia appears to be suffering a sharp
rise in Shark attacks, with five fatal attacks so far this year, three
of them in the past five weeks, as well as several non-fatal attacks,
the most recent of which occurred near Fitzroy Island off the coast of
Cairns in North Queensland on Tuesday 14 July. Marine biologist Julian Pepperell has suggested that this increase might be linked to a rise in the number of Humpback Whales, Megaptera novaeangliae,
passing through Australian waters each year. Humpback Whales are a
significant food source for many Sharks; adult Whales are beyond their
hunting capacity, but do die of other causes and are enthusiastically
scavenged, while larger Sharks such as Great Wights will attack Whale
calves. Around 35 000 Humpback Whales currently migrate through
Australian Waters each year, according to zoologist Vanessa Pirotta of Macquarie University, a number which is growing by about 11% each year.
Humpback Whales were nearly exterminated
by commercial Whaling in the
first part of the twentieth century. The species has been protected
since 1946, and in recent years their population has appeared to be
recovering in many areas, now being seen as being of Least Concern under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.
The Whales are recovering in many parts of the globe, and are starting
to appear in areas where they have not previously been recorded.
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