Shark Attack


Brock O's picture

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lets hope

Sat, 2010-10-30 14:47

 

She is alright,

I never heard about the death in gracetown earlier in the week,

Could be another price rise in shark shields coming up.

fishy fingers's picture

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wasnt earlier in the week

Sat, 2010-10-30 15:28

it was about 6or8 weeks ago

uncle's picture

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shark shield

Sun, 2010-10-31 07:45

not sure about that, according to the paper she was wearing one

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scotto's picture

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terrible.

Sat, 2010-10-30 15:14

yeah not good. sincerely hope she is ok.

 

its a very surprising thing, that this has actually happened. well, considering hlokk has all that data to support that great white shark numbers and attacks are on the decline.

 

obviously the tagging program is working a treat too. good to see my tax money being well spent.

 

kill the far ken thing.

 

 

 

MattMiller's picture

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Did you read this part Scotto?

Sat, 2010-10-30 19:34

"Earlier reports indicated it could have been a white pointer but they could not be sure. But the latest description with a blunt nose suggests it wasn't a white pointer, possibly a whaler species."

Auslobster's picture

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Garden Island...

Sat, 2010-10-30 15:43

...is it REALLY 50kms from Perth? Seems a bit far?

 

Before we start waging war on great whites because the breathless media has not got the facts straight, we must consider the possibility that maybe a bunch of clumsy divers either intentionally or unintentionally kicked a wobby up the arse and it retaliated. But blaming mother nature for shark attacks sells way more newspapers than if it was a human being's fault.

 

And if there ARE more sharks around, the primary reason would very likely be increasing numbers of whales...but no one dares mentioning culling them...just keep killing sharks. We are mankind, so who cares about upsetting the balance of nature since we rule the Earth.

Jody's picture

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Good idea Aus

Sat, 2010-10-30 16:18

Waaaaay to many whales around

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 TWiZTED

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i think she will be fine

Sat, 2010-10-30 15:52

nibble on the ass cheek, lets not start that moronic shark debate again

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Plenty more car crashes than

Sat, 2010-10-30 17:04

Plenty more car crashes than shark attacks, being a surfer and someone that comes from a surfing/watersport family, thats just the risk you take getting in the water. I think i can speak for most water lovers on that one. Agree with you Stilly

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uncle's picture

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business

Sat, 2010-10-30 18:24

won't be good for bus diving with dolpins,good on the guy who grabbed it by the tail

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Freo_Boi's picture

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Bummer!!

Sat, 2010-10-30 19:06

got to love this quote!Sealed..

"We're still sort of coming to grips with what has happened, but it looks like they have been swimming in quite shallow water, about seven metres of water, they had two dolphins right by [her] side and we believe that the shark has come in from the bottom," he said.

 

 

 

 

 

Shorty's picture

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My guess is a large and

Sat, 2010-10-30 19:25

My guess is a large and grumpy wobbygong,tho its early days yet i guess,,

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Watched channel 7 they said

Sat, 2010-10-30 19:39

Watched channel 7 they said could be 3 metres long, could be a wobbelgong?

Reefmonkey's picture

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White pointer

Sat, 2010-10-30 19:57

Would have to think if it was a white pointer even a 3 meter it would have done alot more damage and a more savage attack, rather than latch on and be scared of by some tail tickling.

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 Dave J.

Shorty's picture

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Reports are very mixed, they

Sat, 2010-10-30 21:28

Reports are very mixed, they are now saying her injurys are serious,

We need to wait a while before we get the correct version, but it could be more serious than we first thought maybe,,

scottscurious's picture

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correct version is minor

Sun, 2010-10-31 08:13

correct version is minor injuries, but all is good, had surgery but she is doing fine. used to be good friends with her

Rodrat's picture

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Shark attack

Sat, 2010-10-30 21:41

From what i have heard she was bitten on both legs and hip. The shark apparently attacked her as she was coming up from the bottom after diving down while snorkeling. The shark was said to be 3 meters long and had a blunt head so it is believed to be a whaler of some sort.

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kaney68's picture

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Apparently wearing a shark shield !

Sun, 2010-10-31 13:19

As reported in the Sunday Times - "Ms Frankcom was one of two crew members who were wearing shark shields"

hmmm..... what's that saying about the effectiveness of the shields ?

 

Regardless of the type/size of shark, I'm just happy she survived after being "nibbled"...

fishy fingers's picture

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was it on?

Sun, 2010-10-31 13:21

people have been attacked in the past wearing them...not much good if theyre switched off.

poddyfish's picture

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Attack

Sun, 2010-10-31 13:25

read 3 different reports from 3 different news sites and now todays sunday times and all 3 have totally different conflicting reports.... great work by the media as per usual. one minutes it minor injuries next minute life threatning - one minute its a small reef shark next minute it a friggin white pointer.... WTF are we meant to believe here?

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dumper's picture

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Heard on the vhf today

Sun, 2010-10-31 14:07

Heard on the vhf today someone called in sea rescue saying a 3.5m shark was circling them in between carnac and garden. Seen alot of helicopter action too

Cammos's picture

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Its been said around the

Sun, 2010-10-31 16:57

Its been said around the traps that these guys dont turn the shields on unless they see a noah around. They also keep the loop bundled to keep it out of the way. Rather pointless if you ask me.

fishy fingers's picture

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My point

Sun, 2010-10-31 17:02

Exactly!

Tony Halliday's picture

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couple of points to

Mon, 2010-11-01 10:42

couple of points to consider.
1, she had a shark pod shield on and was in the middle of the group, yet it came up and took her???

2, was the pod even on and if it was, did it just piss off the shark and cause it to take her. They very sensitive to electromagnetic fields.

3, who in their right mind goes open water snorkeling in the Sound when all them snapper are around from the breeding season, sooo much food around, there is bound to be sharks etc in the area.

Also she got off mighty light, cause the bite was more of an exploratory bite than a full on " have a meal of you " type.

Still lucky girl and she got a sharks tooth souvenir to show off with the scare.

As for the shark, as Brian Guests son Tom said, let it be, we in their world and so must take the risks that come with it.

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Rod P's picture

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I heard the guy interviewed

Tue, 2010-11-02 13:25

I heard the guy interviewed and i thought he said it was as if the shark shield intenserfied the attack..

 

6 hours of surgery is obviously fairly severe.

Cammos's picture

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The shield was not turned

Tue, 2010-11-02 17:01

The shield was not turned on!!!!

MattMiller's picture

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The owner

Tue, 2010-11-02 17:07

of the dive company was saying on 720ABC yesterday that the crew were getting zapped by her shark pod while they were try to pull her into the boat.

Only in time will we get the REAL story in guess???

Shorty's picture

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Some say the shield saved

Tue, 2010-11-02 18:28

Some say the shield saved her,exept its supposed to stop them a bit earlier than when they grab you, but repelled it in the end,,

Cammos's picture

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Thats if we ever get the

Tue, 2010-11-02 18:47

Thats if we ever get the real story. Sunday Times running "mauled by a white" is irresponsible at the least. I hate the media.

Tony Halliday's picture

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funny how they have had the

Wed, 2010-11-03 09:46

funny how they have had the shark tooth from her butt for a few days already and not one peep out of Fisheries etc on the species of the shark!!!
A good marine shark expert would ID the shark in less than a day with a fresh tooth sample.

____________________________________________________________________________

Tony Halliday: ~Meals on Reels ~

 It takes a strong fish to swim against the current. Even a dead one can float with it

"It is always in season for old men to learn." Aeschylus (525-456 BC)

"In a mad world only the mad are sane." Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998)

Alan James's picture

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Tooth Fragments

Wed, 2010-11-03 14:21

I saw a quick pic of the tooth fragments on the TV (news I think) the other day.  It was very quick but there were some serrated edges consistent with a GW.  Like you Tony I am surprised the species of shark appears not to have been confirmed (well not that I have heard anyway).

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scottscurious's picture

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Ok, so this is a post to set

Mon, 2011-02-07 21:27

Ok, so this is a post to set u all straight!!  I tried to start my own account but but it didnt get activated so im using a mates!!   

My name is Elyse Frankcom, yep, im the girl your all talking about!!    U wanna know the truth, here it is...

I was freediving wearing a shark shield, i had dived under twice previously with it switched on but figured the last time i would be ok as we had never seen a shark in 22 years of operating our tour!  Stupid me tho cos thats when it happendd!!  I was coming up for a breath when i felt like i had been hit by a friggin train at 200+km... I didnt know wat was happening until i looked down an saw grey... When i realised it was a shark, i switched my shark shield on straight away!  The man that pulled the tail of it was snorkellin aboiut a metre from me and saw the shark bite me and was able to grab the tail without even thinkin.. because he grabbed the tail, it let go and i was able to get my shield on... as soon as it came on, the shark fled quicker than it came!   I was pulled back to the boat by the same man that pulled the tail. Within 5 minutes of it happening i already had media flying above me onto a story which is possibly wat half of u all read and stupidly believed! 
I was flown to Royal perth hospital where i had a 6 hr surgery needing 200 stitches to pull my legs bak together!  I didnt lose any limbs, i suprisingly didnt lose flesh, it was a clean bite in and out!! Would have been alot worse (possibly wouldnt have let me go) if the man didnt pull the tail!  
My left left leg was the top jaw and was ripped in half... wound was about 15cm wide and went straight down to my bone where the tooth was removed from!  My right leg had 3 sperate rows of very deep puncutres indicating a great white... more tooth fragments wewre pulled out of my knee!
The injuries were very serious and major, if it were to go 5cm lower, i would have lost the bottom half of my right leg but luck was on my side and it was perfectly aimed on my thighs!!
Now as for gettin my tooth examined, it was examined by a scientist... He was onto it within 2 days but i told him he only looked at low definition photos and he needed to see it in real life as he thought GW & i thought Tiger shark... he was away for weeks and i waited cos i wanted him specifiaclly to examine it!  He confirmed it only last week that it was infact a great white... 3 metres!!   For all u tools saying a wobbengong... get ur facts right before u go assuming and making up fake facts to go with the assumption!!  There is no way in hell a wobbegong is capable of doing that much damge... and u guys are meant to know this shit being keen fisherman!
I am fully aware of the risks i take goin in the ocean and ive always said if i get attacked or die, at leats i die doing the thing i love.... i do not believe in killing sharks for doing something they are naturally made to do!  U guys wanting to kill sharks, get a life!! Until they start coming onto land and attacking us on our home, then u have no right.... u cant go into there territory and expect to kill the major animal that makes up our ecosystem!

Screw the media, they dont know/care wat they say, as long as they get a story.... wat ive told u here is exactly wat happend and wat i know,... read it, believe it and stoping talking shit cos at the end of the day, a shark attack is a shark attack!!!

 

sea-kem's picture

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OMG I'm in love :)

Mon, 2011-02-07 21:59

OMG I'm in love :)

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harro's picture

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wow

Mon, 2011-02-07 22:08

thanks.. glad ur ok, and pissed,lol amazing read elyse thanks,some great points .

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Shorty's picture

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Hi Elyse , this thread is

Mon, 2011-02-07 23:35

Hi Elyse , this thread is months old and we are not all talking about you, the last poster wrote at the beginning of November 2010 but most were in October, but thats alright its good to hear your side of the story its pretty much what i heard when it all come out in the wash anyway and its good to hear you comfirm it.

 

As in regards to the Wobblegong you will have to enter "wobblegong shark attack "into google  to understand why some folks said wobblegong, in your search you will find in Feb 2010 it was reported a man was attacked by a GW and the media lined up to tell the story,,a bidding war insured between the networks and it was front page in the newspapers and T.V,,an expert examined the tooth and it came from a 1.5 meter,,you guessed it Wobblegong ,,the whole thing in the early stages sounded like a media beatup in this case as well.

 

Its interesting that Scott reported your injurys minor on this thread and you are posting on his computer saying the injurys were serious, thats how hard it is to get accurate information, if your friends get it wrong theres not much hope for the rest of us,,

 

Most of us are aware of a 3 meter white pointer that has been taking people snappers off the lines between the islands for 4 years now,,some call it the Penguin island resident and its said to travel from there to around Garden and the grain terminal in Kwinana.

 

I was interested to see in the comments section in one of the artilces of a tourist on the same boat saying the crew were useless and had no first aid kit,the army Parmedics not much better (think she was mixed up with the navy personnel)and that other tourists (one being a nurse or doctor helped save you) did you read that ?

 

Anyway glad you are ok and thanks for coming down and sharing your story.

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I can see your not talking

Tue, 2011-02-08 15:39

I can see your not talking about it anymore but you were. My mate told me about it and i read it and just had to comment so u all hear it exactly as it happened... no media bullshit!! 
Scott must have listened to a different story about my injuries becuase they sure as hell were not minor, they were very serious indeed... Yes i did have a paramedic & nurse as passengers on the boat that day and yep, the paramedic sure as hell did help, she stopped the bleeding within minutes of bein on the boat.  We had a 1st aid kit yes but we are not authorised to have any major pain killers such as morphein. Panadol and bandaids  and bandages sure as hell werent gonna help so i had to wait until i got to the air paramedics for any pain relievers.  I was given oxygen by the navy guys but thats it... They took me from the boat and to the ambo's but thats all they did as i know.. the ambo drove me to the chopper and i was then airlifted to Royal perth.  U cant always believe everything the media say as im sure u know!
Thats crazy about the wobbegong attack... far out, i knew they bit but only if u get on the worng side such as stepping on there tail or kicking em!  Poor person to get bittten by it :(   Im not havin a go at anyone, im sorry if it came across that way but i really just wanna tell u all that were wondering what relly happened!

I am doing much better now, am still on 1 crutch and doin a shit load of physio but all in good time and i will be back to wat i love :)

Shorty's picture

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Elyse,,its great to see you

Tue, 2011-02-08 17:17

Elyse,,its great to see you are well on the road to recovery after such as serious attack, we are certainly all hopeing you can get back into it as soon as you can,,let us know when you are able to as it would be pretty inspiring to see someone go back in the water after an episode like this,,most be would be thinking twice,lol

BTW> Were you on a underwater scooter at the time ? I heard mixed reports,,some said you were ? take it easy,,

 

BTW >I think the guy that was attacked by the Wobby stepped on him or swam very close to it,,he recieved a minor leg wound,,but Channel 7,9 and 10 pulled out the cheque books and screamed Great White attack ,lol

Three Lions's picture

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Nice back track

Tue, 2011-02-08 17:26

Nice back track shorty....

 

First you called it for a wobby and now you are grabbing your foot and trying to remove it..

 

Anyway at least she has her bits in tact and for the record if I was to catch one it would not be swimming away from the boat rather floating back to the depths with about as many teeth in its head as a golden trevally!

fishy fingers's picture

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That confirms it for me

Tue, 2011-02-08 18:06

Also all those doubters about the effectiveness of the shark shield........there you go!!

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I have already been back in

Tue, 2011-02-08 22:39

I have already been back in the ocean once since its happened!! Ive walked knee deep once and then 2 weeks ago, i got in the 1st time and swum round underwater for about half an hour... Its the first time in 3 months and was the best ive felt in 3 months.. it was sudden freedom & peace being bak in the ocean!  Of course when i go off a boat in deeper water it will be a lot more scarier but i plan on doing it very soon :)
Yeah, i was driving an aqua scooter... i dropped it instantly though as soon as it hit... The scooters are the only way to keep up with the dolphins underwater haha :)

Anything invlolving a shark bite makes top news, its crazy and defintiyl gets talked up wayy to much more than it needs to!! 

Thats very tru 'Fishy Fingers'!  Although shark shields do have there faults, i do believe it saved my life along with the man pulling the tail!  If i didnt switch the sheild on, it would have turned around and bitten Trevor then gone bak to finish me :(  As soon as it came on, he took straight off thru everyone in the water!!  I do know i am a complete IDIOT for not having the unit turned on, i think about it everyday and wish i would have listened to my gut feeling and not been so naive and just turned it on... Some ppl may call me stupid for it, some ppl think im useless with them but i think it was a simple mistake, one that i learnt from & definitly one i will never make again!!

fishy fingers's picture

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A lesson learnt

Wed, 2011-02-09 06:11

But I think the only faults with the shark shield is when it Zaps you in your groin or head! but you get used to that!

sarcasm0's picture

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Question about the shark shield

Wed, 2011-02-09 07:25

What model were you using? I have been diving with them at tafe over the last 8 months and find the controls quite difficult to operate on both the leg mounted one which is a turn knob switch and the boat mounted one has a case that makes the slide switch difficult to access.

Not doubting you at all, but I would like to know if there are other models with easier on/off switches.

PS. We have had multiple instances where the person thought they turned on the shield, a class has gone diving, then I was asked to go retrieve the shield, I went to turn it off, but it was never turned on, so in turning it on I zapped myself. Kinda scary, we have been diving out the back of rotto, the d9, woodman pt ammo jetty, robs jetty, pt peron which Shorty and others reckon are pretty dodgy spots.

Does anyone know of a shark attack against a scuba diver with no fish or catch? I dont know if the divers from the 40mt incident had caught or were carrying fish, though one definately had a speargun?

 

Shorty's picture

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I just loved the comments

Tue, 2011-02-08 23:04

I just loved the comments from the brain dead in the internet news comments section at the time,,

From a serious shark attack it was turned into Bogans and Rockingham and how Elyse should never have never been in the water stirring up the sharks,,lol

 

There was a few comments also from people who said it could not have been a GW, Tiger etc as theres no way Elyse would have survived with bites to the thighs legs etc,,which did make sense at the time,,

 

Yes Three Lions i did call it for a Wobby and my foot was in my mouth and i have been back tracking,,thanks for pointing that out,,

 

Oh and a couple Rockingham divers were attacked last year out near five fathom,it was on the news and all,,one fought him off with a spear gun,the father was beside himself in the boat and was feeling helpless as he looked on,,,i heard those guys are back in the water again

dkonig82's picture

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Shark shield question

Wed, 2011-02-09 09:10

Bit off topic here, but a lot of talk that the shark shields are pretty effective.

 

I am doing a trip to Exxy with a mate in April. We will be doing some diving and a bit of spearing.

He is buying a shark shield for the trip, but i have never bothered before (though never really do any spearing - just diving).

 

If he has a shark shield that is switched on and we remain close together, do you think that will do anything? Or do you have to be wearing it yourself to get any benefit?

 

Dan

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fishy fingers's picture

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The web site will tell you

Wed, 2011-02-09 16:24

but from memory it has about a 6meter radius but if your too close and dont watch where your going you may get a few zaps...not painfull but makes you jump a bit....get your own there less than 600 bucks now for the freedom 7

sarcasm0's picture

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You would get some benefit

Wed, 2011-02-09 13:00

When we use them at tafe we have one diver wearing a leg mounted unit and one attached to the boat/dive float/shore.  I guess we are hoping that there would be some benefit.

Bryan

Auslobster's picture

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Chequebook Journalism!

Sat, 2011-02-12 08:19

Really makes me wonder, after reading the post above about a "bidding war" over what turned out be a bloke v wobby. Elyse, if you don't mind me asking, were you offered money for your story? I don't doubt your version of the events for a second...after all, you were there and would know better than anyone exactly what happened. But you have to wonder what sort of lengths the media will go to in order to get a story, and how much they will embellish it and gloss it up in order to sell more papers/get more TV time.

You also have to start thinking again about the scuba diver/great white encounter off Rockingham...two guys in the water, one on the boat, no other witnesses. No visible damage to wetsuits/speargun etc...when someone engages in hand-to-fin combat with a fish that is 5m long and weighing upwards of 2 tonnes, you would expect some sort of physical evidence that something actually happened? If Channel 7 or whoever offered them say, $1000 for the story, that's a day's wages for three people, and if they offered them even more? Well, you get the picture. Again, maybe their story is legit and some people may be upset with this post, but I certainly think that we have to consider a lot of possibilities when we see stories like this before jumping to conclusions.

If we get over-hyped incredible tales of humans being targeted by nasty sea creatures, simply because the humans involved were being paid considerable amounts of cash to make the story as interesting as possible, then it's going to affect how fishermen/divers/surfers and other water users continue to do what they love. That's unfair to them and it's unfair to people like Elyse who have suffered immense physical and perhaps mental trauma, and then have to deal with back-and-forth speculation about what really happened.

On my way to go diving at the beginning of last year's cray season, I got pulled up by Marine Safety out the front of Mandurah heads....the sheila saw the dive gear and said "Watch out for the big noahs". I mentioned that most of the stories regarding sharks were products of media frenzy and that if I was to actually believe it all maybe I should just turn around, go back home, and hide under the covers. My advice is to keep your minds open and live your life.

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Bloke vs Wobbie - where does that come from

Sat, 2011-02-12 16:05

 Not really following the story - but media reported id of tooth was to a white pointer. See attached. Thought the scientists would know

http://www.inmycommunity.com.au/news-and-views/local-news/Attack-shark-was-white-pointer/7575731/