Tag: sharks
The East Cape Epic Expedition – Day 4 Mazeppa Bay
by Admin on Aug.18, 2010, under Conservation, East Coast Expedition, Travel
After three days on the water, our planned break at Mazeppa Bay was heartily welcomed by all. The activity we’d been witness to on the first three days of our trip had left us in a dazed haze and our bodies, unused to being on the boat for 6 hours, were in bad need of a break.
Despite our tiredness, we still managed to rise early and take in the beauty of the morning sunrise. A soft orange sun that painted Mazeppa’s beach and rocky island in pastel colours greeted us, while the sea gently washed perfectly formed waves on the beach and rocks.
Mazeppa Bay is one of those little-known quiet spots of beauty and serenity. Frequented mostly by anglers, it has a wide beach flanked by a rocky island that reaches out into the sea. Between the beach and the island is an exquisite suspension bridge that simply invites a crossing. From the island, sets of magnificent waves roll off the backline into the bay - a surfing paradise? The hotel’s bar is a display centre for the many anglers who have fished this bay for years. Photographs of anglers with magnificent catches of various game fish hang dustily on the walls and, of course, there are photographs of anglers with the sharks they have caught – mainly Raggies, Duskys, Coppers and Zambezis. This was probably the hardest part of the trip for our team to accept but accept it we did, reminding ourselves that this trip was a fact finding mission and not a crusade.
Our day was spent exploring inland. Michael, our guide for the day, took us to meet with local entrepreneurs and a Sangoma and her family. We met with Rodney, who has returned to his family home after an absence of 10 years and who is in the process of rebuilding the fruit business that once thrived there. This was a common theme of the people we met – rebuild, escape from the city and get back to nature.We were privileged to meet with a Sangoma and her family. Her Grandmother, at 93 years old, was a treat and an inspiration and kept us amused with her antics.
We ended the day by climbing the dunes north of the bay. It is rumoured that a treasure ship was wrecked on this beach and the treasure buried beneath what is now a very large dune.
We didn’t attempt to dig for gold but had huge fun climbing the dune and running down.
Mazeppa is a wonderful peaceful place to rest your soul and take in the beauty of the Transkei. Go take a look.
You could be eating shark meat
by Admin on May.17, 2010, under Conservation, News
Blacktip Shark
By Hunter Atkins
You could be eating shark meat and not even know it.
South African fish shops are selling unlabelled or mislabelled shark products, which poses a threat to these endangered species and the unaware shoppers, according to the WWF’s Southern Africa Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI).
“We are getting more and more reports of fish shops selling products with strange sounding names like sokomoro and ocean fillet. (Some are) common or even made-up names that most consumers won’t recognise,” said John Duncan, a programme officer for the initiative.
Referring to the latest name on the market, sokomoro, which is another name for the shortfin mako shark, Duncan added, “Retailers are purposely mislabelling these species and lying about their origins because they know shark is unpopular with consumers.”
The shortfin mako is listed as “vulnerable” by the World Conservation Union. In addition to depleting the shark population, selling shark meat poses dangers to consumers with certain allergenic or religious food restrictions.
There are no regulations in South Africa to keep retailers from selling shark under different names like gummy, lemon fish and ocean fillet, a few of “thousands and thousands” of common names used to mask fish, according to Duncan. An exotic sounding name like sokomoro is just as mysterious.
“If you wanted to, you can call it peanut butter,” he said.
It is not illegal for retailers to sell shark, and concealing the identity of shark products has advantages. Selling shark under a different name gives fishers a way to catch and sell more sharks than the legal limit in a given year.
Mislabelling also attracts shoppers who normally avoid buying endangered animal products.
The anonymous meat can also make up shortages of a popular item that is similar, like swordfish. This was the justification put forward by Sidney Fishing director Sidney Moniz, whose employees at the Fish 4 Africa in Woodstock gave inconsistent answers about sokomoro yesterday.
One vendor said sokomoro was a fish from Spain and another vaguely described its origins as “from the coasts”. One manager said the shop carried, “no fish from Spain, as far as I know”.
Most shortfin mako are snagged near Japan when long-lining for tuna according to Duncan.
“I’m not sure if they knew it was from the shark family,” said Moniz, who added he was embarrassed, as he wrestled with reasons why the shop would be selling unlabelled fish. He said it was possibly done to bolster swordfish shortages or could have been a mistake because shark is difficult to distinguish off the bone.
“A big problem for me in the recent economic recession has been all these guys shipping these substitute fish,” Moniz said. “I didn’t even know it (sokomoro) was on the endangered species list. It’s not even a big portion of our business.”
Duncan said the SASSI programme was lobbying for government and NCIS standards to develop a list of acceptable trade names. For now he said a good policy for consumers is to avoid buying a product if they do not know what it is.
Source can be found here
Surfer escapes from shark’s jaws
by Admin on Apr.13, 2010, under News
A surfer survived a shark attack in the sea off Port Alfred on Tuesday, police said.
Brendan Denton, 35 was surfing with a friend at East Beach at 10:30 when the shark attacked him about 100 metres from the shore, said Captain Mali Govender.
“He suddenly felt something pulling him underwater,” said Govender, who spoke to him in the Port Alfred Hospital afterwards.
“He thought it might be his friend playing the fool with him.”
The second time it happened, he turned around and saw his feet in the shark’s jaw.
Denton wrestled with the shark and it let go of his feet, but it grabbed hold of the leash attaching his ankle to the surfboard and started swimming out to sea with him in tow.
He released the leash and when the surfboard popped out of the sea three metres away a few moments later, he was able to get back on it and paddle to safety.
His friend and other surfers, who had heard his screams and splashing, helped him to a doctor.
Govender said Denton’s injuries looked serious.
When she asked him how he was doing, he told her he was “okay”.
As he was wheeled into theatre for surgery, she told him she could see his feet. He replied he could not feel them.
Govender described the water at East Beach as “very murky”.
“You normally get sharks in water like that,” she said, adding that the National Sea Rescue Institute had since closed the beach.
Campaign against shark sales scores first victory
by Admin on Mar.31, 2010, under Conservation, News
The Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA) launched a campaign earlier this month aimed at raising awareness about the importance of sharks to Egypt’s ecosystem and economy and to inform the public about the dangers associated with consuming shark meat.
The first phase of the initiative, dubbed the “Stop Shark Sales” campaign, aims to halt the sale of shark meat at French hypermarket chain Carrefour. The campaign’s long-term objective, meanwhile, is to have shark fishing banned outright countrywide.
Unbeknownst to much of the public, shark meat is currently being sold on the Egyptian market as well as being exported to markets overseas. According to HEPCA, studies confirm that increased demand for shark meat has led to overfishing, the result of which has been an estimated 97-percent decrease in the Mediterranean Sea’s shark population.
Though most sales of shark meat take place at local fish markets, HEPCA has targeted the prominent hypermarket chain in particular in hopes of raising the campaign’s profile.
Environmentalists warn that overfishing and the consumption of shark meat represent serious threats to the local environment, public health and-potentially-the economy.
The reduction of shark populations on such a massive scale can prove detrimental to local ecosystems, they say, since the removal of these natural predators from the marine environment can drastically disrupt the overall food chain. This can have chaotic consequences, some of which are only now beginning to be understood.
Meanwhile, the socio-economic impact of declining shark populations in Egypt-and in other countries that rely on diving-related tourism-can be extremely costly. While a kilogram of shark meat is sold for just LE30 on the local market, a single shark stands to generate as much as LE1.25 million annually from diving tourism revenues. What’s more, the consumption of shark poses serious health risks, since sharks stand atop the food chain and can therefore accumulate high concentrations of toxins.
So far, the HEPCA campaign has met with considerable success, prompting Carrefour to withdraw all stocks of shark meat from its stores. In a statement, the supermarket chain confirmed it was not selling shark meat, insisting that the recent discovery of such meat at one of its outlets had been a mistake. “Some of our employees mistook [shark] for another kind of Mediterranean fish,” the statement read.
“We’re happy that Carrefour complied swiftly to our demands and moved to reduce health risks,” said HEPCA Project Manager Ahmed el-Droubi. “We will now focus on the enforcement of regulations in the Red Sea that aim to halt shark fishing since there have been reports of excessive de-finning [the removal of sharks' fins] in the area.”
“To ensure eforcement of these regulations, we must work to reduce the market demand for sharks by raising awareness among all concerned-among those enforcing the regulations, those fishing and the consumers,” el-Drouby added.
Shark kills bather at top beach
by Admin on Jan.13, 2010, under News
Tourist attacked in shallow water
A Zimbabwean tourist on a month-long holiday lost his life in a shark attack in Fish Hoek, Cape Town.
“Lifeguard Frederick Wagenvoorde was on his tower and saw lots of splashing and thrashing around in the water, and then a lot of blood,” said Colleen Saunders, regional co-ordinator for Life-saving, Western Province.
The attack happened at 3.15pm. Other bathers were unaware of the attack until lifeguards signalled to them to get out of the water.
The man’s partner was on the beach but, it is understood, did not see the attack.
Three craft from the National Sea Rescue Institute, a dinghy from Western Province Lifesaving, a helicopter and about 15 lifeguards combed sea, air and land yesterday in search of the victim.
His body had not been found by late last night.
“The man has been identified but [his] family has not yet been notified,” Saunders said.
The man, who lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was due to spend a month in South Africa with his partner before leaving for the UK.
One of his two daughters lives in Kenya and the other in the US.
They had not been told of their father’s death at the time of going to press last night.
The NSRI’s Ian Klopper said the man was standing chest-deep in the water adjusting his goggles when he was dragged below the surface.
“The man’s partner was here but we have sent her home. She is very shocked but is remaining hopeful, but the outlook does not look good,” Klopper said.
Eye witness, Sally Wentworth, who lives on the mountainside overlooking the beach, said she heard shouting, looked outside and saw “red in the sea”.
“At first it looked as if there were dolphins, a flurry in the water. Then I saw something floating in the water, obviously the body, and the shark’s fin coming up, well above the water. It was not a nice thing to have witnessed.”
Wentworth said the attack was over in about three minutes.
“We normally hear the siren [sounded by shark-spotters, warning swimmers to leave the water] but not this time. The black flag was out indicating conditions were too difficult for shark-spotters to see into the water,” she said.
Cheryl-Samantha Owen, of the Save Our Seas Foundation, said the attack was the first indication that sharks were in the area.
The NSRI put out an alert on Monday to warn surfers and swimmers about increased shark activity in False Bay.
In 2004, regular Fish Hoek beach swimmer Tyna Webb, 77, was attacked by what was believed to have been a Great White shark. Her body was not found.
Alison Kock, director of research for the shark-spotting programme, which records behaviour and movement of the sharks, said the previous attack on a swimmer was in 2007.
“We have daily sightings but attacks are pretty rare,” he said.
Cape Town issues shark warning
by Admin on Jan.13, 2010, under News
Cape Town’s disaster management warned bathers to be on the lookout for great white sharks who traditionally cruise that stretch of the coast for a nibble at this time of year.
“The appearance of white sharks is normal during peak summer months in Cape Town near in-shore areas, as these sharks are known to hunt and feed along this stretch of coastline at this time of year,” spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said today.
The sharks have not been seen coming close to the beaches or near swimmers. Shark spotters have seen them along the False Bay coastline between Sunrise Beach and Fish Hoek.
Bathers and swimmers along the False Bay coastline are urged to be cautious and to adhere to the safety warnings of shark spotters.
When the spotters sound their alarms to warn of shark sightings near to bathing and surfing areas, bathers and surfers must leave the water immediately until the danger passes.
Information on recent shark movements in False Bay is available on the Shark Spotters website sharkspotters.org.za