| Third whale caught in shark nets |
| Sunday, 04 October 2009 23:24 |
 A third whale has been caught in shark nets off the Gold Coast, in just over as many weeks. The six metre juvenile humpback was released after a 2 1/2 hour battle by rescue teams in testing weather conditions. Another whale, believed to be the juvenile's mother, watched on anxiously. The shark net manager in Queensland, Tony Ham stated for people not to be alarmed, and that 3 entanglements per year 'was normal'. It has just been sheer luck that all 3 whales caught in recent weeks have been rescued alive. Most are not so lucky. Not to mention the untold numbers of other untargeted but less media friendly animals that get fatally caught in the nets. Dolphins, turtles, dugongs, other harmless sharks and countless larger fish are caught in the nets each year. NSW and Queensland, along with South Africa are the only places in the world that deploy shark nets in the name of public safety. But are they effective? Did you know that both shark attacks that occurred on Sydney's open beaches earlier this year, had shark nets deployed at the time? Are they worth the heavy toll they take on our marine life? To find out how much you know about shark nets in NSW, click here to fill out our very brief survey. You can find out more about shark nets in the latest NSW government review.
|
