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Basking with shark angels

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By Gwen Villet
December 12th, 2008

The best part of a coastal holiday is spending hours frolicking in the sea. Be it swimming, body boarding, surfing, kayaking or even just cruising around in your rubber duck you will be one of thousands of holiday makers who’ll be spending this summer at the beach.

Sharing the water with you are thousands of different species of fishes, whales, seals, dolphins and of course sharks.

Most visitors to the Cape are petrified at the thought of sharks that they simply refuse to go anywhere near, in or on the water.

This is a shame because statistically more people are killed by falling coconuts and broken chairs than by sharks worldwide.

One organisation that is committed to changing this perception is the Save our Seas Foundation (SOSF) who this year have teamed up with Wavescapes Surf Film Festival. Kicking off last Friday night on a surprisingly windless Clifton 4th beach the event attracted over 3000 people who turned up to picnic on the sand, watch the sunset and learn more about sharks, why we should conserve, respect and certainly not fear them.

They were also there to enjoy the first surf film, ‘Beneath the Surface, as part of a line up of many other surf and shark films on a giant outdoor screen. Teaming up with Save our Seas Foundation (SOSF), Wavescapes hopes to educate audiences about the global plight of sharks, which are being killed at a rate of 100 million a year.

The festival line up includes amongst others, Sharkangels which is about a new generation of shark conservationists who have made it their mission to get as close to as many large predators as possible in the most shark-inhabited waters of the world in their attempt to prevent sharks from becoming extinct.

The festival runs until Sunday, 14 December, with the remaining films being shown at the Labia Cinema in Orange Street in Cape Town. The connection between surfing and sharks is explained by Steve Pike who says that surfers are at the frontline of the ocean therefore aiming to prove that healthy shark populations mean a healthy eco-system with benefits to surfers in many ways.

Check out the gallery

The Film festival is an extension of the Save our seas foundation’s M-Programme that is attempting to create awareness and protection for Africa’s sharks. As a regular surfer, I spend most weekends driving around the coast looking for the best waves to surf. We usually end up at my favourite spot, Muizenberg, which provides the best waves for learning to surf as well as longboarding.

However, close by is SA’s largest seal population attracting Great White sharks and stops most of my friends from joining at Corner beach in Muizenberg. While they are fearful, I feel quite safe paddling into the waves knowing the shark spotters are watching me from the mountain with their binoculars, ready to sound the siren in the rare case of a sighting.

Officially started at Muizenberg beach in October 2004 by Greg Bertish, along with Rasta Davids, Monwabisi Sikiya, Dave and Fiona Chudleigh the shark spotters programme is funded by surfers, friends, Puma and Reef Wetsuits.

The huge success of the community programmes resulted in funding being provided by WWF through the Table Mountain Fund and the formalisation of shark spotting as an effective safety project. Shark spotters can also be found at other beaches around the Peninsula making your holiday in the water a safe and enjoyable one.

Enjoy the Cape

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User Comments

i surf and have been in the

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 01/12/2009 - 14:59.

i surf and have been in the water with a Great White Shark. admittedly i was scared and who knows what could have happened. I managed to get out of the water in time. However, the fact remains that Sharks can cause harm, and there is always a potential of getting bitten or killed everytime you go into the water. but the same applies to everything else in life. if you want to live your life in fear and not experience anything, then that is your choice. its easy to shoot your mouths off about what is right and wrong. Each to his own, go in the water or dont. but at the end of the day - killing any living creature is wrong. Its important that people are educated about the dangers of sharks, but also that sharks dont naturally stalk human beings. Shark attacks occur because the shark is curious, they cant distinguish between a seal and a human. You must take your life into your own hands every day with every thing you do. The Sharkspotters in cpt have been doing an awesome job and assist in being the eyes in the back of our heads. but they are also human and cant guarantee there wont ever be a shark attack again.

Love life and trust in the greater good.

uneducated anonymous

Submitted by michael smith on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 23:28.

Once again it's an anonymous person talking crap just to grt their comments viewed by thousands of readers. You are absolutely right to say that sharks are "dangerous creatures and should be treated as such"- If these people in limpopo know sharks and crocs can be dangerous then it is their own stupidity that gets them maimed or killed. You know that putting a loaded gun to your head and pulling trigger will kill you-so you won't do it. By the same token you know that sharks can kill- so don't put yourself in that situatin. Blame yourself for yourown stupidity and not the sharks for following their instincts.

Sharks are NOT killers, it is INSTINCT like any other animal...

Submitted by Anel Steyn on Mon, 12/15/2008 - 07:47.

If you have not realized the sharks are not likely to kill if in there own habitat or not desturbed or threatened!!!!

How would you feel if you could not roam free in your own "home" ES you would not be happy about it SO how should all the animals, mammals etc all over feel if the HUMAN intrudes in there space????

Sharks, Crocodiles etc, only attack when hungry, or threatened! Why do they get so hungry because we as the HUMANS take all there food for i use which is UNFAIR!!!!!!

GET OFF THE SHARKS CASE IT IS THERE RIGHT TO ATTACK ANY STUPID HUMAN THAT THREATENS, ATTACKS or TAKES THERE FOOD!!!!!!

Kill Sharks

Submitted by David on Sun, 12/14/2008 - 20:54.

Anonymous you really are a stupid person to think like that. I feel safer in the water than outside with prats like you!!!!!!

kill sharks

Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 12/14/2008 - 17:19.

kill the hideous sharks for swimmer safety

Anonymous

Submitted by David on Sat, 12/13/2008 - 17:41.

Where does anonymous get the stats from. 2 minutes in the water guarantees death by a bull shark. And the media will blame crocs? Come on get real. As for calling them hideous creatures, I am afraid we as humans have maimed, killed and destroyed far more than all the animals on the planet put together. Fair to say that we can lay claim to that title.

If the coconut stats are wrong or irrelavent:

Submitted by Melanie on Sat, 12/13/2008 - 15:13.

What about cars? More people are killed in car accidents, or broken chairs and alcohol, allergies, bee stings, electric shocks and in swimming pools. The same goes for being permanently physically damaged. Let's not forget those that die playing school Rugby or lose limbs to people's pet dogs. When participating in an activity one is responsible for educating oneself about the dangers, and deciding for oneself what risks one is willing to take and then behaving accordingly. Killing/banning everything that could hurt you is ridiculous. We would all just live in bubbles. As for me, I would rather be taken by a shark/lion/wild animal than die in a car crash.

I fully agree with the above

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 12/13/2008 - 13:36.

Sharks are very dangerous animals and should be treated as such. I personally know of places in the world that 2 minutes in the water will guarantee getting killed by Bull Sharks (e.g. parts of the Persian Golf and upstream freshwater rivers). But the media is trying to brainwash the people otherwise. Many of the crocodile attacks in the Limpop river are actually from Bull Sharks. There is a person in who has been attached by a shark several times, including one attack by two sharks at the same time. Threre are also many people who have lost arms and legs by these hideous creatures. So I ask the media and TV stations such as the National Geography to please stop telling us otherwise.

Stats

Submitted by David on Sat, 12/13/2008 - 09:08.

I scuba dive with sharks frequently. I did a night dive at Aliwal last night and we dived in Moz last week end. There were Hammerheads, Tiger and Zambezi sharks. Non of them showed any agression or even interest in us. If a shark attack occurs we have to ask what went wrong? I know of a spear fisherman that tied his fish around his waist, dead fish with blood in the water close to you. You do the math. Fact is that 15 000+ people die on our roads every year and yet we still get into our car and drive? There was 1 shark related fatality in 2007. Sharks are beautiful interesting creatures thar deserve to be protected. I do not agree with the way some operators chum the water for Great Whites. They are conditioning the sharks to see boats as a meal ticket. This will lead to problems and guess what? Sharks will be blamed if something goes wrong!

Irrelevant statistics

Submitted by Diver on Sat, 12/13/2008 - 05:10.

Quite right, Surfer.

The problem here Gwen is that by using completely irrelevant statistics, you end up discrediting the entire argument that sharks are not dangerous. The fact is that sharks are a risk, but a manageable one. Surfers, divers, swimmers, and other users of our oceans should absolutely be informed about sharks, and of course we must fight the perception of them as nasty killing machines.

BUT, we must do so by teaching people how to manage their risk exposure to sharks, and how we can peacefully share the waters with them. Not by feeding people stats that are blatantly irrelevant and simply turn people off from listening.

I cannot believe that anybody who has seen a shark in it's natural environment could possibly want to kill these beautiful creatures, or even be really scared of them, providing that they know how sharks react and how to enjoy them.

Also

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 12/12/2008 - 21:09.

Though deaths from shark attacks might not be that high but how many people are bitten by sharks too. Just because you don't die doesn't mean you don't lose a leg or arm or a big chunk out of your torso.. or getting 50 to 100's of stitches.. quote the shark bite stats in total. I will not go anywhere near water not protected by shark nets if there are shark populations swimming nearby.

statistical nonsense

Submitted by surfer on Fri, 12/12/2008 - 18:52.

"This is a shame because statistically more people are killed by falling coconuts and broken chairs than by sharks worldwide." This may be true as a whole but each individual's risk is different. If there are no coconut trees in your country, the chance of dying from a fallen coconut is 0%. If there is no sea or you do not enter the water, the chance of a shark attack is 0%. If you swim in the sea at Gans Bay, your chance of a shark attack is MUCH higher than being killed from a fallen coconut! In order to make any sense you have to estimate your risk by considering your risk exposure. For example a more meaningful statistic would be: the chance of being attacked by a shark for people swimming in the sea in South Africa is x%. Coconut deaths are irrelevant.