Task team probes shark attacks

Monday 23 March 2009

A scientific task team has been appointed by government to look into shark attacks at Port St Johns on the Eastern Cape Wild Coast after the second death in two months.

A 16-year-old member of the Iliza Surfing Academy, Luyolo Mangeni, died on the beach at about 4.30pm on Friday from a bite sustained while surfing at Second Beach. Members of the Natal Sharks Board said the wounds did not indicate what type of shark caused his death. Lifeguard Sikhanyiso Bangilizwe, 26, was killed by a bull shark on January 24.

The Daily Dispatch today reported that the OR Tambo District Municipality and the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism will appoint a team of scientists to investigate claims that the attacks are being caused by what Director-General of Environment Affairs Nosipho Ngcaba called "black water" at the mouth of the Mzimvubu River. Ngcaba told the Dispatch that the task team – made up of Natal Sharks Board and provincial scientists – would probe reasons why sharks were being attracted to the area.

According to the Dispatch, the coastal paper printed daily in East London, it had "carried reports about poor sanitation in the town and a breakdown in the sewerage system, leading to sewage spillages into the nearby river".

"There were also allegations that people were slaughtering cattle and goats for ritual purposes and throwing blood and offal into the sea, attracting sharks," the report said.

However, as Wavescape reported after the January attack, Natal Sharks Board officials have suggested that the presence of bull sharks in the area was not unusual. Shark attacks were rare, but it was a well known fact that shark attacks occur near river mouths on the Wild Coast, particularly near a large one such as the Mzimvubu, and especially in summer.

Ngcaba has apparently ruled out the installation of shark nets. Sources told Wavescape that these would cost R1million a year to maintain, which was prohibitively expensive. However, development surfing officials have said that a solution was to use shark pods while the youngsters were surfing at Second Beach, and a campaign was underway to secure sponsoship of repellent devices.

Sources in Port St Johns said that Tim Whitaker, owner of Amapondo Backpackers, witnessed the attack and went to Mangeni's aid. He had lost a leg and passed away on the beach. The Dispatch reported that backpackers co-owner Annie Oakley, encouraged tourists to continue frequenting the area.

“This is a rare attack although it has happened twice in a period of three months. Also our guests understand that there is always the possibility of a shark attack if they swim in the ocean, which happens all over the world,” Oakley told the newspaper.