Shark Alert in Eastern Cape

SHARK CLEARS LINEUP: This time at the Corona Open J-Bay in 2017. Photo WSL / Gumboot

As an excellent southerly groundswell swept into the lineups of J-Bay, surfers had to clear the water at Magnatubes when a large great white moved through the backline. The session continued soon after the shark left.

However, in the words of Craig Lambinon, NSRI spokesperson: "The NSRI, local Municipalities along the Southern Cape and Eastern Cape coastline and marine authorities are appealing to coastal users, in particular bathers, paddlers, surfers, body boarders and kite boarders, to exercise caution due to increased inshore shark activity.

"On Wednesday, 25 May, at Jeffreys Bay, a large shark was spotted in the breaking surfline at Secrets Beach across Commercial Marine. Surfers cleared the water without incident.

"Over the past weeks, and more recently, increased shark activity has been noticed along the Southern Cape coastline from Mossel Bay to Plettenberg Bay and the Eastern Cape coastline from Storms River, We are appealing to the public to exercise caution along these stretches of coastline due to the noticeable increased shark activityTsitsikamma, to Jeffreys Bay. In cooperation with local Municipalities we are appealing to the public to exercise caution along these stretches of coastline due to the noticeable increased shark activity."

A week ago on Wednesday evening, a 3.5-metre white shark was seen cruising around the Keurbooms River near Plettenberg Bay, an unusual if unsettling sight for those who use the river for water activities. NSRI Plettenberg Bay station commander Jaco Kruger told Timeslive that the shark was spotted during a routine exercise, and quoted marine scientists of the SA Shark Incident Committee, who suspected the shark may have been ill or disorientated.

“During a routine exercise on Wednesday evening on the Keurbooms River, NSRI Plettenberg Bay duty crew came across a white shark, approximate length 3.5m, in the Keurbooms River, about 300m upstream of the Keurbooms River mouth — about halfway between the river mouth and the N2 bridge,” he said.

“But the warning is a precaution to alert the public of the presence of a shark in the Keurbooms River and a reminder that at this time of year sharks are known to feed inshore along the coastline and increased shark activity has been noticed along the Plettenberg Bay coastline,” he said.