Shark Meeting Success

Surfers from the area met officials at Strand Lifesaving club to discuss the recent attack at Kogel Bay that cliamed David Lilienfeld and the future water safety in the area, with Sarah Titley, head of the Shark Spotters programme, chairing the discussion.

Local surfer Gunther Schultz summarised the meeting, saying that Boland Surfing, WP Bodyboarding and Boland Bodyboarding looked set to take most of the financial brunt of the system if the City of Cape Town did not supply funding, and requested individuals or companies to come forward with help support the system, which would include training, equipment and salaries. Email him to pledge your support.

Sarah Titley said it was a "good turn-out and all in all a successful meeting".

A summary of main points to come out of the meeting

• Definitely good support for putting SS in at Koeel Bay. No one expressed any opinion otherwise. The community also made it clear that they are willing to help out in any way possible.
• Spotting site would be Caves, as this is where majority of surfing takes place.
• Only need a mountain spotter, no beach spotter, as we have at the Hoek. They want to have the spotters fulltime, year round to begin with, and then make an assessment after 1 year if it is necessary to have them in winter.
• Suggested time is 7am to 7pm. They said they would like it to 8pm in summer, but we will have to assess if this is possible.
• When lifesavers are on duty, they can assist with beach duties, especially at the resort end. During winter, spotter can be in communication with security at resort if a sighting occurs
• There were many suggestions about adding a levy onto membership fees of surfing/bodyboarding clubs, and everyone was very receptive to it. Also receptive to idea of monthly debit orders to contribute as well.
• It was noted that the spotters would become tourist attractions, as they are on Boyes Drive.
• A hut and flagpole have already been offered, if the program is to go ahead
• It was made clear that if it does go ahead, it will take time to train spotters etc, so would not be an immediate thing.
• Some surfers afterwards asked to come and spend time in Muiz/Fish Hoek with spotters to see how it works and then, until program is put in place, when they surf in a group, one of them will sit on the mountain and spot and they will have a better idea of what to look for!
• It was apparent they would also like spotters in Strand, just as much as they would like them in Koeel bay. Although this was not discussed in detail, it is definitely something to look into.

Titley said she would prepare a more detailed report in the next few days.