While Chris & I were away on a 6-week trip a fatal shark attack by a great white took place at Fish Hoek beach, Cape Town on November 16th. The attack was on 77-year old Tyna Webb who had been going for an early morning swim, as she had been doing everyday for the last 17 years.

I first heard about it while sitting on the Tube in London while on the way to the airport so we did not have any idea about the details other than the fact that the attack took place a mere 10 km from where we live. Shark Cage Diving

Upon landing back home in Cape Town we very quickly were able to find out what had happened. The media and the public were in the grips of Shark Hysteria. In the first few days after the attack the newspaper and radio talk shows were extremely quick to report claims that the shark must be hunted and that the shark population has increased, now putting all water users in danger. Of course all these statements were made by people with no knowledge of sharks as well as not being from any official departments. I greatly admire Mrs Webb’s Family who very publicly stated that they did not want any harm to come to the sharks and that this is the last thing that Mrs Webb would have wanted. Apparently Mrs Webb was a “Child of the Sea” and would never miss her morning swim. She was aware of the danger of sharks and had been warned many times by friends and family especially bearing in mind that she would swim up to 150 meters off shore. Ironically she was also warned before taking her last swim that a shark had been sighted. The day before the attack the local beach seine net fishermen had caught over 1000 yellowtail. This is the favourite fish for white sharks to feed on. Also, in the region of 200 white steenbras (large thick scaled fish averaging 15-20lbs) were released by the trek netters that morning very close to where Mrs Webb was attacked , as these were caught as bycatch. The fish just being present in the Bay would be a reason for any predator to be in the area but having a net of 1000 struggling fish being pulled onto the beach would be a huge attractant for sharks. The attack took place at about 7am. Great white sharks are diurnal feeders meaning they feed at dawn and dusk and this would probably have been another contributing factor in the attack. About 70% of the 2700+ predatory events that we have witnessed occurred in the first hour and a half after sunrise.
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For the last 2 months many different white sharks have been sighted moving close to shore in False Bay and of course many speculations have been made about this too. The most common speculation, one that the media has lapped up, is that because the white shark has been protected for the last ten years, the population has exploded. If I may give our own speculations I have to say that this is the most uneducated speculation I have ever heard! We have worked with white sharks for the last 11 years and spend in the region of 100 days per year observing them. Up until 2002 the average amount of sharks we would see in a day would be 12 different animals. This past season the very most we saw was 11 different animals in one day, the average being about 4. Also, very importantly, we only saw one shark that was larger than 4 meters this past year. So, we are not seeing any sexually mature sharks. We feel that at very best the shark population is maintaining a constant number, but most likely on the decrease.

We did see more natural predation this year than any past year, but some newly acquired scientific information could account for this that I will talk about later. Shark Cage Diving

Another speculation we have regarding more shark sightings close the shore could be that the sharks are being forced to look in new areas for food as these resources are being diminished. Our white shark operation actually shuts down after September simply because we do not see the sharks at Seal Island during the summer months. We have always known that they prefer to feed on the summer fish that come into the bay, as well as other sharks that move with the fish. Such sharks are bronze whalers (copper sharks), ragged tooths, smooth hounds, hammerheads and rays. These shark populations have been plundered further up our coast for their meat and fins. These decreased populations are particularly evident by the lack of sharks that are being caught in the trek nets as by catch. Ten years ago nets of sharks were not uncommon, but we have seen a huge decrease in the amount of sharks caught over the past few years. In fact since the start of our spring we have not seen one shark that has been caught. So, the point being, if a shark cannot find food in a area where it has been for hundreds of years what is likely to happen? We would think they have to look elsewhere. Shark Cage Diving