Perth residents are demanding improved warnings about sharks in the area after authorities took nearly two hours to shut down Whitfords beach following a scary close call with a shark last week.
Karen Young was out at the beach on the Monday arvo when she noticed a drone hovering close to her in the water. Initially, she was a bit worried about what the bloke operating it was up to, but it turned out they were trying to give her a heads up about a shark lingering nearby.
.
“And then I noticed the drone fly closer to the water and head a bit north, and I reckoned, ‘That drone’s not watching me, that drone’s watching something in the water’. So I kept an eye on it, and then I saw the shark, its fin breaking the surface of the water.
That was when I worked out I was only metres from a tiger shark.
Young shared her close encounter on Facebook and was contacted by Curtis Ramsay, a bloke who spends his time filming wildlife at the beach with his drone.
He showed Young the footage he’d taken of her with the shark, affectionately known as “Trevor” by the locals.
“It heightened my awareness about what to do if you’re swimming,” she said.
“There’s a ripper of a few sharks around at the moment, mate. I reckon our local spokeman, Trev, has brought his mob up to Mullaloo and Whitfords, so it was a fair dinkum learning curve for me went on holiday.”
The warm water has seen an increase in tiger sharks coming onto the beach and while the experts reckon they’re generally not a big threat to people, they’re still a wild animal to steer clear of.
Ramsay said he dobbed in the sharks, but claimed the response was slow, with the authorities takin’ over an hour to shut the beach.
In a statement, the City of Joondalup said they got an email from SharkSmart telling them about a shark sighting at Whitfords Beach at 6.55am. They said their field officer went down to the beach and it was closed at 8.15am, admitting it took a bit longer than normal because the alert came through while they were already doing safety and vehicle checks.
“I reckon the goal now would be for signs to get the message out to people about heightened shark activity,” Ramsay said.
“But don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying something will definitely happen. Viewed from this angle, the thought is that tiger sharks aren’t really interested in interacting with humans. Still, it wouldn’t take much for an incident to occur; a person might splash somewhere they shouldn’t, a dog might dive into the water unexpectedly, or someone might toss a ball into a zone where it shouldn’t be. The thing is, the sharks aren’t aware there’s even anyone around. There aren’t any warning signs, no alerts to keep us safe.”
While the Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter is patrolling Perth beaches on the lookout for sharks in the area, Surf Life Saving WA general manager Chris Pack said 16 surf life saving clubs across the state are also out there with drones keeping an eye out for marine hazards such as sharks.
He suggested that locals could do their part to stay safe as well.
“What’s really important to keep you and your family safe at the beach is to make sure you’ve got the SharkSmart app downloaded so you can get the latest info on where sharks have been spotted today or over the past week, and if you do see a shark, please report it to Water Police straight away,” he said.
With
