Lifeguard can't wait to go back
Cape Town - Lifeguard Achmat Hassiem bears no grudge against the Great White shark that chomped off his right foot in a deep-sea struggle off South Africa's Western Cape coast two weeks ago.
"He got my foot, I got his tooth. It's only fair, we're even," quips the bulky 24-year-old, holding up the broken point of a ragged-edged incisor doctors removed from his mangled lower-leg.
Hassiem appears bemused by renewed calls for shark culling following his near-death encounter with a Great White off Sunrise Beach on August 13.
However, he is undeterred about going back into the water: "eventually, I'll be out there again.
"You can't kill something for just doing what it does," he said from his home in Strandfontein in the Western Cape.
"You can't blame them for what they are. They are a top predator. They don't have hands to feel. They use their mouths to feel, and, unluckily, as humans we bleed."
Hassiem is one of seven people to have been bitten by sharks off the greater Cape Town coast in the past five years.
More people in water
Three people died, including 77-year old Tyna Webb who was killed by a shark while swimming at Fish Hoek, also in False Bay, in November 2004.
Shark experts say there has been a rise in the number of attacks, but this must be seen against the background of more people venturing into the water.
From an average 0.1 incidents a year in the 1960s of people or their personal craft being bitten by sharks off the Cape coast, the rate increased to 0.3 in the 1970s, 0.6 in the 1980's and 0.7 in the 1990s, said Natal Shark Board research department head Geremy Cliff.
He said: "Thousands of people are killed on the road, but nobody stops driving."
Putting up shark nets was not an option, he said, as they were very expensive, difficult to maintain, and indiscriminately killed sea animals.
No reason for hysteria
Culling was also not a solution, as Great Whites were a protected species.
Shark Working Group spokesperson Gregg Oelofse said culling would have little impact on human safety in any event.
Oelofse said there was no reason for hysteria or for people to stop swimming and surfing.
"I can relate to people feeling under threat. But we need to recognise that for as long as we use the sea for recreation, there will on occasion be an attack."
Surfing events administrator Paul Botha disagrees. "Something needs to be done. There has been enough talking."
He claims to have seen a huge increase in shark numbers in False Bay, something he blames on the Great White's protected status combined with a food imbalance caused by over-fishing.
"We have created a problem. We have an over-population of sharks with not enough to eat."
As solutions, he cited the introduction of a sonar system to alert swimmers of shark activity, or a "shark flying squad" to keep the fish under surveillance and kill aggressive ones.
Eager to get back in the water
Surfing South Africa general manager Robin de Kock said there was no evidence of the existence of rogue, man-eating sharks.
"If sharks were really out to kill people, they would be having a great feast."
As for Hassiem, he is eager to get back in the water.
"I won't lie, I am a bit scared. It's going to take a while to get used to, but eventually I'll be out there again."
News source: www.news24.co.za
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