LIVING WITH SHARKS
The chances you’ll ever encounter an attacking shark are famously remote. The vast majority of us will surf our entire lives without seeing or being involved in a shark strike. Statistically, you take more risk driving to the ocean than playing in it. But it is equally apparent that being savaged by an enormous wild animal is a nightmarish scenario which messes with our primal brains and leaves affected communities devastated.
It’s hard to shake the idea of a black lottery at work.Your ticket may come up at your home beach, during a live-streamed, Jet Ski-patrolled South African lineup, while you’re standing in waist deep water, or surfing behind shark nets at Currumbin Alley.
Last year eight Australians died from shark bites, the worst result in 90 years.The most recent tragedy was the death of Mark Sanguinetti at Tuncurry Beach, on the NSW mid-north coast, in May. This has again raised serious questions about what the Department of Primary Industries is doing with its eight million dollar budget. But it has also brought home the reality that one terrible day it could be you dealing with the nightmare. How do you respond if you’re attacked? How do you help a mate whose life is in your hands? How does a community recover? These practical questions are horrible to contemplate but
