Cage diving doesn’t encourage aggression in sharks

Dropping chum and bait to attract sharks has not made sharks more aggressive or any more likely to approach humans or boats was the decision by top marine biologists attending a workshop held by Save our Seas Foundation. It was revealed that sharks, monitored by scientists, stopped responding to the vessels throwing chum overboard after a short time and actually stopped approaching the vessels. One factor may be that shark boat operators in the area were very good at not rewarding the sharks for approaching the boats…

The Save Our Seas Foundation (SoSF) Shark Centre in Kalk Bay, Cape Town, officially opened it’s doors on 15th May with a workshop attended by some of the world’s leading experts on sharks and rays. The centres manager, Leslie Rochat, told the delegates that in order to change people’s attitudes, science would have to excite and reach the general public and politicians. The centre will become a “dedicated facility for shark research” said Leonard Compagno, (director of ziko Museum’s Shark Research Centre and the chief scientist at the SoSF Shark Centre).

Marine biologist Alison Kock, made a presentation on white sharks in the False Bay area. She reported that shark poaching seems to be on the increase. She said that Cape Town currently had a “relatively healthy population” of white sharks. However, there were unconfirmed reports that there are significant declines in the shark population as dead sharks were being found with “targeted fishing gear” in their mouths, indicating that they were being singled out by fishers.

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