[Previous entry: "AUSTRALIA'S AMAZING FRESH WATER SPRING ...picture"] [Next entry: "FISHING FOR SHARKS AFTERMATH .... picture"]

19/10/2006: "AUSTRALIAN ANTI-SHARK DEVICE (1963) .... picture"

Twelve gauge shotgun powerhead built by Keith White was tested near Sydney's South Head, by members of the Bondi club affiliated with the Underwater Skindivers and Fisherman's Association.

The wobbegong (carpet shark) pictured, is a very large specimen - used by commercial fishermen today to replace the declining stock of better quality table fish.

Grey Nurse sharks were to become the next target as the 1960's fear of sharks was replaced by a desire to master this often termed fear of the unknown.

An unknown number of sharks (the estimates grow each year) were killed by skindivers until 1972, by then Grey Nurse were hard to find anywhere except in aquariums such as Marineland, Manly.

In 1988 the Grey Nurse sharks made a sudden and amazing return to the locations where they had been formerly hunted. One hundred sharks where previously just two or three may have existed.

The same cannot be said for wobbegong sharks. The decline in their numbers, due to set line fishing, would have effected rock lobster populations as the carpet sharks feed on octopus which prey upon the lobsters. An interesting cycle.