Charming
As requested by Partner in Crime, here are a few truths about shark chumming and how these practices really affect attacks and such.
* Shark chumming does not have huge impact
It does however, need to be done responsibly of course. But by all accounts, even from a conservation point of view, chumming does not really have much effect on shark attacks. The main reason for this is that sharks do not eat humans, their main diet is fish and seals and as such extra blood in the water is not going to make them develop more of a taste for humans. Biting twice is a very rare phenomenon, and could have many possible reasons for occurring, but most of these do not involve chumming. Also, consider this – every fishing vessel out at sea is in effect chumming whenever they haul in their catch – this has been happening for centuries, and has little, if any effect.
* Chumming is mostly done further out to sea.
Newsflash people, one of the biggest reasons for what seems like more shark attacks in recent years is the fact there are more people. There has actually been LESS reports of shark related injuries or deaths in the past few years anyway, proving that chumming hasn’t had much effect one way or another.
* There are still thousands if not millions of sharks out there
Despite the fact that their numbers are being depleted and many shark species are endangered, there are in actual fact a lot more sharks out there under the surface than you may have thought. Cruising around the Atlantic Seaboard, chilling around the False Bay coastline and further ashore – if they really wanted to eat us, and if chumming really played much of a role in things, we would be seeing more and hearing more reports of sightings and/or attacks. One of the biggest possible reasons for increased shark sightings is the Great White’s relatively recent protection as an endangered species.
* Sharks do not always play along
There is evidence that chumming doesn’t actually help much in terms of shark spotting and cage diving. Factors for seeing sharks is a lot more variable than dead fish in the water – it all depends on the water temperature, weather and many other factors. The fact of the matter is that sharks are not as predictable as we like to think – fish they may be, but their highly developed sensors tend to dictate what they do, and most of the time they prefer to keep to themselves and chow down on the odd seal.
So, overall chumming has not been shown to have much impact one way or another. What does however have impact is that there are more people, and more activity in our oceans. The simple truth is that if you want to swim or play in the sea, you have to realise that you stand a minuscule chance of being bitten (or drowned). Just as you would hopefully not get out of your safari vehicle and walk around my the lions at Kruger National Park, you have to realise that the sea is not our territory and if you want to venture out there, you can’t avoid the potential dangers.
The only people that can really be blamed at all are the people who swim in our seas without being aware, and the ones who make the decision to swim, knowing that they are taking a risk. Many people are willing to take that chance, as I am – but in all likelihood it would be a near miracle to even spot a pajama shark, let alone a Great White.
