More News on Kogel Bay Shark Attack Cape Town South Africa


'We’re not the cause of shark attack'


IOL news apr 20 ct shark_6454~1
INLSA
Cape Town. 120419. Shark victim s father and brother walk to their car after identifying David Lilienfeld's body at Koel Bay. Photo by Michael Walker

Following a fatal shark attack near Gordon’s Bay, the Department of Environmental Affairs has pulled the plug on the controversial Shark Men documentary.
Opponents of the programme have welcomed the decision.
They said Thursday’s incident in which 20-year-old bodyboarder David Lilienfeld was killed by a shark in Kogel Bay, should be probed to see if there was a link with the programme.
Last week, a row broke out between the department and residents after it granted a permit to a US-based documentary team which tagged sharks in False Bay and the southern Cape.
Residents and surfers opposing the project feared that five tons of fish for chumming on board the Ocearch vessel would attract sharks to the bay.
They went as far as issuing their own “shark alerts” warning the public of “increased shark activity” in the bay.
On Thursday, Environmental Affairs spokesman Zolile Nqayi said “in light of the shark attack incident” the department had decided to pull the programme.
“We feel that the incident was not related to the programme. But because of the controversy that has followed it, we have decided to cancel it immediately.
“The programme has already caused a lot of panic in the community and we want to ensure that members of the public enjoy going to the beach without fear,” Nqayi said.
Simon’s Town businessman Dirk Schmidt, who has been one of the main opponents of the project, described the shark attack as “very unfortunate”.
“I send my condolences to his family. This calls for a full-on investigation.
“I cannot say whether there is a link between the (Shark Men project) and this incident but I think the cancellation of the research programme was the correct thing to do,” Schmidt said.
Another opponent of the programme Chris Fallows, a False Bay cage dive operator, said the department should answer for Thursday’s incident.
“I cannot say whether there is a link between this tragic incident and their activities. If there is a link, then the department should communicate with the community. They are the ones who issued the permit when there were growing concerns,” Fallows said.
In False Bay, three cage dive operators together put out 75kg of chum a day, and the eight in Gansbaai put out 200kg a day.
Shark spotters saw great whites at Muizenberg and St James last Tuesday, and two at Muizenberg and three at St James the next day.
Last week there were six sightings between Muizenberg and Glencairn. Documentary-maker Chris Fischer, who was busy with a production for National Geographic, posted a message on the TV show Shark Men’s Facebook page denying that his team was responsible for the man’s death.
“There has been tragic news in False Bay today. A body-boarder has been taken by a white shark. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family that has been affected,” he said.
“We departed False Bay over three days ago after working there from Sunday afternoon… to Monday afternoon… During our 24hrs of work… there we chummed 24kg of pilchards (sardines).” - Cape Times, IOL

xolani.koyana@inl.co.za

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous5/7/12

    nice posting.. thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

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