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  Shark attacks rise in South Africa
Updated 19 May 2004, 14.42
Shark
Surfers say a recent wave of shark attacks in South Africa might be linked to the eco tourist trade.

Sixteen-year-old JP Andrew feels lucky to be alive after an encounter with a Great White Shark. He is one of several surfers and fishermen who have been attacked recently.

JP was surfing near Cape Town last month when the shark struck. He lost his leg in the attack but is relieved to be alive.

His heart stopped for 30 minutes after the attack and paramedics are amazed at his recovery.

Photo of JP Andrews victim of shark attack
JP Andrews, recovering
He said: "I feel grateful. I mean it's not as if someone has died, or I lost a member of my family. I just lost a leg and I can deal with that."

'Chumming'

But some surfers fear that shark tourism is causing the sharks to come too close to the shore.

Lots of shark-tour operators 'chum' the water. This means they pour a mix of fish blood and oil into the water by the boat.

It smells like a tasty snack to any passing Great White so they come up close to investigate and tourists get a great view.

Adrian Charles is a local surfer who's worried that the sharks are learning to link people with food.

"Sharks are intelligent creatures," he said. "They follow the boats into the harbour when in the past they wouldn't come all the way in."

But some experts say our fear of sharks is making us panic. They believe that more research needs to be done before people blame the chumming for the recent rise in attacks.

Bite

Len Compagno, the head of shark research at the South African Museum, believes that it's wrong to say that if you chum for sharks they'll be more likely to bite people.

"It's almost like saying if you feed people hamburgers, it makes them prone to punch other people on the nose," he said. "It doesn't necessarily follow."

The Shark Trust

The Shark Trust says it would prefer tour operators not to chum. It says there is some evidence to show sharks get bolder when they've been regularly hand-fed by divers so chumming may have a similar effect.

Ali Hood from the trust said: "The increase in numbers of people using the water means there's likely to be an increase in encounters between people and sharks. We would prefer people encountered them in a normal way, not when they're feeding."

The Great White sharks are under threat from humans and are now protected in South African waters.

More and more of us are swimming and surfing in the sea.

Being attacked by a shark is still very, very unlikely. Surfers can make themselves safer by not surfing at dawn or dusk and avoiding shark hotspots.



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