Death of tagged white shark on bather protection gear in South Africa sparks debate

The recent killing of a juvenile great white shark on a drum line — a shark control method consisting of baited hooks attached to floating drums — off the east coast of South Africa has sparked a debate over the measures employed to protect swimmers at the expense of the threatened species. The 2.2-meter (7.2-foot) female white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) was caught off the town of Margate in KwaZulu-Natal province on May 30, on a baited fishing line used by the KZN Sharks Board, an organization responsible for bather protection against shark attacks near the shore. The shark was one of eight that marine biologists Alison Towner and Alison Kock had tagged off Mossel Bay on the country’s southwestern coast in April. The tagging was part of a national tracking project aiming to understand how white sharks respond to increasing ecological pressures along South Africa’s coastline. “The loss of this shark is deeply upsetting,” Towner, from Rhodes University, told Mongabay via email. “The capture and death of this tagged shark is not only a scientific loss, but a stark reminder of the mounting pressures this species continues to face in South Africa.” Once known as a global hotspot for great white sharks, sightings of the species along South Africa’s coast have declined over the past decade. Esther Jacobs, a conservationist from the nonprofit Earth Legacy Foundation, told Mongabay that longline fishery and predation by orcas (Orcinus orca) are major threats to the sharks. “But the biggest threat of all is…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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