Not too long ago, False Bay was known as being home to the second largest aggregation of great white sharks in the world.
Today, these large predatory fish have all but gone from its waters, and with them, the tourist income generated by their presence.
In an announcement published in the Government Gazette on Friday 2 September, Barbara Creecy, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, invited the public to various public meetings and to provide comments on the proposal to temporarily extend the False Bay White Shark Cage Diving (WSCD) operating area from its current area around Seal Island to the inshore area adjacent to Strandfontein Beach.
The reason for the proposed extended area, the announcement states, is “to provide support to the White Shark Cage Diving business sector in False Bay which has seen a significant decline in their business operations resulting from the current disappearance of great white shark sightings at Seal Island and the increased presence of other shark species (such as the bronze whaler) in inshore areas near Strandfontein Beach”.
But where have all the great white sharks gone?
According to Sarah Waries, project manager at Shark Spotters – a shark safety and research organisation –their absence in the bay doesn’t appear to be linked to a decrease in their numbers. Rather, she says, it seems they have moved.
“There has been an eastward shift along the coastline with more white sharks being seen towards the Mossel Bay, Plettenberg Bay areas,” says Waries.
Between 2010 and 2015, white shark sightings at Shark Spotters’ operating beaches in False Bay averaged about 205 per year. Waries says they began to notice a drop in 2017 followed by a steep decline.
“In 2017, we only had 50 shark sightings, and then by 2019, there was nothing. There is still the odd sighting. A tagged shark was detected on our receivers earlier this year. So there are very sporadic sightings.”
Waries says they believe the disappearance of the white sharks can be ascribed to the coinciding appearance of orcas (killer whales) in the bay.
“We started seeing the orcas in 2015 and since 2017, they’ve really increased their activity along the Southwestern Cape. They have been responsible for a number of shark carcasses that have washed up. The timing of the orcas and the shark disappearance sort of coincides, and so it does appear to be the main reason.”
Should the proposal be approved, WSCD operators will be allowed to attract other shark species still present in the bay (such as bronze whaler sharks) in the new extended area using chum “and other methods”.
The shark sighting page on Sharks Spotters’ website shows that the presence of bronze whaler sharks has significantly risen since the white sharks left.
The “number of sharks spotted” graph shows that the number of bronze whaler sharks sighted last year clocked in at just under 100 compared to about 65 in 2017.
Waries says the likely reason for this increase is that bronze whaler sharks usually compete with white sharks.
They are also potential prey for the bigger species.
“With the white sharks leaving, it’s created this space (which allows for) more bronze whalers in the area and to compete with food there. Also, there is not the risk that the white sharks will predate them.”
She adds that there have also been very few reported, unprovoked bites from bronze whaler sharks on people.
“So they’re not considered as dangerous as white sharks.”
But still, put the words “sharks” and “chumming” together, and the natural tendency for most people is to get out of the water.
Waries says there is no scientific evidence that links cage diving and chumming with shark attacks.
“There is no scientific evidence that shark bites happen in areas that have shark cage diving and they also happen in areas that don’t have shark cage diving like Plettenberg Bay. In fact, they’ve had two fatal incidents in the past three months and they don’t have any shark cage diving. So there isn’t a direct connection between the two.”
She says chumming has also not shown to have any significant negative impact on the environment or on sharks. Nor does it seem to attract more sharks to an area than those who are already there.
“The impact of shark cage diving is very limited to its immediate surroundings. They’ve been trying to do shark cage diving at Seal Island for years since the white sharks disappeared. And if there are no sharks in the area, you just can’t do it. It’s not attracting any sharks from a great distance to an area.”
Waries adds, however, that there is a lot of public misconception and a perception that shark risk will increase. She says this is why it is all the more important to get a community involved in decision-making.
“While there may not be any direct evidence of shark cage diving causing shark bite incidents, if that is the feeling of the community, it’s really important that it plays into the decision-making process and that it’s a decision that benefits the community.”
According to the proposal, should great white sharks return to the bay in numbers previously recorded during the 2010/2011 season, the new area will be closed and white shark cage diving operators would be required to return to their normal area of operation around Seal Island.
As to what the chances of their return are, Waries says they just don’t know.
“All the prey that they used to eat in the bay is still here. There’s still a lot of seals, there’s still a lot of fish. So it’s obviously not food related. We hope that they will come back but there is no way to predict it. And because it appears to be the orcas, there isn’t much that we can do to encourage them to come back to False Bay. All we can do is make sure that we’re trying to do everything that’s within our power to conserve sharks in terms of like fisheries effects, making sure they have healthy environments.”
The closing date for written representations regarding the proposed extension of the white shark cage diving area was Saturday 1 October.
