Is dying in the mouth of a Great White worth the kick of surfing?
As existential questions go, it’s a doozy. How long after a fatal shark hit at your home beach would you get back in the water?
For the surfers of Tuncurry, a precious stretch of east-facing coastline a few hours north of Sydney and when y’combine its neighbour Forster maybe the best waves on the north coast, it is, literally, existential.
Every surfer in Tuncurry has gotta ask him, herself: Is dying in the mouth of a Great White worth the kick of surfing?
A witness on the beach said, “The shark came out of the water, just smashed him, five seconds later he came round and hit him again… Just the whole bone exposed, no meat on him at all.”
A couple of days later, the joint was still crawling with ’em, a Channel 7 drone filmed a White cruising the shoreline, fifty feet from shore.
A little further out Whites were being caught, tagged and released.
Now, think about it.
You live in Tuncurry.
You’ve surfed all your life.
You’ve felt an increasing Great White vibe there, hard not to when a drone operator regularly releases footage of Whites swimming among surfers and swimmers and the Department of Primary Industries announces it has caught and released sixty-five Whites in a six-month period, but not enough to keep you out of the drink.
No near misses, not in Tuncurry at least, although everyone knows the story of Colin Rowland being dragged underwater by a White at Bulls Paddock, twenty clicks away; not so many know the similar story of Chris Little getting the same treatment a few years later at nearby Boomerang Beach.
Still…
In May 2020, two Great Whites swam under three surfers at Tuncurry, the drone footage evidence it seemed at the time that the squad that patrols this stretch of beach found little of value in the bones of human beings.
“We could hear a drone going and I’m like ‘where is that coming from?’ And we turned around and there’s a dude running down the beach to come wave us out of the water yelling ‘there’s two Whites behind you!’” one of the surfers told Channel Nine’s The Today Show.
“I actually found it quite reassuring that they’re not interested in us, they were just swimming past and happened to run into us,” said another.
“I reckon it happens on a near daily basis here,” said the third.
Now?
The Whites are still there. No one’s coming to take ‘em away. They’re protected so there’s gonna be more around every year.
What do you do?
I grew up in the eighties, West Oz, and the spectre of a shark attack was an abstract concept, to say the least.
Not one surfer had been killed by a shark, in Western Australia history until 2004, long after I’d left, when Brad Smith was hit by two Great Whites at Lefthanders.
(More fatal attacks on surfers would follow, 2005, 2010, 2o11, 12, 13, 16, 17, a couple in 2020 and a raft of non-deadly hits, along with fatal attacks on swimmers and divers)
I’d moved to Queensland where the last hit was at Moreton Island 1992; down the coast in Byron, there hadn’t been a hit on a surfer since Martin Ford at Tallows in 1982.
All pretty safe, and easy to avoid.
I kept an imaginary pencil in my head and would lick the nib and draw a line through joints that hosted a fatal attack.
Until 2004, I only had to avoid Moreton Island, in Queensland, Tallows in Byron and anywhere around Cactus.
In 2021, if you surf, and you live on Australia’s east coast, or in Western Australia, Great Whites patrol the waters in greater numbers, it is safe to presume, in living memory.
Healthy, abundant stocks.
What do you do?
When do you go back?
At Snapper, Occ was back the next day.
At J-Bay, after the non-fatal hit on Mick, Derek Hynd took an hour or two before he dived in.
What about you?
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The problem in Australia today isn’t the number of sharks its the number of the surfers. Its obvious that we are not their prey or they would’ve wiped us out long ago. Attacks are essentially unfortunate mistakes and occur extremely rarely vs the number of encounters. Rather cull the surfers to solve the problem. Starting with those ignorant enough to view nature rather than humans as the problem.
I got punched in the air by a 2plus meter white an the thing got stuck in my leash an trashed about while i was hogtied to my board. Fella I’d taken surfing watched from about 20 meters away thinking I was getting my leg ripped off, while I was yelling T him to go in.
Thing hit free an bolted, I’d say we both shit ourselves equally. Went back the next day cause it’d haunt me forever if I didn’t. I’ve grown up surfing by myself an still do 3/4 of the time now. All I learned is if it wants you your fucked either way.
Keep surfing
Am I stupid for feeling safe in Vic?
yes!
re~try of a post:
some good discussion in this comments section…
the sharks are still out there, allll over the world, swimming around, right now, as i type, you do too, and we carry on, with our lives. they do not come into your neighborhood to eat your lil’ doggie or pussy~cat, your dad, brother, or sister, you enter their domain, for a few hours, splashing around, flailin’ as you try to rip, + have fun for a coupla hours, esh, betcha that you even are pissin’ in your wetsuit. {might wanna stop that habit, or at least wash out your wetsuit, no need to smell like an animal, which, you, basically are}. if there are 1000’s of sharks swimmin’ around right now, how come there are not 1000’s of shark bites + deaths daily?
by the way,
as i’m kinda intrigued by shark/surfer interaction,
well i shot this yearz ago, would you get outta thee water?
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
stay out of the water!
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
depends how close, if same post-code, a day.
adjacent post codes, 6 hrs.
Livin’ at Lennox has hardened you Lt. I figure these fucks keep moving and can cover some distance.. still..(Tony Soprano voice) whaddaya gonna do..
I went out here Wednesday, the day after and good couple hundred clicks south of Tuncurry but was still edgy as all fuck. Also, went to a crowded bank,instead of my usual solo haunts..I dunno how long it’d take me after a hit at the local..
Couple of Thursdays ago was looking for the shark report(s) showing Whites at Strickos, went to the shark app, and a White had just pinged at Bondi. Didn’t surf that day. Next day, yeah.
will ya’ll fix the fuckin comments glitch already… Jesus fuckin-A ya gotta load the fuckin page 8 times to get to the proper comment sections.
Kindest Regards,
Stick man
Yeah, it ain’t perfect cause of the run-on stories, the number of comments and will fluctuate depending on how robust ya internet connection is. Tried a few fixes with disqus. Do bear with us.
I had to delete one of my little hot takes as it went under the wrong story the other day. First time ever!
How hot was take?
Very very saucy DR.
Click on comments then click community, then read, comment, on disqus site, never a problem
Ian, Moss Landing? Any relation to Tucker’s Daughter Taking Flight?
Had lovely uncrowded Tunnels the third day after Bethany’s hit.
Did you deliberately wait two days?
I did. Seemed respectful
Used to be quite a few kneeboarders at OB back then as well. This guy Tim Pierce could do 360’s in the barrel. Easy to spot, he had his initials TP in huge letters on the back of his wetsuit.
Idk about the patterns of whites in Australia but here in central Cali the likelihood increases starting in June and lasts through November, because their migratory patterns have them along our coast then. There’s been evidence of more juveniles in the bay and that they stick around longer. My boss still surfs Manresa though.
I’m no Marine Biologist but I believe the sharks are there, and other places, because there is an ample food supply. Has that changed in recent years? Problem is that even if you pick off a couple they will most probably fill right back in corresponding with the food supply.
Plus if you kill off the white sharks we would be knee deep in seals up here. I guess you could bring back the fur trade and kill the seals also.
We already are! Way over populated.
I don’t think beating them to death with a bat at Fishermans Warf would go over too well, but who knows.
Only the baby harp seals needed the club so the precious fur didn’t get ruined by bullet. Ok to shoot, in general. If that’s y’thing etc.
Seems like better exercise.
No, but it would be great therapy.
Maybe I’ll open up a seal club rental shop down there. Can you imagine the outrage. I’m sure some Canadian tourists would give it a go.
If you ask any marine biologist what is behind increasing shark numbers that is their exact answer. Sign of a healthy ecosystem. The narrative about overfishing causing hungry sharks to turn on humans is nonsense.
How come they don’t mention the effect of protection on their numbers, y’think? Combine that with abundant whale stocks and oowee etc.
I think because they have only been able to establish any sort of thorough baseline on population numbers in recent years, they are unwilling to speculate on what is, in scientific terms, anecdotal historical evidence.
Also I went cold on the Needs yulex. About to click on a project blank. Is 4/3 gonna be over the top? Using it as back up for 2mm Zion
Project Blank, very very good. I’m running the three-two most days. Four three? Yes!
They were sold out. Decided I was being OTT so went 3/2
But happy to protect an animal based on no numbers and therefore driven by speculation and, in scientific terms, anecdote evidence?
I think that’s called the precautionary principle
I reckon it depends on whether you personally have had an encounter.
I’ve lived and surfed my entire life in the SW and Great Southern areas of WA. Very sharky, isolated, deep green ocean – especially the Great Southern. Places like Bremer Bay, Fitzgerald River NP and Esperance can be incredibly spooky. Amazing waves but you’re isolated on just another level. Any attack and you’re dead. There’s no Channel 7 copter down there.
I have jumped in the water the same day as attacks.
The day I have a close encounter though, that’s going to change as the threat becomes SO much more tangible. At the moment it’s an ephemeral spectre to me, however naive that might sound…
That crystal clear water at places like Esperance gives me the creeps just looking at it. I guess the somewhat murkier water of Nor Cal gives me a false sense of security.
If hes willing to go on in his shark life with no eyes, I’m willing to take the risk too…..
These stats in WA lend themselves to over fishing no?
Saw my first juvenile the other day in Del Mar. He was actually inside of the lineup. Craziest part was everyone just kept surfing after a nervous laugh or two.
Sounds about White.
I’m more worried about getting run over by a smugglers panga than sharks down here.
After moving north to SEQ / Northern Rivers region 20 months ago I have experienced 3 incidents…..after never having seen a shark in 30 years of surfing before hand. It does make you think things over. I carry a tourniquet inside my rash shirt these days hoping I never have to use it. I am pretty relaxed until the whale migration season starts. Then I get nervous. I don’t surf as many spots on my own anymore. Which kinda sucks. Just don’t enjoy those sessions as much anymore. If I see fish jumping I get nervous quickly and revert to lying on my board with my legs out of the water. Recent events have definitely influenced my behaviour. If I lived down at Boomers I am not sure how I would go.
Here’s a crazy idea. How about if we stop selling cigarettes in stores. Pretty easy way to save thousands of lives every year.
Cig Vicious
Keeping “Safe” lol
I hear cigarettes are like $30 a pack in Australia.
That’s only $6 American, but still.
I remember when an entire carton of cigarettes was $6.
Fifty bucks. And y’get a pack with either a gangrenous foot or a dying man on the front.
Is it really $50 a pack?
Wow.
That’s still only a dollar three eighty American, but still.
I really do remember when an entire carton of 10 packs of cigarettes was only US$6.
Aussie really doesn’t want people to smoke, I guess, although it’s hard to imagine the bar at the Hotel Steyne without people smoking.
This will devastate the Australian tobacco industry.
nah what’s happened is tobacco is so expensive , the black market is booming , where you can be tobacco dealer , make up to 500% per deal and if you get caught , you just get fined……supposedly high price tobacco stops people smoking , especially the poor people…or wait the Governments make obscene $’s from the taxes on Tobacco!
$50 a pack has to be a deterrent to some degree.
That’s nuts.
My mom rolled her own and saved a lot of dough.
The government makes obscene taxes on tobacco but then has to pay out obscene amounts of money for health care.
I doubt it’s a money winner in the end.
I told you what Ray said to my brother about kicking heroin and kicking tobacco?
Lil Chinese joint next to jiujitsu sells gorgeous looking Chinese cigarettes for twenty bucks a pack. Bit of a sting in ’em but ok.
it’s $120 for 50 g pak of tobacco now…..but can get the same for 1/2 the price on the black market…..and the dealers are still cleaning up…….LOL!
How do you find black market man? Alleys? Or people y’know?
Go to any independent Tobacco shop …….imagine smuggling $1m worth of Tobacco , and you are making 1/2 m $….and they can only fine you…..nuff said!
Tobacco industry doing real good, they pivoted into vapes. All the rage with kids and anyone who don’t fear looking like a fool sucking on an illuminated pen.
It’s so good
Can puff away wherever you like too
They also don’t want us to drink alcohol,or fly, or drive, or buy a house, or own a car, or travel to another state, or pay off the national debt, or see ya kids. On the plus side it’s a great place to be a bum and anyone who doesn’t want to work or if you have a disability the pay is good and so are the benefits.
we have had 3 people/surfers under 21 years of age , suicide near Bells this year…….2 jumped off the cliffs , one hung himself with a legrope ..I know now of 6 younger people who have taken their own lives this year in this area……doesn’t even get reported anymore……
What’s your take on the increase, Moz?
Increase in suicides or the shark attacks which seemed to have dropped…?
Suicides.
I think and have seen, that there is a sense of hopelessness amongst teens and people in their early 20’s., Rents and house prices now beyond their earnings capacity…..the future looks grim for a lot of young people , so they hit the party program and just want to be entertained by their phones etc for instant gratification……the climate is a crisis point , as are the economies , hopelessness among young people as their homeless numbers rise…we guesstimate there are 100 homeless in out area , living in old vans etc…….the interesting thing here is that it’s not being reported by the media…
What’s the cost of a college education over there, not free like Europe?
Forty, fifty gees, but the gov slings you a loan that is only repayable once you start earning over forty-six k.
That seems doable. That’s what one year costs here.
for most it is not even remotely doable here. and it just got worse. endless government cutting of funding for HE. and when you graduate not much on offer for any – degree or no degree – if you don’t have a mummy or daddy to sling you the money to get a start.
I’ve never been there so I don’t understand all the challenges. I guess it sounds ok to have a fifty thousand dollar student loan dept out of college but if the job prospects are not good then I get it. Sounds like it’s become more and more like it is here. Real estate prices through the roof and many kids will never be able to buy a house in the area that they grew up in.
yep. same same .
the other troubling aspect higher Real Estate prices is there’s nowhere left to rent for young people as Rents have increased with Hose prices and all the people from the cities have rented local properties at 20% more , so if there’s a lockdown they can come to the coast…..kids are living in their vans and are homeless….biggest social change in my lifetime and just getting started…..
Thats what my area went through in the nineties. You used to be able to share a duplex with a friend and work at a skate shop or whatever. Gone are the days when you can do gardening work if you don’t want to go to college and still live in this county. Teachers and firefighters even have to drive seventy miles to their jobs from less expensive areas.
Terrible problem with young people nowadays. I read some statistic that a large percentage of them have thoughts of suicide over here. How can a teenager not want to live? Young, healthy etc. Must have something to do with social media taking over their lives.
They should get off their phones and travel the world for a year. Do volunteer work, anything.
It’s been building up for years and is by miles the sharkiest spot on the east coast aside from North Wall Ballina, the set up is near identical. the next one might not be Tuncurry but the odds are it will be. Hard question to answer but next time it’s cooking everyone will be out there. The whole area is swarming with whites. I guess the question is how many more need to happen on the mid coast before we start looking into how to buy a container of dynamite sticks so we can start blowing the cunts out of the water?
I think, and using Reunion Island as an example, good-looking thirteen-year-old kid got killed there on a sunny day in front of his little pals, there isn’t a tipping point. Very good for wave pools, you’d think.
It still amazes me reunion poli’s saw this death as a tipping point to ban surfing and entering the ocean rather than find a manageable solution. Only now after there economy (tourism is the main commodity)has been absolutely decimated they are trying to use a bunch to f different mitigation methods to allow people back in the water.
Paris, very removed from reality on the ground on Reunion.
or you could just get a drone up in the sky to watch for you LOL…….
I agree with ya drone repeats but who is gonna man then all day plus will he be ready for the early?
pretty simple there are some of us who will just go surfing and take the risk .
for others who really fear being killed by a shark , surf in a group where everyone takes a turn at watching the others with a drone….everyone chips in !
Interesting: no fatal attacks on surfers, in Vic, in history. True, yes?
surfers I think not …but divers have copped a fair whack…….lot of stories recently about big mommas in the break….seems like they are not too interested in humans , couple of bites at Winki in the last decade…..Thresher sharks around a lot now , but they seem to like to play around surfers!
In Brasil, not even a microthought.
Its not really many people is it.