The collective term“ATTACK” refers to all encounters recorded on the ASAF. The term includes provoked and unprovoked encounters, bites from sharks in captivity (bitten during feeding), or caught and hauled onto the decks of boats. The types of sharks implicated in the majority of attacks on humans in Australian waters include Tiger Sharks, White Sharks and Whalers. They are capable of inflicting much more damage than they do. The majority of people are bitten and released, which may indicate the shark is not biting to procure food in the majority of cases.

Shark attacks remain a genuine but unlikely danger for humans entering the water. However, this does not mean that people should disregard the likelihood of an attack by swimming outside the protection of the patrolled beaches (Life Savers and spotter planes) or protected swimming areas. People must use common sense as to where they swim and what they do in the water. There is a much higher risk of drowning than from being killed by an encounter with a shark. As more knowledge is acquired about the shark’s normal behaviors and about the circumstances surrounding attacks, it may be possible to develop an effective repellent (some electric impulse devices are being developed and tested).

. . . related to where you swim and what activities you undertake while in the water and awareness of what may invite or provoke an attack. The following points highlight some of these considerations.

1.Do not swim, dive or surf where dangerous sharks are known to congregate.

2.Always swim, dive or surf with other people.

3.Do not swim in dirty or turbid water.

4.Avoid swimming well offshore, near deep channels, at river mouths or along drop-offs to deeper water.

5.If schooling fish start to behave erratically or congregate in large numbers, leave the water.

6.Do not swim with pets and domestic animals.

7.Look carefully before jumping into the water from a boat or wharf.

8.If possible do not swim at dusk or at night.

9.Do not swim near people fishing or spear fishing.

10.If a shark is sighted in the area leave the water as quickly and calmly as possible.

Stay calm! It must be remembered that some stated methods of repelling sharks could, given different conditions and different sized animals, result in an altering of the shark’s initial re-sponse and may unintentionally provoke an attack response in the very animal that it was meant to deter. Leave the area as quickly and as quietly as possible. However, if an attack is imminent try to keep the shark in sight and if it gets close then any action you take may disrupt the attack pattern, such as hitting the shark’s nose, gouging at its eyes, making sudden body movements, blowing bubbles, etc.