Cape Town, South Africa's coastal city, has seen the first sighting of great white sharks off its beaches in over four years. These predators were once frequent visitors and responsible for fatal attacks on swimmers. The International Union for Conservation of Nature strongly encourages non-lethal approaches to addressing shark risks, such as the one in Cape Town. A professional team of shark spotters has operated in the area for over 15 years, aiming to protect sharks and people by keeping them apart.
The team watches five beaches from the surrounding mountainsides, with those high above in radio contact with colleagues on the beaches. Alerts are issued, and waters are cleared if a potentially dangerous shark is seen, with a flag system indicating the latest status with a white flag warning people to leave the sea immediately. Dennis Chikodze, responsible for one of the great white sightings this month, wants people to learn more about what is safe and says some try to enter the water when a white flag is flying, which is "very dangerous."
Each morning, the team aims to create a safe bathing area off Fish Hoek Beach with a 350m (1,148ft) "exclusion net." There have previously been fatal attacks in the bay, and the team says sharks can come in "waist-deep." The net is placed down to the seabed and across the bay and lifted each evening to avoid injuring or killing sea life. The shark spotters say it is a unique system designed to have a minimal environmental impact, making it different from traditional fixed shark barriers.
One of the victims of a great white shark attack in Plettenberg Bay was Kimon "Kiki" Bisogno, a community worker who had spent years helping people without homes and running a restaurant in Cape Town with her partner Diego Milesi. Tributes from the community to Kiki still fill the windows, and a large mural of her now adorns the side of Ferdinando's Pizza.
Another non-lethal approach to dealing with sharks is being built at a nearby factory in Cape Town. Local marine biologist Dr Sara Andreotti is overseeing the creation of a different kind of shark barrier designed to mimic an underwater forest of kelp, which sharks visually dislike. The border solely excludes sharks, meaning it does not impact other sea life, which can swim through it.
Dr Andreotti describes sharks as crucial "top predators" whose removal through culls and deliberate targeting creates a "domino effect to the ecosystem that will be detrimental."
