And Now Australia...

A few weeks ago, I brought you the story about the inhumane killing of dolphins in Japan and now the WA government wants to introduce a similar plan. The shark cull plan will use baited lines to kill large sharks off selected beaches.

The WA Government has tried to justify their actions by saying that they will only target sharks over 3 metres. The government believes they are doing the right thing because the numbers of shark attacks have significantly increased in the last 3 years and they felt they had to do something about it.

This statement did not sit well with the residents of WA. More than 4,000 protested gathered at Perth’s Cottesloe Beach on Saturday 4^th January 2014. 

A protestors signs during the anti-shark culling rally at Cottesloe Beach

Natalie Banks, a protest organizer raised a really good point saying “there is going to be other marine life caught in the bait lines, not just sharks and there’s going to be sharks under 3 metres also caught in the bait lines”. I agree with Natalie’s point - how is the WA Government going to regulate what enters the baited lines? This plan isn’t just about killing the sharks - it’s going to destroy all marine life that gets caught in these lines.

“We are ruining the marine ecosystem” (Natalie Banks)

This is a topic that is close to my heart, as I have always wanted to go shark cage diving in Perth but there’s not going to be any sharks if the WA Government. It’s very heart breaking to read what the government plans to do. I understand that the WA Government wants to protect the swimmers from shark attacks, but environmentalists have found evidence that suggests, “killing sharks will not prevent attacks”.

References

ABC News 2014, ‘WA Government standing by shark despite 4,000 strong protest at Cottesloe Beach’, ABC, accessed 6 February 2014, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-06/wa-government-standing-by-shark-cull-after-protest/5185802>.