SHARK KNIFE.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18924, 12 February 1927, Page 5

SHARK KNIFE.

PROTECTION OF BATHERS. SYDNEY SURF DANGERS. irPOM O'.R OWN COFPtf-rOKDENT.) SYDNEY, February •". The latent of Sydney's many shark the poignancy of which was relieved only by the heroism of a youth nho is said to have actually got on the shark's back in an effort to attack it and to save his young mate, hits revived the suggestion that the lifesavers along Sydney's beaches should be armed with knives as a means of fighting the monsters, which arc a constant menace to surfers. Unce houever. the suggestion has been coldly leccivinl. Ilk' attitude of the life-savers in that their job i» not to go chasing sharks, but to keep battlers and themselves out el the reach ol the monsters'. In most of the reci"-(!ril iii>:iim.-*.-» of shark tragedies round Svdiiey. and the toll that the nioiibtcrs have t.ik-ii is a tragic- one—the sharks have leapt upon their »i-titiis, sometimes lisin. 1 : out of the ualcr. The dill'uult.v of repelling such ferocious Onslaughts in heavy surf, even when armed with a knife, and given time to draw the weapon, can he imagined. 'I he lifcfavers of Sydney are more inclined to pin their faith to the present system of look-outs, which are posted on the licaehcs. and which enable bathers to be warned when sharks are in sight. Apart from this each of the life-savers Mirf boats is equipped with a shark spear as n means of warding off attacks. This spear, which is in the shape of a Zulu asseuai. was used successfully by one of Mic surf boat crews only recently in rei>ellin'z an attnek by a shark ».hieh had left n tooth embedded in the bottom of their boat. The use of shark knives, however, by life-savors, in fhe broken waters of the surf, is ridiculed All sorts of scheme* to iM'ral the shark have been tried in Sydney, but without success. At C'oovee. one of the most popular of the surfins beaches, a net was tried, but it was as unss-nmcr "vheii the seas !>roki> :i-r:iin«t it and lore it to pieces. Eten shark fishigg. jif an industry is not \>ko\v t/i reduce materially the number of sharks round Svrlnev. until the *<»«■; that "'"•■ h upon its beaches have been exploited for perhaps fiftr years or more. ) ' '