HORDES OF SHARKS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3755, 2 March 1926, Page 75

HORDES OF SHARKS.

NEW SOUTH WALES COAST. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, February 12. One of the things that detract from the pleasures of the great popular Australian pastime of surfing Is the shark danger. For the past few weeks, and with increasing emphasis during the past week or so, Sydney’s tens of thousands of surfers have been warned of the danger of attack by sharks. February, as a matter .of fact, is the worst month for sharks along the New South Wales coast. Just at present there Is said authoritatively to be hordes of the monsters cruising up and down the waters fringing the coast. The shark army is foraging along the beaches and up and down the harbour. Shoals of salmon and other small fish that move about in a communal way are especially numerous. In implacable, relentless pursuit of these the hordes of shark venture into bays and near beaches where the fugitive fish have sought escape. Theu it is breeding time for the sharks, and that is the reason why they are particularly savage. Mr A. W. Wood, who is in charge of the New South Wales Fisheries Department, issued a grave warning to bathers early this week. “Sydney Harbour,” he said, “is full of sharks. Recently I was out in a launch investigating the great school of prawns in the harbour, and three or four sharks flashed by our boat. Bathers will need to be very careful. Whenever the salmon are numerous you have a following army of sharks, and this year the salmon are very numerous. The sharks are working the estuaries in search of these salmon, which are seeking sanctuary inshore.” Having broken up the salmon army further cut to sea, the sharks have sent the remnants scurrying for shallow water. Like any well-organised army, the sharks are planning ambushes for the retreating host. It is here that the danger to surfers looms up vividly Mr Wood said that the favourite place selected by the sharks for au ambush, was in the tranquil water between the breakers. There they wait for the scared salmon. If bathers break in on these ambushes their intrusion is sure to be resented. And in the breeding season sharks give no quarter. Only last Sunday shark scares sent the hearts of many surfers fluttering at a number of beaches north and south of Sydney. Shark warning bells worked overtime. At one beach a fisherman caught a young shark and threw it in the water again. That brought a whole school of sharks around in wrathful indignation. For an hour or so thev could be seen swarming round, and bathers sought the warmth of the sands for that time in preference to the coolness of the water.