Groups protesting the shark cage-diving industry in New Zealand are now using footage of agreat white shark attacking two film crew members on a small boat to highlight what they see as a growing problem.
The video was part of the Discovery documentary, “Lair of the Megashark,” which aired last year.
Two film crew members can be seen on a small inflatable boat when suddenly, a shark lunges and can be seen trying to bite the dinghy’s rope connecting it to a larger boat.
“We’ve been attacked twice,” he said. “A shark came up and bit a buoy on the stern of the vessel, it came charging out of the water with its mouth open.”
The Herald added New Zealand’s First Members of Parliament Clayton Mitchell and Winston went to a public meeting about the shark problem last week.
“We are calling on the government to put a moratorium on this and actually do a comprehensive study on what the impact [of cage diving] is,” Mitchell said. “When you start bringing the sharks in close to your boat for the thrill-seekers, like any animal, their behavior becomes modified.”
However, Allan Munn, who directs conservation services for the southern South Island, told the Herald it was “highly unlikely” shark diving had anything to do with increased great white activity.
A few miles away in Southern Australia, a 26-year-old surfer was in critical condition today following a shark attack this past Saturday, local Adelaide paper, The Advertiser, reported.
Local fishermen said the “attack does not bode well for the popular shark diving industry who they say we’re looking to expand their operations to those waters,” The Advertiser reported. (ABC News)
