|
The following was spotted by a Rowing Service reader in the West Australian nine days ago, but is no longer online, so here's the story....
Shark scare for North Cottesloe Rowing TeamNorth Cottesloe, a favourite with Perth beach-goers, is also popular with sharks. Shark expert Hugh Edwards said sharks tended to follow the reef line down the coast and in North Cottesloe it was very close to shore.Sharks also follow whales, which were coming south this time of year. Yesterday, a women's rowing crew had an alarming encounter with a 4m shark which circled their boat during a 7am training session. Carlie Gooden, 21, Georgina Walsh, 28, Lucy Warhurst 29, and Jess Harker 23, from the North Cottesloe Surf Life Saving Club, spotted the shark when their surfboat was less than 100 m from shore. "I saw the fin coming out of the water. It did a lap around us and then it went underneath us," Ms. Walsh said. The women yelled for people to get out of the water and raised two oars to signal to the beach patrol, which set off the shark alarm. They made sure the swimmers got out of the water first then started rowing back to shore. Mr. Edwards said from the description and behaviour the shark sounded like a young adult great white. Perth lawyer Brian Sierakowski was at North Cottesloe in November 2000 when long-term club member Ken Crew was taken by a shark. He was also paddling with friend John Hanrahan when a shark bit his surf ski in half in October 1997. "There's certain people in the vicinity that think I'm the berley for the sharks but I think it's because I'm always on the water," he said. Surf Life Saving WA spokesman Grant Trew said aerial patrols would start today.
|