Relax - Monster shark stalking Australian tourist waters

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[top photo: Television still from the documentary programme Shark Hunter: Chasing the Great White]

SYDNEY - A monster shark at least five metres (16 feet) long is lurking in popular waters off north eastern Australia, drawn to the area by the dumped carcasses of beached whales, officials have said.

Queensland fisheries minister Tim Mulherin said bite marks on a carcass, found off the popular tourist spot of Stradbroke Island, suggested that a great white shark – also known as white pointer – was menacing the area.

"The experts believe it would have taken a white pointer at least five metres long to cause this kind of damage," said Mulherin.

Conservationists said they believed the dumping of dead whales was luring the deadly great white to the area, and called for carcasses to be towed further offshore.

"It would certainly attract a lot of predators and scavengers – white pointers love dead whales," said Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland president Simon Baltais.

"It is costly but is the loss of one human worth it because it was too costly to tow carcasses further out?".

Great white sharks are the world’s largest known predatory fish, and can grow up to six metres long and weigh 2,240 kilograms (4,938 pounds).

There was a spate of shark attacks in Sydney during the southern hemisphere summer earlier this year, including the savaging of a navy diver near the iconic Opera House.

A surfer lost his hand in an attack just 36 hours later at Bondi Beach.

According to records, 194 people have been killed in shark strikes in Australia over the past two centuries but researchers are quick to point out that more people die from bee stings and lightning strikes.

Monster shark stalking Australian tourist waters

AFP | Tue, Oct 27 2009

It is drawn to the north eastern waters by the dumped carcasses of beached whales.

Monster shark stalking Australian tourist waters

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shark