PHOTO: Hermanus Backpack ers
With an average full-grown length of about 4-5m and weighing in at just over a ton, most experts contend a White’s maximum size is about 6m (20 ft), with a maximum weight of about 1,900 kilograms - almost 2 tons, while the Guinness Book of World Records lists the largest one caught in Australia at 11m (36 ft) captured near Port Fairy in the 1870s. Great Whites can detect your slightest movement through their Ampullae of Lorenzini, special sensing organs that detect the electromagnetic field emitted by the movement of living animals They can detect half a billionth of a volt, which is equivalent to detecting a flashlight battery from 1,600 kilometres away, so you can run, (swim) but you can’t hide. They can detect your heart beat so if you have just seen one, your ticker is probably acting as a giant homing beacon. But these organs are used locate prey far away. They then use smell and hearing to further verify that the target is food. At close range, the shark utilises sight for the attack. Despite the common myth that Great Whites are non-thinking, instinctdriven, eating machines studies have indicated they possess powerful problem-solving skills. In 1987, near Smitswinkle Bay, South Africa, a group of up to seven Great White sharks worked together to relocate the partially beached body of a dead whale to deeper waters to feed.
We hear from John Hinks, a professional fisherman and surfer from Port Lincoln in South Australia, who, due to the nature of his work, sees these big ones more than most.
“I am a pro tuna fisherman so I see a fair few Great Whites. The last time I had an encounter was in a small dinghy. I was drift fishing a couple of miles offshore. It was a nice glassy, calm afternoon. I saw the tip of a fin cut through the water about a 100 metres away. It came closer and closer until I could see the shape underneath it. I thought, ‘Oh yeah, that’s a Pointer.’ It came a bit closer and turned out to be 16 footer. It was roughly 3 feet longer than my 13 foot dinghy. “Anyhow, it just had this pattern it followed. They do it every time. He would swim 100ft in front of my boat, head straight towards me, fin out of the water, roll sideways and look me in the eye and go behind my boat. Head 100ft in front of the boat, straight towards me and swing back around the boat. I reckon they have good visibility. He knew what I was. “It was doing this for about 40 minutes and I was really enjoying the show. But I then realised these circles were getting tighter and tighter and tighter and then I hit the panic button. I thought, ‘Shit, I just might make a phone call here’ and as soon as I grabbed my mobile, he was chewing on my outboard. It was just: Bang! Bang! Bang! Side to side. I dropped the phone. I was just hanging on, squatting in the dinghy thinking, ‘you idiot. You’ve left this too late.’ “I’m watching my mobile slide from side to side on the bottom of the dinghy. It finishes with the outboard and then comes along the side of the boat and starts rocking it with its pectoral and side fin. “Then the whole circus started again. It went a 100ft in front of the dinghy but this time it came straight at the dinghy and was pushing a bow wave and I just thought, ‘Ohh, I have to get out of here.’ I started the outboard. It started first time thankfully. I went a couple of kilometers, pulled up and grabbed my phone to tell a mate what had just happened and bloody hell, it’s on the move and coming at me again. I put the phone down and got the hell out of there. Further on, I came across a mate of mine who is also a pro fisherman. I pull over and he says, ‘You look like you’ve seen a White Pointer.’”
happen. “I have the up most respect for Pointers. If I ever got knocked off by one, I would be irate if they hunted it down. We play in their domain. That is our choice. Sometimes you are in the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s all there is to it. Bang, you’re gone.’ “Respect the ocean and respect what is in the ocean. Those big fish are in there for survival and it is their playground.” Any places you wouldn’t surf? “Ohhh well... you know... no, there probably isn’t. There is an island out from Port Lincoln. Great wave, sharkiest spot. There’s a few tuna farms only a mile away from the takeoff. The tuna guys will duck over after feeding the fish and tell us how many big ones are about just as we enter the water. We’re just like, ‘Righto, keep your eyes on the barrel, keep surfing.’” Have shark dives heightened Great White curiosity? “Those blokes go past me each day in summer when I’m fishing. They run an incredibly successful operation and provide an incredible experience for the divers that go down in the cage. As a surfer, you would have to be a fearless to ever want to do that. Once you have seen one that close, it is a much harder picture to put out of your mind when surfing. Everyone is different but surely seeing a 15-foot shark in attack mode must leave a lasting impression. That is a living dinosaur right there. “Have these dives played a part in the sharks’ curiosity in humans? Definitely so.”
We often hear of sharks mistaking us for prey? “Does prey look like a 13 foot dinghy with an outboard? He knew I was pulling fish and there was plenty of vibration on my line. He was inquisitive and then he became frustrated. It didn’t want the King George Whiting. It wanted me. I am not a disbeliever they will occasionally mistake you for prey. But I also believe that like anything that lives, they get hungry. If you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, they will eat you.” Have you had an encounter surfing?
Despite being pretty much numero uno in the ocean, Whites can fall victim to one other bad boy of the sea, the Orca. Search for “Shark Orca” on YouTube to see some Killer Whales with a penchant for white meat. The only species of shark protected in Australia is the Great White and the Grey Nurse.
“My favourite waves are up in The Great Australian Bight. Last autumn we got chased in. The boys and me are sitting on the bowl. There was 5 or 6 of us out there. I am sitting a bit wider than them. They have that look on their face. ‘Johno, we just seen one. 30 foot over there. It’s time to go in.’ “I was on the back of the pack thinking, ‘Why am I always on the back of the pack?’ The same thing happened the autumn before. When you see a fin in The Bight you generally know it is a fin of consequence. You go in and don’t stuff around. But as usual, there’s never a wave in sight when these things sep/oct 2011
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