Editing Shark attack (section)

== Prevention ==
{{Main|Shark attack prevention}}

=== Reducing the risks ===
General advice to reduce risks of being bitten by a shark include:<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-01-24 |title=Advice to Swimmers |url=https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/reduce-risk/swimmers/ |access-date=2022-07-03 |website=Florida Museum |language=en-US}}</ref>

* Staying in groups, as solitary individuals are more at risk of being bitten
* Only going in the water during the day
* Avoiding areas with a lot of fish or fishers
* Not wearing jewelry, which can create reflections like [[fish scale]]
* Avoiding splashes at the surface, because it makes sound which attracts sharks

=== Shark barrier ===

{{Main|Shark barrier}}

[[File:Coogee Beach gnangarra-215.jpg|thumb|[[Coogee, Western Australia|Coogee Beach]] shark barrier floats and jetty]]

A [[shark barrier]] (otherwise known as a "shark-proof enclosure" or "beach enclosure") is a seabed-to-surface protective barrier that is placed around a beach to separate people from sharks. Shark barriers form a fully enclosed swimming area that prevents sharks from entering.<ref name="abc.net.au">{{cite news|last=Meerman|first=Ruben|title=Shark nets |website=ABC Science|date=16 January 2009|url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2002/03/07/2116717.htm|access-date=5 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161129034201/http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2002/03/07/2116717.htm|archive-date=29 November 2016}}</ref> Shark barrier design has evolved from rudimentary fencing materials to netted structures held in place with buoys and anchors. Recent designs have used plastics to increase strength and versatility.

When deployed in sheltered areas, shark barriers offer complete protection and are seen as a more environmentally friendly option as they largely avoid bycatch. However, barriers are not effective on surf beaches because they usually disintegrate in the swell. Thus, barriers are normally constructed only around sheltered areas such as harbour beaches.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-22/fact-file-protecting-people-from-shark-attacks/5164882|date=5 January 2015|title=Fact File: Protecting people from shark attacks|website=ABC News}}</ref>

=== Shark nets ===
{{Main|Shark net}}
In [[Australia]] and [[South Africa]], shark nets are used to reduce the risk of shark attack. Since 1936, shark nets have been used off Sydney beaches.<ref name="Coastwatch-article">{{cite web |url=http://52.64.240.87/environment/20632/nick-carroll-on-beyond-the-panic-the-facts-about-shark-nets |title=Nick Carroll On-Beyond the Panic, The Facts about Shark Nets |first=Carroll |last=Nick |publisher=Coastal Watch |access-date=22 November 2016 |archive-date=5 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305002330/http://52.64.240.87/environment/20632/nick-carroll-on-beyond-the-panic-the-facts-about-shark-nets |url-status=dead }}</ref> Shark nets are currently installed at beaches in [[New South Wales]] and [[Queensland]]; 83 beaches are meshed in Queensland compared with 51 in New South Wales.<ref name="Coastwatch-article" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/4275374/beyond-the-panic-the-facts-about-shark-nets/|title=Beyond the panic: the facts about shark nets|publisher=Australian Community Media – Fairfax Media|date=8 November 2016|access-date=22 April 2017}}</ref> Since 1952, nets have been installed at numerous beaches in South Africa by the [[KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board]].<ref name="cullconserve" /><ref name="sharkangels" />

Shark nets do not offer complete protection but work on the principle of "fewer sharks, fewer attacks". They reduce occurrence via shark mortality. Reducing the local shark populations is believed to reduce the chance of an attack. Historical shark attack figures suggest that shark nets and drumlines markedly reduce the incidence of shark attack when regularly and consistently implemented.<ref name="Curtis-2012">{{cite web |url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260382789|title=Responding to the risk of white shark attack: updated statistics, prevention, control, methods and recommendation. Chapter 29 In: M. L. Domeier (ed). Global Perspectives on the Biology and Life History of the White Shark |author=Curtis |display-authors=etal |date=2012|publisher=CRC Press. Boca Raton, FL. |access-date=18 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-22/can-governments-protect-people-from-killer-sharks/5158880|title=Can governments protect people from killer sharks?|newspaper=ABC News|date=22 December 2013|access-date=22 April 2017}}</ref>

The downside of shark nets is that they result in bycatch, including threatened and endangered species.<ref name="cullconserve">{{cite web|url=https://briantissot.com/2015/08/20/shark-attacks-and-the-surfers-dilemma-cull-or-conserve/|title=Shark Attacks and the Surfer's Dilemma: Cull or Conserve?|date=21 August 2015|access-date=22 April 2017}}</ref> Between September 2017 and April 2018, 403 animals were killed in the nets in [[New South Wales]], including 10 critically endangered [[grey nurse shark]]s, 7 [[dolphin]]s, 7 [[green sea turtle]]s, and 14 [[great white shark]]s.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2018/08/04/sydney-shark-nets-set-stay-despite-drumline-success| title = Sydney shark nets set to stay despite drumline success {{!}} Swellnet Dispatch {{!}} Swellnet}} Swellnet.com. ''Sydney shark nets set to stay despite drumline success.'' Bruce Mackenzie. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2018.</ref> Between 1950 and 2008, 352 tiger sharks and 577 great white sharks were killed in the nets in New South Wales. Also during this period, 15,135 marine animals were killed in the nets, including [[whale]]s, [[turtle]]s, [[ray (fish)|rays]], [[dolphin]]s, and [[dugong]]s.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.marineconservation.org.au/pages/shark-culling.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181002102324/https://www.marineconservation.org.au/pages/shark-culling.html| url-status = dead| archive-date = 2018-10-02| title = Shark culling · Save our Sharks · Australian Marine Conservation Society}} Marineconservation.org.au. Shark culling (archived). Retrieved 2 December 2018.</ref> [[KwaZulu-Natal]]'s net program, operated by the [[KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board]], has killed more than 33,000 sharks in a 30-year period. During the same 30-year period, 2,211 turtles, 8,448 rays, and 2,310 dolphins were killed in KwaZulu-Natal.<ref name="sharkangels" />

Shark nets have been criticized by environmentalists, scientists, and conservationists, who assert that shark nets harm the [[marine ecosystem]].<ref name="sharkangels">http://www.sharkangels.org/index.php/media/news/157-shark-nets {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919132309/http://www.sharkangels.org/index.php/media/news/157-shark-nets |date=19 September 2018 }} ''Shark Nets.'' Sharkangels.org. Retrieved 18 September 2018.</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.sbs.com.au/news/nsw-govt-won-t-back-down-on-shark-nets| title = NSW govt won't back down on shark nets {{!}} SBS News}} ''NSW govt won't back down on shark nets.'' Sbs.com.au. Retrieved 18 September 2018.</ref><ref name="cullconserve" /> In particular, the current net program in [[New South Wales]] has been described as being "extremely destructive" to marine life.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.buzzfeed.com/elfyscott/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-australias-smart-drum| title = Here's What You Need To Know About Australia's SMART Drum Lines Being Used To Prevent Shark Attacks| website = [[BuzzFeed]]| date = 5 July 2018}}<br /> ''Here's What You Need To Know About Australia's SMART Drum Lines Being Used To Prevent Shark Attacks.'' Elfy Scott. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2018.</ref> Sharks are important to the ecosystem and killing them harms the ecosystem.<ref name="cullconserve" /><ref>{{cite web| url = https://eu.oceana.org/en/importance-sharks| title = The Importance of Sharks {{!}} Oceana Europe}} Eu.oceana.org. ''The Importance of Sharks in the Ecosystem.'' Retrieved 18 September 2018.</ref><ref name="Schetzer" />

=== Drum lines ===
{{Main|Drum line (shark control)}}

A [[Drum line (shark control)|drum line]] is an unmanned aquatic trap used to lure and capture large sharks using baited hooks. They are typically deployed near popular swimming beaches with the intention of reducing the number of sharks in the vicinity and therefore the probability of shark attack. Drum lines were first deployed to protect users of the marine environment from sharks in [[Queensland]], Australia in 1962. During this time, they were just as successful in reducing the frequency of shark attacks as were shark nets.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www2.dpi.qld.gov.au/extra/pdf/fishweb/sharksafetyreport.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140123173415/http://www2.dpi.qld.gov.au/extra/pdf/fishweb/sharksafetyreport.pdf|archive-date=23 January 2014|access-date=6 January 2017|title=A Report on the Queensland Shark Safety Program|date=March 2006|publisher=Queensland Government, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Curtis-2012" /><ref name="Dudley">{{cite journal|last1=Dudley|first1=S.F.J.|title=A comparison of the shark control programs of New South Wales and Queensland (Australia) and KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa)|journal=Ocean Coast Manag|volume=34|date=1997|issue=34|pages=1–27|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223563025|doi=10.1016/S0964-5691(96)00061-0|bibcode=1997OCM....34....1D }}</ref> More recently, drumlines have also been used with great success in [[Recife]], Brazil where the number of attacks has dropped by 97% when the drumlines are deployed.<ref>{{cite journal|title=A green strategy for shark attack mitigation off Recife, Brazil|first1=F. H. V.|last1=Hazin|first2=A. S.|last2=Afonso|date=1 August 2014|journal=Animal Conservation|volume=17|issue=4|pages=287–296|doi=10.1111/acv.12096|bibcode=2014AnCon..17..287H |hdl=10400.1/11160|s2cid=86034169 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> While shark nets and drum lines share the same purpose, drum lines are more effective at targeting the three sharks that are considered most dangerous to swimmers: the [[bull shark]], [[tiger shark]] and [[great white shark]].<ref name=Dudleyetal>{{cite journal |first1=Sheldon F.J.|last1=Dudley|first2=R.C.|last2=Haestier |last3=Cox|first3=K.R.|first4=M.|last4= Murray |title=Shark control: Experimental fishing with baited drumlines |journal=Marine and Freshwater Research|volume=49|issue=7|pages=653|date=January 1998|doi=10.1071/MF98026|bibcode=1998MFRes..49..653D }}</ref> [[Drum lines#Smart drumlines|SMART drumlines]] can also be used to move sharks, which greatly reduces mortality of sharks and [[bycatch]] to less than 2%.<ref name="NSW_Smart_Drumlines">{{cite web |title=NSW North Coast SMART drumline data |url=https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/sharks/management/smart-drumlines |website=NSW Government: Department of Primary Industries |access-date=4 December 2018}}</ref>

Drum lines result in [[bycatch]]. For example, in 2015 the non-profit organization Action for Dolphins said about Queensland's shark control program (which uses drum lines):

{{blockquote|"[Data] reveals the ecological carnage of [Queensland's] shark control regime. In total, more than 8,000 marine species with some level of protection status have been caught by the Queensland Shark Control Program, including 719 [[loggerhead turtle]]s, 442 [[manta ray]]s and 33 critically endangered [[hawksbill turtle]]s. More than 84,000 marine animals have been ensnared by drum-lines and shark nets since the program began in 1962 [...] Nearly 27,000 marine mammals have been snared. The state's shark control policy has captured over 5,000 [[turtle]]s, 1,014 [[dolphin]]s, nearly 700 [[dugong]]s and 120 [[whales]]."<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.afd.org.au/news-articles/queenslands-shark-control-program-has-snagged-84000-animals| title = Queensland's Shark Control Program Has Snagged 84,000 Animals, Latest news| date = 12 May 2023}} Action for Dolphins. ''Queensland's Shark Control Program Has Snagged 84,000 Animals.'' Thom Mitchell. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2018.</ref>}}

Drum lines have been criticized by environmentalists, conservationists and animal welfare activists, who have asserted that drum lines are unethical, non-scientific, and environmentally destructive. They also claim drum lines harm the marine ecosystem.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.ausmarinescience.com/marine-science-basics/marine-biology/sharks/| title = Sharks – Marine Science Australia}} ''Sharks – Marine Science Australia.'' Ausmarinescience.com. Retrieved 18 September 2018.</ref><ref name="ssqld">http://www.seashepherd.org.au/apex-harmony/overview/queensland.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823115901/http://www.seashepherd.org.au/apex-harmony/overview/queensland.html |date=23 August 2017 }} ''Queensland – Overview.'' Seashepherd.org.au. Retrieved 18 September 2018.</ref><ref>Calla Wahlquist (12 February 2015). {{cite web| url = https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/feb/12/was-serious-threat-shark-policy-condemned-by-senate| title = Western Australia's 'serious threat' shark policy condemned by Senate {{!}} Western Australia |work= The Guardian| date = 12 February 2015 }} ''"Western Australia's 'serious threat' shark policy condemned by Senate".'' Retrieved 18 September 2018</ref><ref>Carl Meyer (11 December 2013). {{cite web| url = http://theconversation.com/western-australias-shark-culls-lack-bite-and-science-21371| title = Western Australia's shark culls lack bite (and science)| date = 11 December 2013}} ''"Western Australia's shark culls lack bite (and science)"''. Theconversation.com. Retrieved 18 September 2018.</ref><ref name="Schetzer">Alana Schetzer (8 May 2017). {{cite web| url = http://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/sharks-how-a-cull-could-ruin-an-ecosystem| title = Sharks: How a cull could ruin an ecosystem {{!}} Pursuit by The University of Melbourne| date = 8 May 2017}} ''"Sharks: How a cull could ruin an ecosystem".'' Science Matters. University of Melbourne – via Pursuit. Retrieved 18 September 2018.</ref><ref>Chloe Hubbard (30 April 2017). {{cite web| url = https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/no-shark-cull-why-some-surfers-don-t-want-kill-n748141| title = No Shark Cull: Why Some Surfers Don't Want to Kill Great Whites Despite Lethal Attacks| website = [[NBC News]]| date = 30 April 2017}} ''"No Shark Cull: Why Some Surfers Don't Want to Kill Great Whites Despite Lethal Attacks".'' NBC News. Retrieved 18 September 2018.</ref>

=== Other protection methods ===

[[File:Signs warning of shark attacks at Boa Viagem Beach in Recife, Brazil.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Signs warning of shark attacks at [[Boa Viagem, Recife|Boa Viagem Beach]] in [[Recife]], [[Brazil]]]]

[[Beach patrol]]s and spotter aircraft are commonly used to protect popular swimming beaches. However aerial patrols have limited effectiveness in reducing shark attacks.<ref name="NSWGOV">{{cite web |url=http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/623400/Report-into-the-NSW-Shark-Meshing-Program.pdf |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20160616040059/http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/623400/Report-into-the-NSW-Shark-Meshing-Program.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 June 2016 |title=Report into the NSW Shark Meshing (Bather Protection) Program |last1=Green |first1=M. |last2=Ganassin |first2=C. |last3=Reid |first3=D. D. |publisher=State of New South Wales through NSW Department of Primary Industries |access-date=21 December 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Robbins |first=William D. |display-authors=etal |title=Experimental evaluation of shark detection rates by aerial observers.|journal=PLOS ONE |volume=9 |issue=2|date=2014|pages=e83456|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0083456|pmid=24498258 |pmc=3911894|bibcode=2014PLoSO...983456R |doi-access=free }}</ref> Other methods include shark tagging efforts and associated tracking and notification systems, capture and translocation of sharks to offshore waters, research into shark feeding and foraging behaviour,<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlQ3DYMQcB0| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/VlQ3DYMQcB0| archive-date=2021-11-18 | url-status=live|title=Thousands protest over shark cull in Australia|work=The Telegraph|location=UK|date=1 February 2014|access-date=5 January 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> public shark threat education programs and encouraging higher risk user groups, such as surfers, spear-fishers, and divers, to use personal shark protection technology.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.supportoursharks.com/Open_Letter_on_WA_Shark_Policy.pdf|title=Open letter to WA Government re: Proposal to use drum lines for shark population control and targeting of sharks entering protected beach|publisher=Support Our Sharks|access-date=5 January 2017|date=2013}}</ref>