Will nets halt South Africa's shark attacks?

By Karen Allen, BBC News, Cape Town 

You can smell them before you see them: a 20-minute boat ride out to sea from South Africa's coast takes you to False Bay, home to a huge colony of seals. 

It is one of the key attractions for visitors to the Western Cape - a quarter of a million British visitors holiday here every year. 

But the region is also important territory for one of the most feared predators of the deep - the great white shark. 

Within minutes of our boat coming to rest, a 3.5m beast emerges from the depths below and picks off an injured seal. 

This is nature: raw and real. 

It feels even more raw and real being hoisted down in a small metal cage to take a closer look. 

These vast creatures demand respect and, despite their serrated teeth, which are replenished at an astonishingly efficient rate, they are also misunderstood. 

Continued: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22387564

Surfer 'ripped apart'

Cape Town - A surfer was killed by a massive 4-5m shark near Gordon’s Bay in the Western Cape on Thursday, paramedics. 

The surfer, believed to be in his 20s, went out surfing with a group of friends at Dappat se Gat, a surf spot near Gordon’s Bay also known as “Caves”. 

However, the NSRI's Craig Lambinon said that the man was a bodyboarder who went out with his brother. 

The man had various chest injuries and his body was apparently ripped apart. 

The surfer’s leg is still in the water, with members of the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) trying to access the rest of the surfer’s corpse.

Lambinon told News24 they saw the surfer’s body when they arrived on the scene.

“People on the coastal side of False Bay must be cautious,” Lambinon warned.
 
Lambinon confirmed that the shark was 4-5m long and is possibly a Great White. He could also only confirm that one shark was involved in the attack. Paramedics said that they believed two sharks were involved.


http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Sharks-rip-surfer-apart-20120419