Great White Fight: Fishermen Fend Off Shark

Two spear fishermen have managed to fend off a great white shark when it confronted them off Western Australia.

Nathan Podmore and his friend Dave Richards were 50 metres from their boat when the Great White started circling them, near Geraldton, north of Perth.

Luckily they managed to scare if off after prodding it in the gills with their spears.

In amateur footage of the incident posted on YouTube, Mr Podmore describes how he gave the shark a "good whack" to fight it off.

"It came straight at us, it looked like a torpedo, it was massive," he said.

Last week, a surfer killed by a great white near Wedge Island, just south of where the fishermen’s close encounter happened.

Benjamin Linden, 24, was bitten in two in the attack , which reignited the debate over whether great whites should remain a protected species.

Mr Linden's death was the fifth such fatality in the region in less than a year.

video at: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/great-white-fight-fishermen-fend-off-shark-125548899.html

Hunt continues for shark that killed WA surfer Benjamin Linden

A SEARCH-and-destroy mission is continuing for a great white shark up to five metres long that killed a surfer off Western Australia's southwest coast.

 WA's Department of Fisheries says beaches remain closed along the popular surfing stretch, about 160km north of Perth, while a boat scours the ocean for the shark that killed Perth man Benjamin Charles Linden, 24.

The young man was surfing with a mate about 100m from shore, 4km south of Wedge Island, on Saturday when he was attacked by what was described as a "massive" white pointer at about 9am (WST).

Mr Linden was the fifth person killed by a shark off WA's southwest coast in less than a year.

His remains have yet to be recovered.

Fisheries Department shark response unit spokesman Tony Cappelluti told AAP a boat was grid-searching the area with orders to capture and kill the fish.

"At this point in time we're basically looking for the shark, and if there are any remains found we'll involve the police," Mr Cappelluti said.

"Permission was given yesterday to capture and destroy a shark if it was believed to have been the one responsible.

"If something is in the 4-5m vicinity and it's a white shark - which is the description we've got from witnesses - you make the assumption that it could be the same shark."

However, Mr Cappelluti admitted the likelihood of capturing the shark, which was last sighted swimming out into deeper water, was slim.

Read on:  http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/hunt-continues-for-shark-that-killed-wa-surfer-benjamin-linden/story-e6frg6nf-1226426489915?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheAustralianTheNationNews+%28The+Australian+%7c+The+Nation%29

Killer bees kill mother of 8 in Guyana

A mother of eight has died in the South American country of Guyana after she was attacked by a swarm of Africanized bees.

Police said Friday that 47-year-old Munia Sanchara was attacked while picking mangoes from a tree at her house in the coastal community of Cane Grove. Police said she was declared dead after arriving at a hospital in the capital of Georgetown.

Guyana has reported several fatal bee attacks in recent years.

Africanized bees from South Africa were introduced to Brazil in the late 1950s for a crossbreeding program and some accidentally were let loose.

http://www.3news.co.nz/Killer-bees-kill-mother-of-8-in-Guyana/tabid/1160/articleID/244212/Default.aspx

Croc killed Cairns spear fisherman

The Northern Coroner's Office has confirmed the fatal injuries suffered by Cairns spear fisher David Fordson earlier this month were caused by a "large estuarine crocodile".

The advice prompted warnings for boaties and divers to take extra precautions when visiting coastal Cape York this summer with crocodiles being spotted well offshore and at popular mooring sites.

In a statement, a coroner’s spokesperson said a post-mortem examination had been carried out during which police had sought specialist opinion from experts in crocodile and shark behaviour.

Mr Fordson, 49, was skipper of the cargo barge Torres Starservicing the Cairns to Thursday Island route when, ahead of schedule, they stopped to fish at the remote Cairncross Island group.

The alarm was raised when Mr Fordson failed to return to the vessel and his body was found in the early hours of December 6, with injuries initially thought to be from either a crocodile or a shark.

Underwater filmmaker and experienced boatie Ben Cropp has spent many years travelling the Cape York coastline and said he had noticed increasing numbers of crocodiles in the area.

Early summer is mating season for the animals, when the males are wandering further afield and looking for a female.

"On a recent trip we saw a lot of crocodiles and croc tracks all the way down the coast, and crocodiles at every offshore 
island we went to," he said.

"We’re talking six or eight miles out … on one little sand cay we saw three crocodiles, with three big tiger sharks in the shallows.

"These look like lovely places to moor but they are actually very, very dangerous, and Bushy Cay (where Mr Fordson was attacked) is only about three miles off the coast so it’s a lot closer to shore."

Mr Cropp said over the past seven years he had frequently seen a 3.5m crocodile lying on the sand at Bushy Cay.

http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2011/12/23/197701_local-news.html

Polar bear kills British tourist in Norway attack

A tourist thought to belong to the British Schools Exploring Society has been killed by a polar bear in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard in Norway. Four others belonging to the same party and believed to be British have been 'severely injured' in the bear attack.

The attack happened this morning and the victims were rushed to Svalbard capital Lonyearbyen, about 25 miles away.

The four survivors were said to be 'severely injured' and were set to be flown in air ambulances to University Hospital in Tromso.

The British Schools Exploring Society, based in Kensington, London, could not comment today but it was believed that a statement may be made later.

The Svalbard Governor issued a warning earlier this year about polar bears after several were seen close to Longyearbyen.

Svalbard-based restaurant manager Sandra Swresser told The Guardian website: 'It's very sad. We have had attacks before. It happened a year ago when a Norwegian man was attacked. As it was early in the morning I can only suppose the bear attacked them because it was looking for food.'

Another Svalbard resident, Liv Rose Flygel, 55, told The Guardian: 'It's not been the first time. Last summer a man was attacked by a polar bear and there have also been attacks on a man from Austria and a girl. Only the man in the attack last summer survived. He was taken in the mouth of the bear and his friend ran after it and shot it.

'The problem is, when the ice goes, the bears lose their way and cannot catch food. People don't really how dangerous they are. One came down to the sea recently and people were running down to take pictures.'

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/871484-polar-bear-kills-british-tourist-in-norway-attack#ixzz1UA021vAL