Recently The West Australian newspaper and the Liberal Member for Vasse, Libby Mettam, attempted to paint a picture that the State Government’s subsidy scheme for shark repellents, specifically built for surfboards, had somehow failed. In fact, the headline referred to surfers supposedly shunning the Freedom+ device.
They failed to mention that the subsidy had only been available for three months.
However, there is no denying, that although it is encouraging to hear from Fisheries Minister Dave Kelly that; “In the South West [alone] at least 36 surfers have purchased a surfer-specific device ...” there hasn’t exactly been a stampede from surfers to invest in this technology.
Ocean Guardian’s chief executive Lindsay Lyon who is responsible for the manufacture of the Freedom+ device admitted he was stumped why surfers weren’t taking to the device and like most reasonable people would want to understand why.
Being responsible for the multiple rallies globally against the Western Australian shark cull, I raised this direct question on social media. The response was quite eye-opening. Some surfers felt that the risk was still too small, some felt that the cost was still too prohibitive despite the subsidy and others just felt that the device wasn’t cool or it was to cumbersome.
I remember being a kid and being told that I had to limit the freedom of the wind blowing through my hair as I rode my bike and instead I had to wear the dreaded Stackhat. It was dirty orange, ugly and inhibiting. I hated it. But for my parents it was a non-negotiable part of riding a bike and the freedom that went with it. The Stackhat was promoted by State Governments across Australia and even though it wasn’t yet compulsory to wear a bike helmet, something in me recognized that it was for my own good, for I wore the damned thing regardless of my deep loathing of it. And in 1988 I realized the great importance of the Stackhat when my dear friend Amanda was knocked off her bike by a vehicle, while riding along the main road of Kingsley in Perth, Western Australia. Her injuries were surmountable, but by far her head injuries were the worst, requiring around 28 stitches, inside and outside her skull. My mother was one of the first on the scene, and by all accounts it was horrific to see. Amanda survived the ordeal without any major issues, but the extent of some her injuries could have been completely avoidable had she been wearing a Stackhat.
Australia was the first country to make wearing bicycle helmets mandatory in the 1990’s and as teenagers, we were mocked by our global peers.
Five years prior to the introduction of mandatory laws regarding bicycle helmets, parliamentary recommendations regarding their use were made. But according to a 1987 report regarding head injuries to children riding bicycles, the majority of children aged over seven years old were opposed to the idea, despite the best efforts of the Federal Office of Road Safety to persuade children otherwise through the use of Molly Meldrum in this television commercial.
But by 1989, an officially-commissioned survey showed that public support for bicycle helmets was 92% for children and 83% for all riders. Opposition was fragmented, ineffective and no major cycling groups opposed them.
Today, as in discussions regarding seat belts and car accidents, whenever there are reports of head injuries in cyclists, the public, generally saddened by the report, will shrug their shoulders and will reason that the person should have been wearing a bike helmet.
It appears the Freedom+ is on a similar path as the Stackhat. The technology has been proven extensively to reduce shark encounters and is supported by scientists and the Western Australian State Government alike. However, it isn’t cool. But an added complexity is the price; it isn’t cheap either (hence the Government subsidy).
But what bothers me, is when vocal surfers of Western Australia demand that the Government “do something” and ask what price “they” put on a life when advocating for SMART drum lines, but are not willing to consider the exact same question when it comes to a device scientifically proven to reduce shark encounters. In fact these surfers would prefer a measure that has no scientific evidence of reducing shark encounters over and above an option that does. It makes no sense.
Shark Management Alert in Real Time (SMART) drum lines are still undergoing a trial in New South Wales where just this year, an attack in February took place at Kiama Beach and a shark interaction took place in April at Lennox Point; both beaches are part of the NSW drum lines trial.
Until we rip away the security blanket and face the reality of personal responsibility in terms of shark safety, instead of requesting Governments solve everything, we are only going to see measures installed that only placate the vocal minority at the huge expense of taxpayers, instead of actually saving lives. The failed Northern New South Wales two-year shark net trial is an example of this.
Sharks live in the ocean and play an important role in keeping oceans healthy, which is of huge benefit to society as a whole. Once everyone can agree that as a result we need to respect rather than fear sharks, only then can a mature discussion take place. Perhaps then, surfers in south-west Western Australia will stop removing safety signs at beaches advising of shark activity because they don’t personally want to be reminded of sharks before going for a surf.
This debate is greater than the individual, but it does require responsible personal decisions. No pumping wave is worth the risk of life when the beach is closed and if your decision is to go out anyway, perhaps we need to get to a point whereby we are saddened by the news of the potential shark encounter, but shrug our shoulders and reason that the person should have taken personal safety precautions.
The reality is that Governments can not fix stupidity, no matter what attempts they make to increase shark safety. Warning signs, closed beaches, shark medical kits and devices like Freedom+ are all available now. But perhaps we need to wait another five years, when, like the Stackat, it is overwhelmingly supported by the public, or the Government makes personal shark repellents in surfboards mandatory.