Sharks still being spotted, tourists warned

December 18 2006 at 07:41PM

Though sightings are down from last year, great white sharks are still being spotted regularly off Cape Peninsula beaches, the City of Cape Town said on Monday.

In a statement issued as the peak holiday season got under way, the city said it wanted to provide visitors and residents with the most current information on shark activity.

"All beachgoers are reminded that we do have white sharks along our entire coastline with a distinct inshore coastal movement of the animals during the summer months," it said.

Since September 1, shark spotters at Muizenberg had recorded 30 sightings (a more than 65 percent drop from the same period in 2005) and Fish Hoek 21 (a drop of over 30 percent).

The drop was however likely to be only a short term variation.

In the two months that shark spotters had been operating on a daily basis on the Atlantic coastline, only one sighting had been recorded at Noordhoek and none at Long Beach Kommetjie.

Water users should remain cautious and practise "responsible and educated water use" by swimming, surfing or kayaking in areas where shark spotters or lifeguards were on duty, doing so in groups, and avoiding low light or bad water visibility conditions.

They should avoid going beyond the wave back line, and stay out when there was fish or bird activity.

The city's sport and recreation department had provided 30 shark attack emergency kits which had been distributed to key locations along the coast as well as to shark spotting teams.

Lifeguards were being supplied with personal electronic shark shields for use in rescues.

# For further information and updates visit
www.sharkspotters.org.za. - Sapa