leslie hempel
Professional Aquarist
By Bronwynne Jooste, Murray Williams and Kowthar Solomons
Staff Reporters
The shark alarm was sounded along the False Bay coast soon after 9am today and authorities closed beaches from Strandfontein to Glencairn after a man was killed in a shark attack yesterday.
The attack, believed to have been by a great white shark, has added urgency to talks already under way between shark researchers and the City of Cape Town over a proposal to introduce real-time monitoring of the activity of tagged sharks in False Bay.
Meanwhile, shark researchers took to the water this morning to try to find the shark that attacked Lloyd Skinner, 37.
Several bathers at Fish Hoek beach ignored the flags alerting them to sharks in the area, enjoying their usual early morning swim. Lifeguards and city law enforcement officials were kept busy asking people to get out of the water.
The lifeguards came on duty at 7am today instead of their usual 10am start and will remain on duty until 6pm.
Fish Hoek resident Duncan Temple-Forbes said today that the incident had made him wary, but added that he would continue to swim at the beach.
Another, Jo Cullingworth, said residents were still in shock.
A lifeguard, who declined to be named, described yesterday's attack.
"I saw the fin. I stood up and saw it do a 360 and then it spun around. It took the guy under.
"The shark's tail came out of the water. It was a big animal."
He alerted the other lifeguards by shouting "Shark, shark!" and then frantically ran from his tower on the beach into the surf.
"I was shouting: 'Shark,shark!' These bathers were about 15m away and not seeing what was happening.
"Then it was over. There was this pool of blood in the water."
Police spokesman November Filander said Skinner, a Zimbabwean on holiday, was swimming 100m from shore at 3.15pm when he was attacked by the shark.
Yesterday witnesses said the shark had attacked from a bend near the shore, a spot where they are regularly sighted.
Low visibility in the water had made it impossible for Skinner to react until it was too late.
After the initial attack, the shark had appeared to head back into deeper water, only to attack for a second time, lifeguards and other witnesses said.
Witness Kathy Geldenhuys said she had seen "what looked like a 5m shark rising from the water" and biting Skinner.
She described the water at the site of attack as "stained with blood".
Geldenhuys said she had started screaming "Shark!" and other swimmers had immediately got out of the water.
National Sea Rescue Institute's Ian Klopper led a team of lifeguards, three small vessels and a helicopter as they searched the shallows for the body.
The search continued at first light today.
"We have cancelled the air and sea search as it is no longer a search but a recovery.
"We are patrolling the beach," Klopper said.
Alison Kock, the white shark project leader with the Save Our Seas Foundation and Shark Spotters, said: "The Fish Hoek area is a home to the sharks so it wouldn't be uncommon for a shark sighting, especially during this season.
"Over the past weekend alone, we recorded 19 shark sighting between Muizenberg and Kalk Bay.
"Only one of those sightings was reported in Fish Hoek."
The poor visibility in the water had prevented the shark spotters from seeing the animal.
The last fatal shark attack in Fish Hoek was in November 2004 when Tyna Webb, 77, was killed by a shark after swimming 60m off Jagger Walk.
Professor Evan Gilbert, a former senior lecturer in finance at UCT's Graduate School of Business, said Skinner, an MBA student in 2003, had been a quiet, dedicated person.
Meanwhile, sophisticated monitoring equipment is to be discussed again soon in earnest between shark experts and the City of Cape Town. - Additional reporting by Jade Witten
Staff Reporters
The shark alarm was sounded along the False Bay coast soon after 9am today and authorities closed beaches from Strandfontein to Glencairn after a man was killed in a shark attack yesterday.
The attack, believed to have been by a great white shark, has added urgency to talks already under way between shark researchers and the City of Cape Town over a proposal to introduce real-time monitoring of the activity of tagged sharks in False Bay.
Meanwhile, shark researchers took to the water this morning to try to find the shark that attacked Lloyd Skinner, 37.
Several bathers at Fish Hoek beach ignored the flags alerting them to sharks in the area, enjoying their usual early morning swim. Lifeguards and city law enforcement officials were kept busy asking people to get out of the water.
The lifeguards came on duty at 7am today instead of their usual 10am start and will remain on duty until 6pm.
Fish Hoek resident Duncan Temple-Forbes said today that the incident had made him wary, but added that he would continue to swim at the beach.
Another, Jo Cullingworth, said residents were still in shock.
A lifeguard, who declined to be named, described yesterday's attack.
"I saw the fin. I stood up and saw it do a 360 and then it spun around. It took the guy under.
"The shark's tail came out of the water. It was a big animal."
He alerted the other lifeguards by shouting "Shark, shark!" and then frantically ran from his tower on the beach into the surf.
"I was shouting: 'Shark,shark!' These bathers were about 15m away and not seeing what was happening.
"Then it was over. There was this pool of blood in the water."
Police spokesman November Filander said Skinner, a Zimbabwean on holiday, was swimming 100m from shore at 3.15pm when he was attacked by the shark.
Yesterday witnesses said the shark had attacked from a bend near the shore, a spot where they are regularly sighted.
Low visibility in the water had made it impossible for Skinner to react until it was too late.
After the initial attack, the shark had appeared to head back into deeper water, only to attack for a second time, lifeguards and other witnesses said.
Witness Kathy Geldenhuys said she had seen "what looked like a 5m shark rising from the water" and biting Skinner.
She described the water at the site of attack as "stained with blood".
Geldenhuys said she had started screaming "Shark!" and other swimmers had immediately got out of the water.
National Sea Rescue Institute's Ian Klopper led a team of lifeguards, three small vessels and a helicopter as they searched the shallows for the body.
The search continued at first light today.
"We have cancelled the air and sea search as it is no longer a search but a recovery.
"We are patrolling the beach," Klopper said.
Alison Kock, the white shark project leader with the Save Our Seas Foundation and Shark Spotters, said: "The Fish Hoek area is a home to the sharks so it wouldn't be uncommon for a shark sighting, especially during this season.
"Over the past weekend alone, we recorded 19 shark sighting between Muizenberg and Kalk Bay.
"Only one of those sightings was reported in Fish Hoek."
The poor visibility in the water had prevented the shark spotters from seeing the animal.
The last fatal shark attack in Fish Hoek was in November 2004 when Tyna Webb, 77, was killed by a shark after swimming 60m off Jagger Walk.
Professor Evan Gilbert, a former senior lecturer in finance at UCT's Graduate School of Business, said Skinner, an MBA student in 2003, had been a quiet, dedicated person.
Meanwhile, sophisticated monitoring equipment is to be discussed again soon in earnest between shark experts and the City of Cape Town. - Additional reporting by Jade Witten
- This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Argus on January 13, 2010