Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za

3-minute read
09 March 2024 | 11:53 CAT

IMAGE: RENOWNED PHOTOGRAPHERS CHRIS AND MONIQUE FALLOWS

Urgent conservation action is required to save South Africa’s declining population of white sharks. This is the warning by a Stellenbosch University research team, with white sharks now seldom seen in areas where they once thrived.

The concerned marine biologists, who specialize in shark ecology, genetics, and fisheries, also criticized the misleading narrative of why there were now fewer than ten white shark sightings a year in the Western Cape.

They are urging authorities to take a precautionary approach considering the decline in white shark sightings from their historical hotspots.

Dr Enrico Gennari, Director of the Oceans Research Institute and lead author of an article titled “Decline or shifting Distribution” published in the open-access journal Ecological Indicators, underscored the urgency with Radio Islam International.

While the white shark is a species many people fear, Dr Gennari pointed out that these majestic animals are important for the ocean and all who rely on it, including fishermen and ecotourism operators.

“The white shark is an important species and also a symbol of a South Africa fighter for consideration. In 1991, South Africa was the first country in the world to protect the white shark,” he pointed out.

According to Dr Gennari, the protection was not based on full scientifically proven data but on a precautionary approach. It was realized that the white shark is important not only for the ocean but also for the South African economy.

A group of marine biologists has challenged the findings of a recent study, which suggested that South Africa’s white shark population has not decreased but simply redistributed eastward to flee predation from orcas.

Dr Gennari says they felt obliged to raise these concerns given their implications for management: “If the white shark population is stable, there is no need for concern. However, if the declines in white shark sightings seen in former hotspots are actually representative of the population, then conservation action is urgently needed.”

Firstly, they raise two objections regarding the claim that South Africa’s white shark population has migrated eastwards. The first objection has to do with the presentation of the two datasets in the 2023 study, and that one cannot infer that an increase in the number of shark sightings in one spot, in this case, Algoa Bay, is directly comparable to a reduction in shark sightings in another place, such as False Bay. “Putting it simply, a decrease of let’s say 80% from 100 individuals at location A cannot be the same as a 80% increase from 10 individuals at location B,” Dr Gennari comments.

The current data do not suggest that orcas are the primary driver of the decline in white sharks observed in the Western Cape.

Listen to the full interview on The Daily Round Up with Muallimah Annisa Esscak.