Struggling to feel safe in the water again? There was another attack on a Ballina Surfer
People love the water and love to do activities that involve being in the water. Or sometimes they just like to be on the beach near the water. What people do not like is sharks and worrying about shark attacks – most people are beyond terrified of sharks and the harm that they can do. It seems as though in recent years shark attacks have been on the rise and subsequent fears of them have risen as a result.
Many people are wary of entering the waters where they feel they are no match for any shark that they may encounter there. Well, lately things seem to be calming down and there have not been many reports of shark attacks, but a recent one has people worried all over again.
The other morning a teenager was surfing in Ballina and was able to escape death from a shark attack, though he did suffer injuries. As a result, there are many people who are calling for the placement of shark nets along the NSW coastline.
Fortunately, the young surfer did make it out okay, and there are pictures of him smiling in his hospital bed, happy to be alive having survived the potentially fatal shark attack. His friends and family are so happy that he was able to make it out okay and are comparing him to other surfers and water enthusiasts who have similarly escaped the grip of what could have been a very dangerous attack.
He had a fairly grisly injury which his friends took pictures of and posted on social media, but it was certainly not life threatening and he was definitely in great spirits about the whole ordeal.
While the teenager who was attacked, Cooper Allen, is in very high spirits following his attacks, he seems to be the only one who feels that way. There is a significant number of people who are now afraid of what could happen in the upcoming summer months if the shark attacks become more prevalent. People are scared that if there are a lot of sharks in the area, there will be more attacks on humans. Not all of the people who meet a shark will have the same luck as Cooper Allen and might suffer life-threatening injuries.
It seems that many people do not even want to enter the water and certainly do not feel comfortable with their loved ones entering the water. There are just way too many unknown factors regarding the presence of these sharks. Last year there were about a dozen shark attacks reported, which really had people worried. Also, there were three Great White sharks that were seen along the coast not long after the attack on Cooper Allen. This has left people uneasy, as they do not know just how many sharks they are and just how dangerous the waters are going to be for the rest of the season. It could change a lot of people’s outdoor plans for the summer months, which often involve being in the water or at the beach.
The Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has stated that she is prepared to work with the NSW government to protect people from any more shark attacks that could potentially occur in those waters. She further stated that she would definitely work with the government and work to extend the drum lines and shark nets so that they will be near the beach and protect people from any potential shark attacks.
The nets would be a great way to keep a number of unwanted sharks out of the water in the area and will serve as essentially a protective barrier so that the water will be much safer for people. It is hard to completely assure that there will be no sharks at all anywhere in the area. However, any effort is better than nothing at removing the significant number of sharks that are coming into the area.
This is certainly something that needs to be worked on if the government wants the people to use the beaches and the water. This could hurt tourism or have a negative affect on the overall quality of life as many people are just too scared to go near the water.
If you look at the actual numbers, shark attacks are not something that should be a primary concern for most people because they are relatively infrequent compared to other types of accidents. But they are so scary and people feel as though they have so little control that whenever they happen, as well as having a lot of media attention on them. Often there will be a call by the community to do something to protect the waters and the people that are in them from any further potential shark attacks.
This is something that brings about a disproportionate amount of fear in people. Nonetheless, the fear is still very present and very palpable; it often does receive a fairly swift response from officials in charge so that people do not completely panic.