HeartsforSharks Supports Removing Shark Nets on the Gold Coast

  • by: HeartsforSharks
  • recipient: Queensland Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries
Every year, large numbers of marine life from whales to dolphins, sharks, rays and turtles are trapped and killed in shark nets.  Shark nets are an ineffective way of deterring marine life from beaches and should be removed.  I support taking down the shark nets on the Gold Coast
To All Who Live On This Blue Planet,
We the undersigned support the removal of the Gold Coast Shark Nets. Rather than saving swimmers from the unlikely event of a shark attack, these nets are trapping & killing a wide variety of marine life each year. 
From 2000 - 2008 GOLD COAST SHARK NETS ALONE entangled 10 Bottlenose Dolphins, 57 Common Dolphins, 7 Spinner Dolphins, 122 Cownose Rays, 19 Eagle Rays,  29 Shovelnosed Rays, 16 Green Turtles, 5 Leatherback Turtles, 75 Loggerhead Turtles, 1 Olive Ridley Turtle, 19 Humpback Whales, 23 Manta Rays & 2 Marlin (Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries).  
In the last 25 years over 30,000 sharks died unnecessarily due to Queensland Shark Nets. Last year (2009-2010) GOLD COAST shark nets trapped 258 Whalers, 49 Hammerhead Sharks, and 48 other sharks including Tiger Sharks, Great Whites and the critically endangered Grey Nurse Shark.
Every year 73-100 million sharks are killed while deaths resulting from shark attacks average between 5-10 people globally.  There are many places in the world where swimmers, divers, surfers & snorkellers cruise freely through the ocean without the 'safety' of shark nets.  Shark nets are not needed on the Gold Coast because sharks are not mindless man-eating killers and we are not on their menu.  The few attacks that do occur are usually a case of mistaken identity, occurring at dawn or dusk in low visibility areas.  
Sharks and other marine life are the ones who need protecting.  Shark nets are harming our marine life. Please remove them from our beaches.
Thank you for your time
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