Five people have died at a previously safe South African surfing beach, writes BILL CORCORANin Port St Johns
THE BREATHTAKING scenery surrounding Second Beach in Port St Johns, a small fishing village in South Africa’s rural Eastern Cape, disguises the disquieting reality that its warm, inviting waters are increasingly viewed as the world’s deadliest for shark attacks.
The latest fatality to give credence to Second Beach’s unenviable title took place last Sunday when local surfer Lungisani Msungubali (25) became the fifth person to die in a shark attack at the popular beach since 2007.
According to eyewitnesses, Msungubali was in waist-deep water when the nightmare scenario began to unfold. He fought with the shark for a number of minutes, apparently using his surfboard as a shield against repeated strikes, before being pulled to the shore by lifeguards and a fellow surfer.
The deceased man sustained “multiple traumatic lacerations” to his torso, arms and legs, John Costello, station commander for the National Sea Rescue Institute in Port St Johns, said in a statement afterwards.
The attack on Msungubali occurred a year to the day after teenage surfer Zama Ndamase was killed while out surfing Second Beach’s famous waves.
In January 2007 missing lifeguard Sibulele Masiza was presumed eaten by a shark after his flippers were found on the beach badly damaged by teeth marks, while a further three attacks – two of which were fatal – on two lifeguards and a surfer took place in 2009.
Local guest-house owner Michael Gatcke, who was at a remembrance service for Ndamase when the attack occurred, told local reporters last Monday: “We’re probably the most unsafe beach in the world at the moment.”
The world-renowned KwaZulu Natal Sharks Board has begun to investigate why Second Beach, which had no recorded attacks prior to 2007, has suddenly become a shark attack hot spot. They plan to catch sharks and fit acoustic tags and receivers – among other things – to try and ascertain what is going on.
Scientists say the attackers are most likely the feared Zambezi sharks, which are common in the area and known as the “pit bulls” of the ocean due to their aggressive behaviour. They also have a propensity to attack in shallow water.
But no findings have been released yet, so at this point there are only theories among scientists and the traumatised community as to why a beach once considered safe from such apex predators has seen a surge in aggressive attacks.
Last year after Ndamase’s death, Costello said that although sharks were prevalent in the area, “something has made them change their behaviour . . . We have to discover the trigger mechanism that is causing them to investigate new food sources.”
In June of last year I was staying near Port St Johns for a few days with my wife and was keen to talk to locals about the mystery surrounding the attacks at Second Beach, as I am a keen surfer, and the theories offered centred on human intervention.
Some believed the lure of blood from abattoirs on the banks of the river that feeds into Second Beach were to blame, while others suggested that ceremonial animal sacrifices by traditional healers on the beach might also be a contributing factor.
There were even some who whispered that a curse cast by a local witch doctor on surfers and lifesavers, the only victims, was responsible.
However, the experts are less convinced by the blood and curse theories.
Last April Stephen Lambert, a scientist with the South African Shark Conservancy who has researched the behaviour of the Zambezi sharks, told the country’s main surfing magazine, ZigZag, that a change in the sharks’ behaviour may not be to blame. Rather, there could be a shift southwards in the sharks’ natural territorial range. This could be part of a long-term environmental cycle brought on by climate change, or due to declining fish stocks and habitat loss, or both.
All the attacks since 2007 have taken place in December or January – except one, which occurred in March – and this is also prime beach season in South Africa, when hundreds of thousands of people flock to the ocean over the southern hemisphere’s summer holidays.
It has also been speculated that the noise thousands of surfers and swimmers make in the water along the coastline may be a contributing factor in terms of attracting the sharks closer to shore.
In addition, the rivers in the region have become very dirty, with less oxygen, in recent years. This leads to fewer fish for hungry sharks to feed on, so they turn to other food sources.
Join the dots, anyone?