Sharks have supposedly remained unchanged for some 250 million years. Humans are the Johnny come lately's especially since we are venturing more & more into their realm. Who knows what consequences there are from the noise, the pollution & general interference of the sharks' natural environment. Evolution is unpredictable & we just have to accept the consequences. Divers & swimmers have fallen victim to sharks but I do wonder if surfers are particularly vulnerable due their large numbers & sharks are beginning to sus them out.
Perhaps humans are unwittingly conditioning the large predators ?

Here's an article exploring possible explanations for increased shark sightings and attacks in WA.

http://www.coastalwatch.com/news/article.aspx?articleId=9660

Runner writes...."Greens are likely to be happy that the tourism industry in the West will suffer greatly due to our reluctance to cull killers. Sharks are also a good food source for humans ( at least for those not idiotic enough to believe that our ancestors came from the water)......Yes we are happy in many ways, like how they love to eat religious people most of all. Every time I hear a religious person getting munched on by the planets wild life, it makes me wonder where their all protecting god is:)

( Runner!...want some irony:).....the victim was a Christian:)....

Sharks are very important creatures for many reasons and not just for the frying pan like some think. Hasbeen being country land lover, wouldn't know a shark from a mullet, and just knowing the business end of a cow, doesn't make you any expert except in bullsh!T:)

Runner, I wouldn't use words your brain has no chance in understanding how the planet and you really got here, so put a sock in it:)

Has for the rest of your mumbo jumbo, if one enters the animal kingdom thinking I'll just be fine cause god will protect me, think again......lol

Oh dear.....lol

cc

It's an interesting idea. I'm afraid I can't find my sources, but I've read on a couple of occasions that shark attacks tend to be 'investigations' rather than 'dining'. That's why victims are rarely fully devoured - just given a good munch and let go. The sharks want to know what this thing in the water is (according to the theory). They want to know if it is good to eat. They taste it, decide it's not so great and swim on. Sadly, with their many teeth, their 'sampling' often has devastating consequences for the rejected meal.

http://tinyurl.com/76cnv8a

So basically Otokonoko, your quite correct. Humans as these really old creatures don't know, we don't taste as their instincts tells after they have had their first bite.
Rehubs theory is wrong...he writes.."My point is, that the spate of attacks in WA may mean that these sharks have worked out that these seals (surfers) don't swim very fast and as such are easy to catch and make a cheap meal....Humans are, when one looks at the time clock, which we arrived in the last 2 sec of the 24 hour model which this is based upon. When it comes to shark smarts, the Great White is really dumb. Tiger sharks come in at a close second, and it goes down accordingly. I have dived under surfers ( as one myself ) and I've seen reef sharks, black tips etc..right under them, and the surfers above, have had no idea whats under them. There's only three sharks that will have ago at you.

1..is the bull-shark.

2..the tiger-shark...

and three, is the Great White.

All of us must understand, these animals are 100's of millions of years old, and when you go into their world, your rules don't count.

Now, there are 7 billion of us invading territories only some understand, and in knowing that, please be very careful.......because you wont get a second chance.

They have a right to be here, so to cull is out of the Question.

Understanding is the key, not revenge.

RIP for the young man.....and I'll light one candle in respect.

c

Otokonoko, what you say is correct to a certain extent, however, the sharks you are referring to are usually Bull Sharks, and they are in fact responsible for most deaths.

However, Seals are not bull sharks staple food, whereas they are when it comes to Great Whites, which often eat the humans they attack.

Surfers with their board (under belly) and their arms and legs paddling (flippers) look similar to a seal from beneath.

Plant. You say my theory is wrong.

Well firstly, you are entitled to your opinion, however, surfers have been surfing for a hundred odd years, so how do you explain the increase in attacks in recent years?

Sharks are not dumb, like most animals, they learn over time.

As for your crack at has been, may I suggest that some of the nature programs are very informative and even farmers have access to quality television.

Finally, whaler sharks, hammer heads, even wobbly gongs are guilty of attacks on humans.

Perhaps it's you who should do your research before shooting someone down.

There is a very good doco on great whites, shot in South Africa, where they drag a rubber seal behind a boat.

What happens to this dummy is amazing as it gets attached again and again, simply because it looks like a seal.

In another one, great whites have learned to patrol a narrow channel, which is the only escape rout for seals, under attack from killer whales.

It proves to me that they do learn, as they don't do this elsewhere.

BTW, they only patrol this channel during breeding season.