Update

PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - A major hurdle in providing the Plett Shark Spotters with a financial lifeline to ensure its future existence was received last week when the Bitou Council agreed to provide the organisation with a grant of R800 000 per year for the next three years.

"The funding was a welcome breakthrough to cement Plett Shark Spotters' existence, but the hard work starts now to find the balance of its R2,4m budget," said Sarah Warries, CEO of Cape Shark Spotters, its mother organisation. 

Plett Shark Spotters was formed last year after two fatal shark attacks in Plettenberg Bay, one in July and the other in September, and its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is based on that of the Cape Town organisation.

"We are working hard to engage with local individuals and businesses to come on board as regular donors to the programme to ensure we can continue employing 14 locals from under-resourced communities in Plett, to keep our beaches safer," said Warries. "We have also submitted some international grant applications, but these have long turn-around times if we are successful, so they will not be able to assist this financial year."

Foundation has been laid

"The funding from Bitou is a great foundation for us to work from to raise additional funds," Warries said. "It is also a positive step forward as it gives Plett Shark Spotters a three-year mandate, meaning that we can now ensure stability and accountability for the shark bite mitigation programme in Plett going forward."

She said Shark Spotters, that turns 20 next year, has an international reputation for being pioneers and leaders in the field of sustainable shark safety.

"We are bringing these 20 years of experience to assist Plett in mitigating the negative repercussions of shark bites, which can be social, economic and environmental.

"We are also taking Plett to an international stage - I presented on it at the Southern African Shark and Ray Symposium last week and will be discussing Plett Shark Spotters at White Sharks Global in Australia next week."

Lots of positives

The Bitou grant means that Plett Shark Spotters can continue employing 14 locals from under-resourced communities. Since its inception it has completed 16 000 hours of spotting and has reached out to over 1 000 children with shark safety educational activities. It has recorded multiple observations of shark, whale, dolphin and fish species and collected data for scientific analysis.

Bitou Mayor Dave Swart expressed happiness at the resolution. "The Shark Spotters' programme is necessary to advise on bathers' safety to make them aware of any shark activity," he said in a statement released by Bitou Municipality. 

He said the council already funds the lifeguards working on the various beaches and the further funding of the programme is another way that the municipality is empowering locals.

"With the message going out that we have a safety programme in place that protects bathers, it makes anyone using our beaches, whether locals or tourists, feel safer."

A momentous achievement

In the Bitou statement, Warries said that this positive step comes at the same time as a commission statement on shark bite mitigations released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). 

"They do not recommend that people use lethal control anymore and [said] that they work towards non-lethal and sustainable methods. This is really great that Plett is joining world leaders in sustainable shark safety as per the IUCN directives."

In the statement, station commander of NSRI Plett Station 14 and chairperson of the shark action committee Jaco Kruger lauded everyone's involvement. "It's a momentous achievement for everyone involved, and it's a huge effort from all the role players that the MoU has been signed as it is of huge benefit to the town."

Heading into summer

Plett Tourism's Patty Butterworth said in the statement that Plett Tourism looks forward to welcoming locals and guests to enjoy the sunshine and some of the best beaches in the world over the upcoming summer. 

She said she is very excited about the contract between the municipality and the Shark Spotters and is confident this relationship will be beneficial for the town.

"We understand that interactions between sharks and humans happen in a variety of places, and we as a town try our very best to reduce conflict between marine life and humans. The Shark Spotters provide important information on shark sightings and their behaviour patterns."

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