Noosa locals call for a removal of Shark Nets

LIVE STREAMING FROM www.migaloo2.com around 10.15 thismorning wed 8th. Look at the second video window down on front page. Should stream automaticaly. We are having a ceremony for all the marine life tangled and killed in shark nets and paddle out to the shark nets 200 meters off shore. see media release below.

see the video clip of the action here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE-UHhYCMRM&list=UUImlX1nCSnKGw6Uj1_U8riQ&index=1&feature=plcp

Shark net ceremony / action Noosa

Media Release 8^th Aug 2012

Noosa locals call for a removal of Shark Nets

Noosa Locals will meet at main beach today at 10 am to hold a ceremony for all the marine life tangled and killed in shark nets and paddle out to the shark nets 200 meters off shore. They are also collecting signatures on a petition to call on the Australian Government Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator the Hon. Joe Ludwig to remove all shark nets immediately. The entanglement of a humpback whale in a shark net of the Gold Coast 3 weeks ago and death of a whale a Hungry Head in NSW soon after becoming tangled in a net, highlights the necessity to remove the shark nets from all Australian Beaches.

Conservation yacht Migaloo 2 who is sailing from Byron Bay to Cairns spreading marine conservation awareness sailed into Noosa on Tuesday 7^th to join with local people who are concerned about the collateral damage the shark nets are having on the marine wildlife.

Skipper of Migaloo 2, Dean Jefferys said, “Shark nets are purely cosmetic to convince tourists they are “safe”. The nets do not protect anything at all – sharks can swim over, under, and around the nets. Most sharks and other marine life die inside the nets trying to get back to sea from the shore and the by catch is enormous. From 1960 and 1990 shark nets entangled 216 dolphins, 2140 turtles, 552 dugongs including many migrating humpback. They should be removed immediately to prevent more needless marine deaths.”

29 whales have been caught in shark nets since 2000; of those 26 have been successfully freed. Some are not found and die slowly from suffocation or wounds from the nets. Last migration season six whales were tangled, the worst season in recent years. The Minister for Mines and Petroleum; Fisheries in WA said recently, shark nets don’t work and just endanger whales and kill unintended marine life which in turn attract sharks.