 The father of a teenager taken by a shark while swimming at an Adelaide beach yesterday says the family does not advocate the killing of any sharks.
| Doesn't Bill Murray have a movie coming out along that line? |
Nick Peterson, 18, was killed by a shark at West Point beach while riding a surf board behind a boat. The South Australian Government has authorised police and wildlife officers to destroy the shark.
| "They only want revenge. Hardly a valid reason for bumping off a living creature..." |
His father, Philip Peterson, says the Government should instead electronically tag sharks known to inhabit metropolitan beaches. "We acknowledge that the sea is in fact the shark's domain and we don't, and I certainly personally don't, advocate the indiscriminate killing of any shark," he said. "In this case I gather it's a white pointer or white pointers but at the same time we would like to see funds provided to make our beach safer consistently without argument."
| Come to think of it, killing all carnivorous creatures that come within range would seem to accomplish that. But I'm pretty old fashioned... |
South Australian Acting Premier Kevin Foley says the Government believes the great white should be killed even though it is a protected species. He has also announced increased surveillance in the area and on the beach after the tragedy. Meanwhile, police have confirmed material found earlier today is not the remains of Mr Peterson.
| Who is it? Maybe their kinfolk would like the perpetrator made into soup? |
Sea Rescue Squadron searchers spotted a four-metre shark close to shore a few kilometres north at Grange. Police and fisheries officers have been given the authority to kill the white pointer which took Mr Peterson or any other large shark posing a threat to human life. The Opposition supports destroying dangerous sharks but Fisheries Department chief Will Zacharin says public safety, not vengeance, will guide them. "We're not on a hunt here, we're about beach safety and we'll be patrolling those areas to see if there are any large sharks onshore, if we have to respond we will," he said.
| "So don't go takin' no revenge on them things!" |
Police are warning anyone who is planning to hunt and kill the protected species themselves will face the full force of the law.
| How about if they give the critters first bite? |
The South Australian Opposition supports the Government's decision to authorise the destruction of the shark. Liberal Leader Rob Kerin has also urged the Government to maintain shark patrols during the summer. South Australian Conservation Council president Jane Corin says nothing will be achieved if the white pointer is hunted down. "If we keep killing the sharks, that species will be removed from our seas," she said. "It is a top predator and plays a major role in keeping the seas free from disease and injured animals. "It's not a course of action that any government should be advised to take."
| Do you categorize surfers as "disease" or as "injured animals"? |
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