PERTH (AUSTRALIA)- Is tossing dead sheep into the ocean the reason for the exceptional high number of shark attacks off the coast of Western Australia this past year? Concerned conservationists have called for more research on this potential link between attacks on humans and dead sheep thrown into the ocean by the live export trade.
Western Australians for Shark Conservation (WASC) is trying to revive debate on the issue, which was raised by Humane Society International in July after an unprecedented spate of fatal great white shark attacks in the state’s waters.
The theory was swiftly shot down by the Australian Livestock Export Council, which said carcasses had to be disposed of at least 20 nautical miles away from the nearest land.
Today, WASC said the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry had too swiftly dismissed the theory, although internal emails between department staff showed some believed it was worth investigating.
WASC said it did not seek to create hysteria among the ocean-going public and acknowledged the issue was sensitive as animal rights activists called for an end to live exports in the wake of a cruel cull of Australian sheep in Pakistan.
Read more at Sky News.