Keeping surfers safe without shark nets

In South Africa, if you go in the ocean, sharks are a part of life. Not little ones either - great whites.

In summer, they feed on juvenile seals from the colonies scattered along the coastline and in winter, they chase fish.

Year round, they occasionally attack people.

We all remember the horrifying video of Mick Fanning fighting off a great white live on air during the World Surf League event at Jeffreys Bay.

Many other surfers and swimmers have been bitten, injured and sometimes killed.

It’s that ferocity, and the public’s perception of the animals as brutal killers, that has led to a unique tourism experience - shark cage diving.

We went to Mossel Bay, four hours' drive east of Cape Town to see for ourselves.

This is a Great White Nursery.

Our guide, Richard Theron, told us it has the greatest concentration of the sharks in the world.

We boarded our vessel, and motored out to the reefs just off a local beach with holiday homes behind the dunes.

That’s when the “chum” went out, made up of sea water, mixed with oily fish scraps and guts.

Within a couple of minutes, seven great whites had arrived.

We put on our wetsuits and got into the cage, and it wasn’t long before the animals were smashing into the bars with incredible force.

Mr Theron said they’re “curious”!

I’ve always wondered whether this form of tourism encourages sharks to see people as prey, and therefore leads to attacks.

But marine biologists, and even the people in charge of shark control programs in South Africa, told me that there’s absolutely no evidence of that.

The incidence of attacks hasn’t increased around areas where cage diving occurs.

With that many sharks in the area though, you might think the largest coastal city, Cape Town, would be ringed with shark nets.

There isn’t one.

But chat to the surfers on the white sand beach at Muyzenburg, and they tell you they feel safe, because of Shark Spotters.

The largely council-funded organisation has huts high up on headlands above the beaches.

Men and women sit and scan for sharks with binoculars. If they see one, an alarm is sounded, and the water cleared.

In 10 years of operation, it's led to a marked reduction in attacks around the region.

The key is the height. Spotters can see sharks for kilometres - much further than Australia lifeguards or lifesavers can from beach level.

The Shark Spotters crew has even identified beaches in Australia where the program could be rolled out.

They recommend living with sharks, and getting out of their way. South Africans certainly get a lot of practice.