Category: in the news

Fishhoek Shark Attack 2

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What will the Daily Mail say this time?

Today’s attack took place off Clovelly beach – one of our favourite places to play. Early reports suggest that the victim was a 44 year old male who either ignored warnings not to venture into the water (a shark had been spotted earlier in the morning) or that the siren didn’t sound because of the massive power outage that hit Cape Town today.

In this video taken in the aftermath of the attack, you can clearly see a (the?) shark lazily hanging around off Fishhoek beach.

I’ll update this post when there’s more information to hand.

And here’s the first UPDATE from @animalocean on twitter:

Correcting spreading tweets – The alarm sirens are battery operated and not affected by the power outage.

…which seems like a very good idea.

And then this from reporter Paula Chawles:

according to NSRI the victim was asked personally by life guards not to get into the water because. He ignored them.

Obviously, it doesn’t say beacause of what, but I think it’s safe to assume that it was because there was a massive shark just…*points* just there.

And now a Media Release from the City of Cape Town which tells a slightly different story:

MEDIA RELEASE
NO. 701/ 2011
28 SEPTMBER 2011

At approximately 12:15 today, 28 September 2011, a swimmer was attacked by a great white shark at Clovelly corner on Fish Hoek Beach.

Immediate reports indicate that the victim sustained severe injuries and lost his lower right leg as a result of the attack. He has been airlifted to hospital for treatment.

At 10:45 this morning, the Shark Spotters sighted the shark and closed the beach to users. The White Shark Flag was raised and the siren was set off. When the victim entered the water, the beach was still closed and the shark flag indicating the presence of a white shark was flying. The Shark Spotter stationed on the beach was warned by the Shark Spotter on the mountain that someone had entered the water. The Shark Spotter then ran to Clovelly Corner to try and get the swimmer out of the water, but the attack took place before he could reach him.

The victim of the shark attack was the only person in the water at the time of the attack.

The City’s Emergency Services staff are on the beach providing assistance and the City has closed Fish Hoek beach as well as Glencairn, St. James, and Muizenberg beaches as a precaution. The shark responsible for the attack is still in Fish Hoek bay and is being monitored by the spotters.

The beaches will remain closed until further notice.

It’s perhaps worth noting that the Clovelly corner of Fishhoek beach is a good distance from the Shark Spotters’ station at the South end of the beach and – as far as I am aware – there are no flags nor personnel on duty at the Clovelly end.

THURSDAY: The Daily Mail [remember that disclaimer!]*sigh* tells us he knew the risks:

The 43-year-old is said to have swum regularly at Fish Hoek beach, notorious for great white shark sightings, even telling fellow beachgoers: “If a shark takes me, then blame me, not the shark.”

Witnesses said he parked his car and then walked right past a flag indicating that the beach was closed. At least two people warned him that a shark had been seen, but he strode into the water anyway.

Meanwhile, “Bob” the shark is now on twitter.

Full report by the City of Cape Town here, including the lines:

The victim was known to the Shark Spotters and had previously repeatedly ignored verbal warnings by the spotters to adhere to the shark warnings and beach closures.

The victim’s car was parked in the main parking area at Fish hoek beach indicating that he had accessed the beach from the well signposted area where the shark warning flag was flying.

He had informed the car guards of where his car keys were hidden in the event that something happened to him.

Victim was swimming between the shore and breakers (not behind breakers).

You make your own choices in this life…

Game Over?

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Did you know that the world was due to end yesterday?

Being that the country of New Zealand is some few hours ahead of us here in SA, they’re already working their way into the early hours of tomorrow morning, and tomorrow being the 27th September, I think that we can call BS on the predictions of Alexander Retrov:

The next allignment [sic] between Elenin, Sun and Earth will be Sept 26th 2011. According to “Alexander Retrov”, the whole pacific rim will go. There will be mag 12 to 15 earthquakes. New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia, China, Korea, Russia, West coast of America, will disappear.
The East coast of Australia will be affected by tidal waves. A cosmic sonic shockwave will blow out our protective van Allen belts and magnetic fields and will leave the planet totally open to gamma radiation. We will be fried alive like vampires in the sunlight. There will be an electomagnetic pulse that destroys all electronics. Surface temperatures will be 60+ degrees Celsius. There will be 1000km/hr winds. There will be an eclipse that lasts for 3 days. There will be volcanic eruptions everywhere, pyroclastic blasts and acid rain from all the ash. There will be wildfires everywhere…

All of which gives us more than enough adequate reasons to head home early, although those 1000kph winds and 60+°C surface temperatures just sound like an average February day in Paarl.

I have yet to observe any pyroclastic blasts or cosmic sonic shockwaves, but rest assured, you’ll be the first to know if/when I do.

So… how’s your Monday been?

Oh, and while we’re on the subject, other things we’re still waiting for include:

  • The Gulf of Mexico “methane bubble” to explode: “an event so potentially horrific that it equals in its fury the Indonesian tsunami that killed more than 600,000, or the destruction of Pompeii by Mt. Vesuvius”. (June 2010)
  • The rescheduled Rapture, now just over 3 weeks away.
  • Andile Lungisa to come and take your cheese while “closing every street in South Africa”. This is/was due “in September”.

Tick, tock, tick, tock…

Fed up

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I remarked the other day that recently, SA politics has become depressingly depressing. Far too much foolishness and sabre-rattling from individuals elected to serve the population. Far too much emphasis on race and racism, sex and sexism, this-ism and that-ism. Far too much jumping to conclusions.
Far too little actually sitting down, talking to each other and sorting things out.
Three of the four news stories on the front page of the Cape Times today are based around an -ism of some sort. It’s depressing.
The other one is about plans for toll roads on the N1 and N2, which is equally depressing.

But why wouldn’t the South African population sling insults around at each other the whole time when those individuals who are elected to positions of responsibility are at it the whole time as well? Honestly, it’s like little kids in a playground, but with real and damaging implications for the country. Like I said, depressing.

And yes, I cc’d Helen Zille on a tweet about this, which I found on a Port Elizabeth DA Councillor‘s timeline:

and it now seems to have disappeared rather rapidly. Which is nice.
UPDATE: Nope – must have been a welcome temporary glitch – it’s still there.

Cue the liberals telling me that after the Malema “Shoot The Boer” verdict, “it’s a slippery slope” and that freedom of expression is being eroded. I feel that they are missing the point.

And that point is this. In my humble opinion, those individuals elected (by whoever) to positions of responsibility, should be act responsibly. Is “Shoot the Boer” really hate speech? Does the image above, captioned “How about this?” amount to incitement to violence? Or should we be asking different questions, like: What does it achieve when role models sing Dubul’ iBunu? How does it help when elected officials put images of prominent and controversial figures in a sniper’s crosshairs into the public space?
And yet these individuals make a conscious decision to do these things. Why? Where is the value in that?

It’s more than just the lack of any positive worth in these actions that depresses me. It’s the fact that these things are divisive and harmful and yet they are completely avoidable. Julius Malema, Councillor Greyling et al simply need to make better decisions.
So, rather allow Malema to sing Dubul’ iBunu and then rejoice when he chooses not to. Don’t stop Mr Greyling publishing dubious pictures on his public twitter stream, be happy when he thinks first and rather sticks the image in his trash can.

Hey! It’s ok.
I do recognise that these are just Utopian pipe dreams. I do understand that it’s not going to happen.

But rather than taking pot shots at each other across the great divide, why not just think before you act? Why not just be big enough to put aside emotions, sit down and talk?
My 5 year old son is getting good at doing these things.
Is it really too much to expect politicians to do it as well?

It’s all kicking off…

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Ah. The perils of supporting England in the Rugby World Cup.

Actually, there really aren’t very many of them. It isn’t that important to me: after all, this is just rugby, it’s not football. But there’s always someone that suggests that because I’ve moved to SA, I must support the Boks. Yeah right, because when you guys go over to do your two years of bar work in Wimbledon, you all instantly revert to your colonial roots and cheer on “the Poms”, don’t you?

Of course not.

You might not like to know it,
You may not think it’s right.
But within your sea of green and gold,
There’s some proudly red and white.

Please don’t take it personally,
Or refuse to shake me by the hand.
Cos while I live in Cape Town,
I’m born and bred England.

And yes, I have a soft spot,
For Johnny Smit and chums.
But I’ll be wearing red and white,
When the final comes.

Just to reiterate my stance here, once and for all:

I will happily support the Boks (or any South African national team)
unless they are playing England. 

I happen to think that that’s pretty fair, but if it still remains an issue for you, may Martin Johnson have mercy upon your soul.

“BraaiDay” song set to take SA by storm

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Yeah, yeah – whatever. IMHO, this is amusing and deserves more exposure so I am exposing it.
Not that anyone outside the Republic will understand the nuances of the song, but so what?
Herewith “Derick Watts and the Sunday Blues” [sic] and their rendition of Braaiday:

 

Of course, “Braai Day” is actually held each year on Heritage Day: “a Public Holiday on which South Africans across the spectrum are encouraged to celebrate their cultural heritage and the diversity of their beliefs and traditions, in the wider context of a nation that belongs to all its people”, but those complaining that the celebration has been hijacked by Jan Scannell and Desmond Tutu should note that their “Braai4Heritage” project does have the backing of the National Heritage Council.

And let’s face it, without their call to braai, we’d all just sit at home and watch the footy on Heritage Day – or er… have a braai.