Hevige regenval en overstromingen leiden tot haaien alert Gold Coast, Queensland (Australië) - Haaien zoeken verdronken vee in rivieren en kanalen

Qld floods spark shark danger alert

11-02-2010 TONY BARTLETT, The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia


People on the Gold Coast have been warned to look out for sharks seeking meals in rivers and canals after floodwaters drowned large numbers of livestock. The northern end of the Gold Coast received 360mm of rain in 24 hours over the weekend - the most intense day-long deluge in a century.

Scores of animals are still missing with many presumed drowned.

RSPCA inspector Summer Heath-Crilley told AAP on Thursday there could be more than 100 carcasses lying in local waterways.

"Being conservative I would have to say possibly 100 head of cattle are missing and between 10 and 15 horses," she said.
"Gold Coast City Council have removed the bodies of five horses from the water so far but there's still a lot of animals missing."

Trevor Long, director of marine sciences at Sea World, warned that bull sharks could pose a danger to anyone swimming in rivers and canals.
"There is always the potential that they could be attracted to rotting animal carcasses," he said.

"But at this time of year, because of the warm water, female bull sharks do come upstream to have their pups.

"Baby bull sharks when they're first born, have no tolerance to salt water so they have to be born in fresh water and they stay there for the first 12 months of their lives.
"So you always have that situation at this time of year, but certainly if you also have rotting carcasses and things like that it's an attraction for sharks."

He said there were many alternative places to swim.

"There's plenty of places people can go for a swim in safety without worrying about coming out of the water missing an arm or a leg," he said.

(Bron: http://news.smh.com.au/)