African Shark's week end news

Just busy sorting our new pics for the newsletter.
I haven't written a newsletter for ages. Not sure why, maybe its because I receive so many newsletters that I simply hit the delete button, and so I cant really see the point of sending out one myself only to have someone like me delete, delete, delete.

Our transfer side of the business seems to be taking off. Its still really early days. Wellington has been doing quiet a few Eastern Cape trips over the Christmas period. This "taxi" side has certainly been an eye opener for me. Not only have we ferried passengers we have also carried 2 couches and a 2 coffins so far for funeral trips. These trips are called "special" trips. Its quiet involved with having to sort out death certificates etc to have the correct papers to transport a coffin.

Got a phone call yesterday saying Wellington had a fender bender. Great stuff! Just waiting now to see the extent of the damage.

All quiet on the home front regarding the shark attack last week. Perhaps the devastation in Haiti has kept the media from focusing more on this incident.

We went to the beach yesterday with the kids. Its amazing how much fun kids can have just running in and out of the surf. Adam received a red swimming cap for Christmas and so he has to take it to the beach with him. He looks so darn funny in his little spider man costume and a swimming cap.

We are thinking of perhaps moving. Now that we have another staff member working from my office at home space is of a premium.
We had a look at some homes in Noordhoek yesterday. They were totally overpriced and really not great at all. We would still have to spend a fortune converting them to our needs.

Going to add some holiday pics to facebook now!

Great White Shark Attack in Fish hoek

We waited until today to publish this post as we wanted to get all the info first.

We got the sad news about 30 min after the shark attack in Fish Hoek, and the phone kept ringing non stop there after.

Yesterdays weather was miserable. It was very windy, the sea was a mess and there had been shark warnings issued that morning. At about 3pm  a 37-year-old Zimbabwean man Lloyd Skinner, was neck deep in the water when he was attacked. 

The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), the police and members of the public, armed with binoculars, have been searching for Skinner's body since the attack. So far only his swimming goggles have been found.
Our friend Ian Kloppers, who heads up the medical rescue for the NSRI, said the shark attacked Lloyd, bit him and turned around and came back again. This is not usual for a great white to do this, normally it is a case of mistaken identity, one bite and that is it, but it isnt unheard of that a great white shark will totally consume a human, as in the case of Fish Hoek resident Tyna Webb, 77, was killed by a shark near Sunny Cove in November 2004.

What is most interesting is that despite the  media trying to hype things up, the public perception towards the great white shark has changed enormously, and we salute this change!
Almost everyone is saying that we are entering the ocean, which is the sharks territory and you take a risk at being attacked by a shark or stung by blue bottles, etc.( UNLIKE the Australian governement who is wanting to saw off shark's heads and use shot guns on sharks!).
This is very different to 2004 when the media was screaming for shark nets, people wanted to bait chickens with glass and feed it to the sharks and  everyone wanted to blame anything and everyone including us!

Its true, we do need to be careful when entering the ocean. The sharks move inshore in summer, and the tourists and numbers of people entering the sea, increases dramatically over the festive season. You are more likely going to get hurt or killed getting to the beach than by a shark.

Our thoughts are with Lloyds family and friends right now. Its a horrible thing to happen.

Respect the sea. Respect the animals in the sea and lets be kind this year and respect each other.