The IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group
Shark News 6: March 1996
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Shark Attack Workshop held in Recife, Brazil
George H. Burgess, Florida Museum of Natural History
Prompted by a marked increase in local shark attacks in recent years,
an international shark attack workshop was conducted in Recife,
Brazil, on 14-18 November 1995. Chaired by Dr Fabio H.V. Hazin
of Federal Rural University of Pemambco (UFRPE), the assembled
working group included 16 local participants representing universities,
natural resource and beach safety agencies, and state/local
government, plus five invited national and foreign scientists, Alberto
F. de Amorim (Brazil), Otto B.F. Gadig (Brazil), John D. Stevens
(Australia), Geremy Cliff (South Africa), and George H. Burgess (USA).
The object of the Workshop was to investigate possible factors
influencing the recent rise in attacks in the Recife area and to suggest
potential remedial courses of action.
© by Sid F. Cook. All rights reserved.
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Between September 1992 and August 1995 a total of 16 confirmed attacks
occured on surfers and an additional four attacks on bathers
could represent unprovoked attacks. Attacks occurred at five beaches
in the Recife area in all months except April, May and June. Sizes
of the attacking sharks are estimated to
have ranged from 1 to 3 m. The tiger shark Galeocerdo cuvier and bull
shark Carcharhinus leucas are implicated in some of the cases. Shark
attacks seem to have been associated with strong south and south-
easterly winds, turbid water conditions, and new and full moon
periods when higher tides may have facilitated shark movements into
nearshore waters.
Armed with the results of a one-year research project conducted
by Hazin and co-workers at UFRPE ("Ecology of Sharks in the Coast
of Pernambucu State") and having benefited from site visits, the
working group came to a series of conclusions. Several factors were
noted as possibly contributing to the recent upswing in attacks:
(a) The opening of Suape Port, a deepwatercoastal facility located
to the south of Recife. Construction was accompanied by massive
environmental damage, including changing the courses of two rivers
considerable loss of mangrove habitat, and dynamiting an opening ir
the barrier reef. Opening of the Port also resulted in a large increase
in nearshore maritime traffic.
(b) General degradation of other nearby coastal ecosystems as a
result of coastal development.
(c) A concurrent increase in the number of surfers and bathers in
the region.
(d) The presence of shrimp trawling, with associated discarded
bycatch, very close to the beaches in the affected area.
(e) The submarine topography of the region characterised by a
nearshore channel bordered by a barrier reef, resulting in a bottle-
neck situation with only one way in or out of the lagoon.
(f) Climatic changes that have influenced wind and precipitation
regimes in recent years.
Measures suggested by the working group focused on keeping
sharks and people apart from each other at observed 'hot spots'.
Installment of protection netting was dismissed as being too
environmentally damaging and excessively expensive. The panel
recommended:
(a) The banning of surfing inside the high risk area.
(b) Implementation of a public education programme designed
to make the public more aware of sharks being a natural part of the
ecosystem and ways to minimise possible interaction, including
revised safety signs at public beaches.
(c) Better equip and train life guards and emergency personnel.
(d) Continue biological and oceanographic research within the
high risk area to gain a better understanding of environmental,
bathymetric, and biotic factors contributing to the problem.
(e) Create a scientific shark attack committee to continuously
monitor the situation and be in place for potential future attacks.
(f) Create a socio-economic working group to assess the importance
of nearshore shrimp fishing to the community.
(g) Establish an official data collection system for all cases of
confirmed and suspected shark attacks in the region.
The Workshop was characterised by excellent cooperation
between local and foreign scientists, local government, and affected
user groups. If all recommended measures are enacted, shark attacks
may be expected to decrease by at least 80%. Since the ban on surfing
has been implemented the only attacks that have occured have involved
surfers illegally surfing in the high risk area.
George H. Burgess,
International Shark Attack File, Florida Museum of Natural
History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
Email: gburgess@flmnh.ufl.edu
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