82 Man Against Shark 



Buildings still stood from a refrigeration plant the government had built and 

 later abandoned. Sharks abounded there, we were told. Pindimar oystermen, 

 plagued by sharks, happily showed us where to find sharks— right in the middle 

 of the oyster beds. 



On our first day of operation we headed out into the bay, near the oyster 

 beds, with mullet-baited hooks. I decided to use my prize hook, made to order 

 for me in London by a fine hook-maker. Galvanized, of half-inch carbon steel, 

 with a chisel-pointed barb that was razor-sharp, it was designed to catch the 

 biggest, toughest sharks in the sea. The gleaming hook hung from a brass chain 

 and a sturdy swivel designed to keep the shark from twisting ofT the hook. 



All the way out I thought about the monster this gear would surely land. 

 When we reached a likely looking spot, the weather turned nasty. I made the 

 hook line fast and went below to the shelter of the cabin— a comfort our 50-foot 

 boat boasted. There, protected from the weather, I could still keep an eye on 

 my line. 



I hadn't been down below long when the launch shivered from stem to stern! 

 My line was taut, drawn stiff as a ramrod by a huge shark on the other end. 



I rushed on deck to begin what I thought would be a classic battle. But when 

 I grabbed the line it was slack. The shark had struck and managed to get off 

 the hook. Cursing under my breath, I hauled in the line as quickly as I could. 

 I was determined to bait it and get it back in the water immediately, for the 

 monster might still be about. When I pulled in my hook, though, I discovered 

 that it was broken in two. I examined it carefully. There were no defects in it. 

 The explanation was simple, but incredible. A shark had struck my steel hook 

 hard enough to break it as easily as I could have snapped a twig. 



We decided to use nets, the like of which had never been seen in Australia 

 before. They were about 1,000 feet long, 16 feet deep, with an 8-inch mesh. 

 They were hung in the same "curtain" fashion that I had found to be so effec- 

 tive elsewhere. In my entire sharking career never had I been given an oppor- 

 tunity to test out the theory that sharks were attracted to white or light objects. 

 I decided to try an experiment with the nets. We alternated blue, green and 

 white sections in one net. Invariably, we found sharks in the white section— 

 and none at all in the colored. The experiment left no doubts, in my mind at 

 least, about the effect of color on a shark's senses. 



We had been told that the waters were full of sharks of many kinds— Gray 

 Nurse, Hammerhead, Carpet, Whaler, Tiger, Blue Pointer, Wobbegong, Shovel 

 Nose, Port Jackson, Angel, Gummie. But we were not prepared for the bonanza 

 we would strike. 



Our specially built boats arrived at Pindimar from Sydney, trim 30-footers 

 powered by 12-horsepower diesels. We set our nets for the first time, about 

 3 miles out from the station. The next morning, we began to under-run our 

 nets. 



Our first surprise came when we saw that the sealed cans which buoyed the 

 top-line of the net had collapsed. That meant the net had been dragged to 20 

 fathoms by some enormous weight. 



The weight was pure shark. The net was alive with them, and every one big. 



As each shark appeared, his tail was securely lashed, the derrick arm was 

 swung out, the windlass was turned, and up came a shark, tail-first, still en- 



