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How to avoid a shark attack

Keep these simple things in mind could help save your life.

Looking after yourself is natural human instinct. We wear a hat in the sun, we slip slop slap at the beach – but do we know how to protect ourselves in a shark attack?

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In the past week we’ve had multiple reports of shark attacks, with one death and the most recent in Ballina NSW.

While shark attacks in Australia are not a regular occurrence, they’re certainly a possibility. 

We look into the preventative measures you can set in place that will help lessen the risk.

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How do I decrease my chances of shark attack?

1. Swim in a group

2. Don’t go too far away from shore

3. Don’t swim with open wounds or if bleeding

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4. Avoid swimming with shiny jewellery. The way it reflects makes it look like fish scales.

5. Try not to swim at night, dusk or dawn – which is when the shark is most active.

6. Don’t swim in water that contains sewage as that attracts bait fish, which sharks feed on.

7. If you know it is a shark-infested area or if there have been citing then do not go in. 

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8. Shark can see colour so avoid bright hues.

9. Sharks can be found near sandbars and steep drop-offs. Always check the water as people have been known to jump off a boat right onto a shark.

10. If you see a large school of fish gathering or acting strange, this could be an indicator that a predator is near by.

11. Don’t touch a shark and use common sense. If you see a shark, be calm and do what you can to leave the area.

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What to do if you’ve been attacked by a shark

The Reef Quest Centre for Shark Research says: “If an attack is imminent, defend yourself with whatever weapons you can.”
“Avoid using your [bare] hands or feet if you can avoid it; if not, concentrate your blows against the shark’s delicate eyes or gills.”  
The Australian Geographic recommend, “If an attack is imminent try to keep the shark in sight.”
“And if it gets too close (close enough to touch) then any action you take may disrupt the attack pattern, such as hitting the shark on the nose, gouging at its eyes, making sudden body movements, [or] blowing bubbles…The one thing that I’ve consistently heard is most effective is gouging it [the shark] in the eye.”

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