The Department of Primary Industries has described the discovery of two slain sharks in Port Stephens as “totally unacceptable”.
The protected and critically endangered sharks were found off Box Beach on Sunday with bullet holes in the head.
The DPI has since collected the carcasses of the male and female and will perform an autopsy to recover information on the bullets.
It is illegal to catch, keep or harm grey nurse sharks, and penalties can include fines of up to $220,000 and two years prison.
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Grey nurse sharks are not even endangered and are becoming very aggressive towards swimmers and snorkelers. There are that many grey nurse sharks now everywhere that it won’t be long before attacks on people are common. I’m in no way saying its right to shoot any shark at all but people should be able to defend them self if in immediate danger from any type of shark. Grey nurses often team up now and pack hunt it’s quite a scary situation when you have 3 or more sharks surrounding you trying to bite you.
I’m sorry Ryan but who are you? These sharks are endangered and I along with many other people dive and swim with them regularly. They are not even remotely aggressive towards people and are easily frightened away. The only time they are known to be interested in people is when those people are spear fishing and have a catch with them which is when I’m guessing is when you have had your encounters with them. I’m also really skeptical about what circumstances anyone would find themselves in need of using a firearm for self defense against a shark. I Oh I think I’ll go for a swim today let me just grab my gun in case I run into a shark that tries to attack me in it’s own environment….if you don’t like it stay out of the water it’s really that simple.
grey nurses………very aggressive towards people………… lol you are an idiot. Even if their numbers increase ten fold they wont be attacking people you moron. When they teamed up and started to circle you did the jaws theme music start playing too??? The only thing grey nurses are is annoying along with wobbys when you are trying to lay a burley trail but who can blame them for taking a free feed.
Omg. Some people are so ignorant…. Ryan, people like you are the problem, not the sharks. Check your facts before wasting everyone’s time and embarrassing yourself!
Find the people involved and shoot them in the head. They don’t deserve to breed. Scumbags.
Ryan, you’re a clown who obviously knows nothing about Grey Nurses.
Can you tell me when the last documented attack was from a Grey Nurse? I can tell you for a fact that there hasn’t been a recorded fatality globally from them.
Quite simply they aren’t interested in people, I along with many others dive with these sharks on a regular basis without trouble.
The IUCN class the the shark as Vulnerable, this puts them in the threatened bracket. The shores off Port Stephens are one of the few areas where they can be found in abundance, and we should be grateful for this.
Definately not a dangerous species, but paid the price in the past for being very toothy and looking scarey, they are still indangered now because 50 years ago idiots like Ryan killed them all off to make themselves look like heros.
Hard to police, but something needs to be done to protect them. Very stiff penalities needed if anyone ever gets caught.
dear oh dear……..
Ignorance is not bliss its dangerous………..
especially for the poor Grey nurse sharks.
I fish, dive and spearfish and love seeing these magestic creatures in the water.
My 14 year old son, LIKE ALL OF OUR SPEARFISHING & FISHING MATES, love and respect them too!