SPGA issues shark alert as precautionary measure |08 August 2023

A picture of a guitar shark (for illustration purposes only)

Advises fishermen to refrain from killing sharks in marine protected areas

The Seychelles Parks and Gardens Authority (SPGA) has said the notice issued on Friday for the public to be aware of sharks’ presence in the Port Launay Marine Park was a precautionary measure only and was not intended to cause panic and scare people, or to prevent them from swimming in the area.

This was said by the authority’s chief executive, Allen Cedras, yesterday afternoon during a press briefing held at the authority’s headquarters, Orion Mall, Victoria. He was accompanied by her deputy, Lya Docteur.

It follows the authority’s warning posted on social media last Friday after it was alerted through a video on the platform the previous night that a shark was spotted near the shore at Port Launay.

Another video was posted later showing a shark chasing a sting ray a bit further into the marine park.

Deputy CEO Docteur said they deployed their rangers into the Marine Park and near the shore as soon as they received notification of the sighting on Thursday, but nothing was seen.

“But the general manager of the Constance Ephelia Resort did confirm through a call that some guests had seen sharks in the area and we immediately had to take measures because we know that the marine park is frequented by a lot of people,” she said.

For his part, Mr Cedras said the advisory was not to cause panic. “The alert was not to get people to panic but just a precautionary measure for them to be a bit more careful while swimming. The notification is also not for people to go kill sharks in marine parks, which is a protected area, meaning species there are protected,” said Mr Cedras.

He said the shark sighted along the beach on Thursday was a guitar shark (reken vyolon) and it is harmless.

Mr Cedras explained that given that it is the sharks’ breeding season, it is normal to see them close to shore to deliver especially at night or in the early hours, which is a normal breeding cycle practice.

He added that human activities such as discarding fish guts and other leftovers as well as rubbish into the sea, were some of the factors that attract sharks into the marine park or close to the beach.

“We are intensifying our educational campaign with the fishermen in the region and with the catamaran owners so they understand that it was important to dispose the unwanted rubbish elsewhere, to prevent the marine park from becoming a sharks’ feeding ground. We do not want any incident involving sharks in the area as it will be bad publicity for the country,” Mr Cedras added.

The chief executive said that since they were notified, SPGA has been monitoring the area and up till now, no sharks have been sighted.

As people continue with their swimming and snorkelling activities in the area, SPGA will maintain its monitoring for a while before lifting the advisory.

SPGA is monitoring three breeding grounds for sharks and these are the Port Launay, Baie Ternay and Curieuse Island.

It is to be noted that on the same day following the advisory, a fisherman from Bel Ombre was shown on the 8pm news on national television slitting a pregnant bull shark with 16 baby sharks that he had caught outside of the Port Launay Marine Park.

Patrick Joubert