THERE are a handful of sharks in the Suva Harbour.
This was revealed by Operations Manager Dive Centre Fiji (Pte) Ltd and professional diver Captain Johnathan Smith during an interview with this newspaper at the Suva Ocean Stakeholders meeting in Suva yesterday.
Capt Smith said he had seen a couple of bull sharks and a tiger shark around the waters in Suva harbour.
“All in all, I think there are about five sharks that live in the Suva harbour,” Capt Smith said.
“We work in the Suva Harbour and the sharks just do not bother us and they stay beneath us. “We also do not bother them,” he added.
“They swim around us and they get attracted to the sound of hammering under water and the hydraulic tools we use and they are just inquisitive.
“The bull sharks were babies and the tiger shark was a bigger one but they keep their distance and do not bother us.”
He added on the other hand, having sharks in the harbour showed there was availability of food.
“This means the harbour may be getting healthier too. I have personally seen an increase in walu, cray fish and lobsters which was a good thing.”
He also highlighted he started sighting sharks in the harbour in just the past six months.
“Sharks would not go anywhere where there is no food. They will always go where there is food.
“Maybe the fish population has increased inside Suva harbour and that is probably why the sharks are in there.”
He said people should not splash on the surface of the water because this would attract the sharks.
“Sharks usually do not eat humans because they do not like the taste of humans and most people die because of the shark bites.
“They do not die from being eaten. They die due to loss of blood from the bites.”
He added even though people were in shallow waters, they needed to be careful.
“Keep a look out. You cannot run from a shark.
“If a shark comes around you, all you can do is face it and push it away and fight it off.”
