Antagonism to South African shark dive operators appears to have resulted in arson, after dive charter boat White Pointer was torched at her mooring in False Bay Yacht Club Marina.

South African police are investigating what is believed to be an arson attack against the dive operator. Forensics experts found that the fire started at two separate sites on the boat, at a time when there was she was lying at mooring with no power operating.

The owner, Chris Fallows is convinced that the attack is motivated by antagonism towards shark dive operators who chum the waters to attract sharks. Many surfers blame chumming for drawing sharks close to the shore, and into potentially dangerous contact with humans: a 16-year-old surfer lost his leg to a shark earlier this year.

The incident happened just hours after TV documentary 'Air Jaws', which showed the dive operator attracting great whites at Seal Island by towing a decoy behind White Pointer, had been aired. Ironically, Fallows is the only one of the three licensed shark dive operators in the area not to employ chumming to attract sharks.



More links of interest
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