WIRE: 07/24/2001 7:29 am ET

Tourists leap on whale carcass in Australia and pat feeding great white sharks

The Associated Press

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) Australia may change laws "to protect people too stupid to protect themselves" after sightseers clambered on a floating dead whale and patted great white sharks eating the carcass, a senior official said Tuesday.

South Australian state Environment Minister Iain Evans said he will ask his department to consider regulations preventing people from coming within 109 yards of a dead whale. At present, the law only keeps people that distance from a live whale.

Evans said he was shocked at the disrespect the tourists showed for their own safety when they were caught on film this week patting the sharks near Cape Jervis, 60 miles south of Adelaide.

"I am also appalled by the bizarre behavior of walking across the back of dead whales or, for that matter, patting a great white shark while it is feeding," Evans said.

"These creatures are not toys. In the case of the great white, they can be extremely dangerous and it is clear the state government will need to look at changing the law in order to protect people too stupid to protect themselves," he added.

The southern right whale died late last week. About a dozen sharks immediately began devouring the carcass, tearing off chunks of flesh in a feeding frenzy.

Boat operators cashed in, ferrying dozens of customers to the site for a closer look.

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001

Answers

Why would you want to encourage the continuation of this gene pool?

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001

Those people are like the cloves on a ham...

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001

Barefoot--brilliant!!!

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001

I would have thought a dead whale would be slippery, and that one would have to lean over to the water to pet the shark. Why didn't any of them fall in?

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001

helen, these are retards. Maybe they did fall in and the sharks threw them back? Gotta give the sharks a little credit here.

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001

Will someone *please* add some more chlorine to the gene pool!

-- Anonymous, July 24, 2001