Letters to the editor: Sharks are trying to find food

I've been watching the large amount of shark sightings at beaches this summer with interest, and as much as there are a lot of thoughts and theories, without studies no one will have any idea why, so my thoughts are nothing more than my own thoughts.

I read an article in which the prevalence of sharks was blamed on more fish for sharks to feed on.

I think the exact opposite. A few years back when we protected sharks we failed to protect their food and continued overfishing everywhere, which means there are a lot more sharks in the oceans but less food for them to eat.

Sharks are coming closer to shore to find food, says a reader. Photo / File

So, as a consequence, more sharks are coming closer to shore to try to find food and they are also more likely to try to eat things that have not traditionally been food for them.

There's no point in protecting anything at the top of the chain if you don't protect the entire chain.

Paul Mercer
Tauranga

Tsunami sirens

The Far North council had tsunami sirens in place about five years ago.

These sirens covered hundreds of kilometres of coastline - far more than is required for Tauranga.

I believe the delays in Tauranga City Council installing sirens here has nothing to do with Covid-19.

In my view, it is due to the council spending years of useless debate on whether to have some other fancy system such as texting to phones, etc.

I'm sure the majority of our public have been in favour of sirens from the start. (Abridged)

Laurie Becroft
Pyes Pa

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