The Queensland coast is rattled by evidence that a particularly large shark is out there, somewhere, and the urgent calls to remove existing protections against sharks because of the toll on dolphins, turtles, and whales is falling on deaf ears:
A 'monster' great white shark measuring up to 20 ft long is on the prowl off a popular Queensland beach, according to officials.
Swimmers were warned to stay out of the water off Stradbroke Island after the shark mauled another smaller great white which had been hooked on a baited drum line.
The 10-foot great white was almost bitten in half.
The fictional shark at the centre of the Steven Spielberg blockbuster Jaws was estimated to be just five feet longer.
...News of the shocking attack on the smaller shark has sent jitters along the Queensland coast from Stradbroke Island, near Brisbane, to the Sunshine Coast further north down to the tourist mecca of Surfers Paradise, south of Brisbane.
'Whatever attacked and took chunks out of this big shark must be massive,' said 19-year-old surfer Ashton Smith. 'I've heard about the big one that's lurking out there somewhere.
...Many of the popular beaches in Queensland are protected by nets and what are known as drumlines - a series of baited hooks that hang from buoys placed in a line about 500 yards from beaches.
...The Queensland State Government has been under pressure in recent weeks to scale down the shark net and drumline programme because environmentalists say that whales and other big fish are becoming trapped in the nets.
But Fisheries Minister Tim Mulherin said the capture of the badly injured 10ft shark - and the indication of a much larger one being in the area - showed the necessity to keep the nets and drumlines in place.
Darren Kindleysides, director of the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said the nets were working but at huge cost to whales, dolphins and turtles.
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