A shark spotter raises the high shark alert flag on Muizenburg beach, about 25km from Cape Town. The pioneering programme, Shark Spotters, started in 2004 after a spate of bites and sightings by placing human lookouts at busy beaches to give the alert for the sea to be cleared if fins are seen moving in. South Africa records fewer attacks than other shark international hotspots, like Australia and the US. But South Africa accounts for one-third of the 24 deaths worldwide on the International Shark Attack File for the past three years, despite local bites making up less than 10% of all attacks.
