A coastal town in fear of the sea
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 5 April 2022
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The ocean is central to the Esperance community’s lifestyle and identity. But three fatal shark attacks in three years have had a profound impact on this remote western Australian coastal town. As this small community slowly comes to terms with these recent fatal attacks, they are also navigating their relationship to the ocean and the apex predator that swims within it. ABC producer Fiona Pepper travels to Esperance to hear how this coastal town is grappling with the impact of the great white shark.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | On a day like today, where it's overcast and just a light of shore, I think the consensus |
| 0:11.9 | would be, it feels a bit sharky in the water. |
| 0:14.6 | Three people killed by sharks in three years. |
| 0:17.5 | Yeah, I mean, I'd like to say that doesn't go through my mind, but... |
| 0:21.3 | All of the coast of aspirants, a small isolated coastal town in Western Australia, around |
| 0:27.8 | 700 kilometres southeast of Perth. |
| 0:30.6 | I've had... |
| 0:32.6 | Yeah, like visions. |
| 0:35.3 | These deaths have changed this remote ocean loving community. |
| 0:40.4 | I've had visions of falling in the water and just staring back at these big grey eyes and... |
| 0:46.4 | In 2017, a 17-year-old girl on a family holiday was fatally bitten by a shark while surfing |
| 0:53.2 | with her dad. |
| 0:54.8 | And then in January 2020, a local and experienced scuba diver was killed while on an expedition |
| 1:01.8 | with his wife. |
| 1:03.7 | And then that same year, a long time surfer sitting among the pack at a popular break, |
| 1:10.2 | killed by a shark. |
| 1:12.0 | Everyone knows someone affected. |
| 1:13.5 | We know the names of everyone who's been attacked. |
| 1:16.5 | We know their families, we know the people who responded to those horrific accidents |
| 1:22.5 | and the people who searched for them. |
| 1:24.9 | It is a bit hard to get your head around. |
| 1:27.6 | Hello, I'm Fiona Pepper reporting for the BBC World Service and ABC Australia for a series |
... |
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