Black December

[1] In December 1957 several key factors occurred simultaneously to attract sharks to the Durban area, including: (1) whaling ships operating in the area; (2) rivers had flooded and washed livestock into the Indian Ocean and made the river deltas murky; and (3) recent resort development had increased the number of tourists swimming off the beaches.

[2] Tourists fled the Durban area during Black December causing a devastating impact on the local economy.

[13] The local authorities desperately made attempts to protect swimmers and surfers from sharks.

[1] These attempts included enclosures built from wooden poles and netting; however, both were ineffective and were destroyed by the surf.

[14][15][16] The organization's mandate is to maintain shark nets and drum lines at 38 places, along 320 km of coastline of the KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, to protect bathers and surfers from possible shark attacks.