Has anyone got an SCMP account?
Found this report, but can only read the start and get the photo:

http://www.scmp.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=15e65d009a248310VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&s=news&ss=hong%20kong

Family tells of terror after shark shuts down beaches
Danny Mok, Helene Franchineau and Jolie Ho
Jul 02, 2012
A woman has described the terrifying moment when she saw a huge shark as she swam with a group of children off Lamma Island

-- If the shark wasn't tempted by kids splashing around, I think I'm pretty safe inside the net.
And of course, they're closing the beaches a day after the shark was sighted.

Another Lamma wildlife tale to scare the yuppies away. Wild boars, tiger sharks, cobras, centipedes, packs of rabid feral dogs, drug-crazed hippies.....

I don't have an SCMP online account as it costs almost as much as the webhosting of this forum for one year.

But I've got a fine scanner, bought in a garage, er, garden sale in our free classifieds last year.

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So they saw a totally harmless whale shark and were filled with "terror"?

Overseas pleasure boat operators organise expensive tours to get close and even swim with these huge whale sharks. According to nature documentaries that must be an amazing experience. Can we expect the same to happen on Lamma, or will these "Shark! Shark" cries of terror in the newspapers keep tourists away from our beaches? Only time will tell....

But I wonder about the legality of this and other pleasure boats - like the one described in the SCMP story - entering Sham Wan "Turtle Beach" bay and even swimming there? The beach is completely forbidden to visitors all through the summer months and permanently guarded by wardens staying just outside the beach.

So it's legal to be in the water all the way up to the beach, but you can't step onto the beach without being (theoretically) fined?

Sham Wan bay has usually at least 1 fishing trawler and 1 pleasure boat, even during week days, several boats on holidays, but not quite as many as this flotilla of pleasure boats yesterday, just in the next bay over from Hung Shing Yeh beach.

Many people were swimming there, all outside the shark nets, even going to the beach in row boats. I wonder if any of them has spotted the tiger shark off Hung Shing Yeh beach as it must have been pretty close to their boats?

So this explains the black police boat below (slowly moving from boat to boat, like a stealthy shark!) probably warning them of the shark sighting so close to them? It didn't seem to deter them much from entering the waters.

See photos taken from the Family Trail yesterday, 3:30pm. Not great quality as shot with an up to 86x digital zoom in a pocket camera on a walking stick/monopod. I had no idea of the shark warning when these photos where taken, they were just throwaway shots on my hike to the SKW dragonboating, being surprised about the large number of boats.

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Whale shark or Tiger?

A huge difference. Whale sharks are completely harmless, Tiger can be mankillers.

I'd be worried about a Whale shark choking on bits of plastic if there really was one cruising around here.

The fin on the photo looked quite appetizing.....

No, of course, I am just joking. I am happy sharks still survive.

I was no a kayak on Sunday. Passed by two guys swimming far from coast between Hung Shin Yeah and Power Plant beach. Also, someone on surf-sail. Today again went on kayak short trip. When back home I read all these stories. I suppose 900 kg shark may not hesitate to try small kayak. Better to suspend until sea gets colder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJD_1IHMfa0

Have a watch

They even identified it as a completely harmless whale shark.
But the LCSD still idiotically put up the "shark" flag at HSY and officially closed the beach..
No one paid any notice, though. There were well over 50 people swimming at any one time this afternoon.

As a regular walker to the beach with my dog (PS beach) I would love to see a 'whale shark' quite close and in my vicinity. (Not a tiger shark I might add!!) Nothing against tiger sharks, but they would eat me basically.

We are used to appreciating the flora and fauna here, but we don't get huge marine creatures normally.

Tonight was a beautiful night on PS beach with full moon, and crap cleared away from the sand, it was lovely, and I was looking out to sea for a 'huge fin' LOL.

Then realised, if there was a shark hovering around off these local Lamma shores, it would most probably only be a short matter of time before some fishermen caught the poor bastard.

Alan,. help me out here as you are pretty good at finding the information

There was a story a few years back where a local fisherman caught a whale shark, and someone bought it from him for (I think) around HK10.000 and released it into the sea again. Cool.

Thanks for informing me about the shark, i will charge about $20,000 for its release.

Aaawww... that's just not nice.

Bear in mind nowadays, with mobile phones cameras, twitter, and Youtube... you would be found, strung up and sold too

No seriously now,.. I think it's just so cool to think that a whale shark (the biggest fish in the world) would swim in the same bit of sea that i do.

Still a bit wary about it being a 'tiger shark though'!

It's quite easy to distinguish between these two. Swim out and bang it on the nose. If it eats you, it's a tig(g)er shark. If it doesn't, it's a whale shark

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I did not have sex with that woman!

Expect to see more marine animals (both naughty and nice ones) when the trawling ban comes into effect!

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Sabe 1