Those of us born outside Australia can't understand why native Australians go in the sea. In ten years, I've been in once - but never again. I was born in Britain where the sea is cold but safe.

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When I took my one and only dip in open Australian sea, I found myself being spun round by the surf like a rag in a washing machine. I then decided to battle through the breakers to reach the calm water beyond -found myself being swept out.

I did manage to struggle back to shore in Bronte but that frightening experience was enough. Sea baths are different - they're one of the glories of this glorious country - but the wild ocean, no thanks. A friend born in Singapore feels the same.

So the sighting of seven bull and great white sharks in waist-deep water off the south coast of NSW had the two of us nodding in disbelief and saying: "Why on earth do Aussies do it? Sharks, stingers, rips, box jellyfish - and still they rush to the sea in summer. Crazy!"

Crazy, too, are those who seem to want revenge after a shark attack.

Last month, 35,year-old swimmer Leah Williams was attacked and seriously injured as she swam at Coogee beach in Sydney.

It sparked a debate about whether there should be a cull. Former prime minister Tony Abbott waded in: "Its so wrong that we don't cull sharks after attacks, he was quoted as saying. Its so wrong we don't put people before sharks.

Scientists promptly took issue with him. Whats the point in a cull?" Rob Harcourt, an expert on shark behaviour at Macquarie University said. "A cull wont change the........

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