Fill in the gaps in the text with one word. More than one answer may be possible.
Could this be the end of the shark in Western Australia?
Sharks have been persecuted for many years and movies such as Jaws have not exactly improved the image of this amazing animal. In late 2013, the Government of Western Australia (WA) announced a shark cull program. Their idea was to put protective lines in the waters ____ (1) Perth and the South-West to catch large sharks and stop them coming close to beaches. The government ____ (2) hired shark hunters to patrol these areas and kill large sharks whether they looked threatening or not, specifically great white, tiger and bull sharks over three metres long, in authorised ‘kill zones’. The lines also had the potential to catch many other shark species, including the critically endangered grey nurse shark ____ (3) well as dolphins and other threatened species, which needless to say is a big problem. Thanks to a community outcry supported by the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) the WA abandoned its shark cull in 2014. This was a victory for science, common sense and public opinion. We remain concerned ____ (4) the state’s deeply flawed ‘imminent threat’ policy. This means that large sharks swimming past the WA coast can be deemed a ‘risk to human safety’ and killed on sight. Alternatives to the cull ____ (5) exist and are being employed or are under development. Surf Lifesavers monitor our popular beaches around the country during the surf life saving season. They have excellent programs ____ (6) provide detection and education. Aerial spotting with helicopters and light planes also works effectively for popular beaches in WA. A program has also been developed on the social media platform Twitter, where tagged sharks “tweet” their location as they swim past underwater detectors. This is a good ____ (7) of detecting sharks and studying their movement patterns across the WA coast without the need to harm them. Many of these methods improve our knowledge of sharks, and since so many of these magnificent species are ____ (8) threat, findings aid in conservation efforts as well.
