Solo traveller captures footage of shark swimming at Woodgate

A traveller, who captured rare footage of a shark swimming in the shallows at a popular Queensland tourist beach says he “didn’t want to risk a chomp on the leg”.

A solo traveller has captured footage of a shark swimming in knee-to-waist deep water at the Woodgate Beach foreshore.

Arron Flanders, who captured the footage on a Sunday morning walk, said while he knew sharks were common in local waters near Bundaberg, he had never seen one in such shallow water.

“Never that close, no,” he said.

“When I was a kid and came up with the family we used to always see sharks in the distance swimming by.”

Mr Flanders said at first he believed the shark to be a shovelnose, but was later told it could have been a hammerhead.

The ocean’ apex predator was spotted in the water between the pub and the toilet block.

“I was solo and didn't want to risk a chomp on the leg, so I just kept my distance,” he said.

Woodgate is a small coastal town between Childers and Bundaberg where the population swells on weekends and during school holidays.

While shark attacks are rare in the region, sightings are not uncommon.

Like nearby Hervey Bay, Woodgate is not protected by shark nets.

A 2016 sighting at Burnett Heads led to a lifesaving reminder to avoid river mouths, as well as early morning and late afternoon swims.

In 2017, one woman spotted a 3m shark just outside the perimeter of the Bargara Basin.

In 2018, a tiger shark sighting off the shore of Bargara sparked a warning from lifesavers, who reminded locals of the importance of swimming at patrolled beaches.

That sighting followed one just days earlier at Moore Park.

Shark sightings at Kellys Beach, Bargara, closed beaches for a short time in 2020.

A spokesperson for Surf Lifesaving could not be reached, but according to the organisation, the best advice remains to swim between the flags, avoid river mouths, avoid swimming during early morning and avoid swimming in the late afternoon.