Drone footage captures sharks hunting school of fish at Agnes Water beach
A teenager new to Central Queensland has shared “crazy” drone footage of dozens of sharks hunting fish and splashing around just off shore. WATCH THE VIDEOS.
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Incredible drone footage over a Central Queensland main beach has captured dozens of sharks chase a huge school of bait fish right up to shore as they desperately try to escape the predators.
The mass of sharks along the coastline at Agnes Water, south of Gladstone, shocked the new local navigating the drone, who initially went to the beach to go swimming.
Teenager Cooper Murphy, who only moved to the area two months ago, had just finished work for the day on Monday, November 27 and went down to the beach when he saw the sign that said it was closed because of a large number of sharks.
He had the drone in the car and decided to put it up about 3pm, expecting to see one or two sharks and was gobsmacked at what was on the screen.
“I was instantly shocked, there were that many sharks, it was crazy, I had never seen anything like it,” Cooper said.
He said from the shore, sharks could be seen eating the bait fish and fins coming up out of the water, but he could not tell how many sharks there were.
The footage shows about 30 sharks and a school of fish swimming closely together in a long “bait ball”, looking like a dark shadow off the shore.
When Cooper flies closer, one shark looks to be large bronze whaler, also known as a copper shark.
Another video shot more closely to the sharks, shows them gliding in the water and others splashing in and out of the water in the background.
Cooper shared his video on social media and soon afterwards a crowd of about 100 people descended on the beach to check it out.
Before moving to Agnes Water two months ago, Cooper travelled across Australia for 10 months, taking drone footage along the way.
He said compared to everything he saw across the country, the sharks at Agnes Water was “one of the coolest”.
Locals have said they are black tipped reef sharks, reef sharks and some tiger sharks.
Agnes Water lifeguards patrol Agnes Water main beach 365 days of the year.
It was previously just during the summer months but Gladstone Regional Council changed it back to every day.
NOT UNUSUAL
Lifeguard and lifesaving supervisor for Wide Bay and Capricorn Russell Blanchard said the main beach was closed all day on Monday.
He said there had been a couple of closures over the past few weeks, but it had only been for a couple of hours at a time.
“They are in there chasing the bait balls, just as a precaution we closed the beach,” Mr Blanchard said.
He said it was not something to be too concerned about it, but rather a seasonal and common occurrence on the southern beaches.
“The sharks just follow the bait balls and get into a bit of a feeding frenzy, some years you have very few occurrences or others more,” Mr Blanchard.
“That’s their natural instinct, they are just chasing their food source, it’s not unusual behaviour.”
The beach was reopened as normal on Tuesday morning, however it has been raining and it was quiet.
The best thing to keep safe from sharks, is to always swim at patrolled beaches, Mr Blanchard said.
“Talk to the lifeguards on duty and see what’s been happening the last few days,” he said.
“Avoid those dangerous times, dusk and dawn, and night time, sharks will just see the silhouette of your body at those times.”
NOT THE FIRST TIME
It’s not the first time sharks have been spotted at Agnes Water, between Gladstone and Bundaberg on the very southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef.
In 2020, a group of fisherman helped a 10-foot tiger shark back into the sea when it’s tail was caught in a fishing line at Chinaman’s Beach at Agnes Water.
In November 2015, the Agnes Water Main Beach was closed for a few days after sharks were spotted off the shore, and also in 2012.
The Department of Environment and Science does not have any shark nets and drumlines at Agnes Water on it’s statewide map.
It is noted there are sharks in the water at Deepwater National Park, just south of Agnes Water.
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