‘They’re bigger than boats’: Predators swarm NSW beach
A pack of large sharks in a feeding frenzy off a south coast beach have sparked strong warnings from lifeguards to stay out of the water, as authorities work to remove a whale carcass drawing the predators close to shore. SEE THE PHOTOS
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A south coast beach has been closed to swimmers after four-metre long sharks were spotted feasting on a washed up whale carcass.
The whale washed up among the rocks at Bulli yesterday afternoon, prompting the council to close the beach.
Their fears came true when a hoard of sharks were spotted, drawn in to the beach to snack on the whale.
Surf Life Saving Illawarra duty officer Anthony Turner had a strong warning to those trying to get up and close to the sharks.
“These sharks are quite large, they are larger than some of the boats we’ve seen on social media, under no circumstances should anyone be leaning or putting their body parts in the water,” Mr Turner said.
“One video shows a shark biting the motor of a boat … that’s how dangerous the situation can be and highlights the need for common sense,” he said.
Mr Turner said some of the sharks have appeared aggressive.
“Even people on the rock platforms, we don’t want anyone getting too close, the last thing we want is someone falling into the water with all the predators out there,” he said.
#SUPPORTOPERATIONS // Surf Life Saving Illawarra is #warning swimmers, surfers and divers not to enter the water at #Bulli and Sandon Point beaches due to a significant number of large #sharks in the area feeding on a dead #whale carcass.
— Surf Life Saving NSW (@slsnsw) September 11, 2020
📷 Rohnin Henry Micale pic.twitter.com/4BqBojtAwy
Police are have tied a rope around the whale carcass and are expected to try and pull it out of the rocks at any moment.
Council lifeguards are at the beach waiting for a representative from National Parks to arrive so they can plan to remove the dead whale.
Because the carcass is wedged against rocks it is difficult to reach from land. Most likely the council and National Parks rangers will have to wait for high tide and drag it out to sea.
A police boat has also arrived.
Bulli freelance photographer Georgia Matts said she watched two local boys trying to coax the white pointer, which looked to be 5m long, towards them.
“They were throwing out a bait hook, trying to film it, then one of the boys sat on the boat and put his toes in the water,” Matts told The Saturday Telegraph.
“It was just swimming around really placid, it didn’t come up to them or anything, if anything it was swimming away and they drove the boat away to follow it.”
Matts said she sent a drone out on Friday morning after hearing reports a tiger shark was eating a whale carcass of Bulli beach on Thursday night.
“I sent the drone out and just watched from my phone. I’ve never seen anything like it. The clouds were coming over too, so it became a bit eerie,” she said.
“Putting the footage onto the computer made me realise it was probably bigger than I first thought. I certainly won't be surfing over the next few days, but all morning there’s been people out surfing close at Woonona.”
Matts, a keen surfer, said the shark was spotted at a popular surf break “where you paddle 500m out to sea” to catch the best waves. ”So it‘s definitely put a lot of locals into shock.”
Even if the carcass is removed today, the beach is likely to remain closed for another day in case more sharks are drawn to the smell.
Crowds of locals have been arriving at the beach to score a look at the shark feeding frenzy, with around 200 people crowding the beach by 11am.