Five hammerhead sharks stalk fishers in Lake Macquarie; Mum almost walks on sea snake

IT was a weekend of close encounters on the Central Coast with sharks and sea snakes. A fisherman and his son filmed five hammerhead sharks — up to 4m long — stalking their boat.

A FISHERMAN and his young son had a close encounter with five hammerhead sharks — two up to 4m long — at a popular waterskiing spot off Mannering Park yesterday.

Aron Martin, 27, and four-year-old son Banx were angling for the usual suspects of bream, flathead and whiting about 9am when two shark fins suddenly appeared alongside their 4.3m-long boat “Woly”.

“We were just drifting with our lines in when we saw the two fins and then, all of a sudden, five hammerheads were around our boat,” Mr Martin, whose video of one shark approaching his boat has gone viral overnight, told the Express Advocate.

Aron Martin and his son Banx had five hammerhead sharks stalk their boat. Banx, 4, was excited by the experience, his dad said.

“The two big ones had to be as long as my boat. It’s pretty concerning because a lot of people wakeboard and ski around here.

“I saw one boat with a skier behind it when the sharks were about.”

San Remo-based Mr Martin said he had been fishing in the area for more than two decades and “I’ve never seen hammerhead sharks here before”.

Scalloped hammerhead sharks are listed as vulnerable in NSW waters.

“I’ve known about the bull sharks, but I was really shocked to see hammerheads where lots of people swim,” he said. “I’m going to think twice about going in now. I usually let my (American Staffy) dog out for a swim in the deeper waters, but not now.”

He said his son was excited by what he saw.

“He loved it. We followed the sharks for about 40 minutes,” Mr Martin said.

He urged skiers and wakeboarders to take great caution in Lake Macquarie.

“I have been towed behind a boat myself in these waters, but I don’t know if I’ll do it again,” Mr Martin said.

Marine science expert Dr David Powter said while it was not uncommon for hammerhead sharks to be in Lake Macquarie, “I’m not specifically aware of them being in the Mannering Park area”.

“It’s quite common for hammerheads to be around Wangi Wangi to the north (in Lake Macquarie), and hammerheads are certainly known to reproduce in coastal bays,” Dr Powter, a senior lecturer at the University of Newcastle, said.

He said there have been two injury-related hammerhead shark attacks in Australia in recent years.

“One was in waters off Dampier (in Western Australia) in 2013, and the other was in Cairns in 2012,” Dr Powter said.

“Hammerhead sharks are not overly aggressive. They don’t have big mouths so they are unlikely to take people.”

According to the NSW Department of Primary Industries, there are three types of hammerhead — smooth, scalloped and great — in NSW waters. The great hammerhead is listed as vulnerable, while the scalloped hammerhead is an endangered species.

CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH SEA SNAKE

MELANIE Fentoullis was enjoying a walk along North Avoca beach with her husband and newborn baby yesterday afternoon when she made a rare sighting in this region — a potentially deadly 2m-long sea snake, more commonly found in the tropics.

A family spotted the unusual sight of sea snake stranded on the sand just south of North Avoca Surf Club yesterday. Picture: Melanie Fentoullis

“I know they are quite poisonous and I almost walked over it,” Dr Fentoullis told the Express Advocate.

“My husband (Sinclair Barry) and I were out walking with our new bub and we just couldn’t believe it.

Melanie Fentoullis and Sinclair Barry, pictured with their 10-week-old son Henry, at North Avoca beach.

“It was quite flighty and looked a bit distressed so we told surf lifesaving officials, but by the time they sent someone down the sea snake was gone.

“I just wonder how it arrived down the coast this far. It’s pretty fascinating.”

Tristan Varman, head of reptiles at Central Coast Arc and an experienced snake catcher, believed the species was an elegant sea snake which prefers the warmer waters of northern Australia.

“It’s unusual to see this particular type of sea snake this far south but it does happen when they get sucked down the east coast by the East Australian Current,” Mr Varman said.

The East Australia Current was made famous by the film Finding Nemo.

A scene from the movie Finding Nemo.

A family spotted the unusual sight of the potentially deadly sea snake stranded on the sand just south of North Avoca Surf Club yesterday. Picture: Melanie Fentoullis

“Sea snakes beach themselves when the water temperatures get too cold for them or they are in ill heath. It’s rare for them to be beached on the Central Coast but we have seen it happen before, although this is the first reported occasion of this happening in 2016,” Mr Varman said.

Though shy in nature unless threatened, many species of sea snakes are extremely venomous and great care should be taken if one is spotted on the beach.

“I would encourage people not to approach it and to remain calm,” Mr Varman said. “The best thing people can do is to contact local wildlife services for advice. Sea snakes aren’t adaptable to land at all and are likely to be in distressed state.”

Tips for dealing with sea snakes

• Alert a lifesaver or lifeguard about the sighting

• Do not approach — respect the snake’s health and your own

• Don’t panic and remain calm

• If no lifesaving service, contact your local wildlife rescuers for advice

• Always seek medical help if bitten, regardless of the snake type

• First aid treatment is the same for a sea snake bite as for a land snake

• Don’t wash the wound, don’t move the patient, apply pressure through an immobilisation bandage and seek urgent medical help

Source: Central Coast Arc