Beached four-metre great white shark dies on beach in Northern New South Wales

A four-metre great white shark has tragically died after being spotted violently thrashing in the shallows of a popular beach just metres from surfers.

less than 2 min read

March 4, 2024 - 2:37PM

A monster great white shark that was spotted violently thrashing in the shallows after washing ashore at a popular beach has been euthanised.

Lifeguards first spotted the four-metre shark struggling in the water in front of Kingscliff Beach Bowls Club, near the Queensland border on the NSW coast, on Monday morning.

Local Suzy Martin, who took stunning footage of the beached shark, said she thought it was a dolphin in trouble at first.

“It was clearly struggling ... It wasn’t well at all,” she told Yahoo News.

Surfers were quick to paddle ashore and a huge crowd gathered on the beach as specialists from nearby Sea World on the Gold Coast were called to the scene.

A great white shark beached on a Northern NSW beach this morning.

Several residents too to social media to share photos of the shark. Picture: Suzy Martin (Facebook)

It was too late for the experts to save the shark’s life.

“Sadly, the shark was in a poor condition after beaching and the Sea World veterinary team administered drugs to make it comfortable before it passed away,” Sea World said in a statement.

“The shark appeared to have underlying health issues with the thrashing behaviour seen in the shallows prior to the beaching not normal for the species.

“While there were no unusual marks on the shark, the NSW Department of Fisheries will conduct a necropsy to try and identify a cause for the beaching.”