Drone footage shows great white sharks feasting on dolphin carcass

A YouTuber’s drone footage returned a shark feeding frenzy off the coast of California, close to nearby swimmers.

Footage has emerged of the moment that several great white sharks were filmed ripping into a dolphin carcass off the coast of California on June 14.

The footage – obtained by Storyful – was originally captured by Carlos Gauna who shared the drone footage to his YouTube page.

Great white sharks can be seen biting and shaking the carcass, swimming away, and coming back.

Gauna said in the YouTube write-up that the sharks were “just yards away from swimmers. I don’t know who the folks on the boat are, but they got a first row seat to the show.”

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The sharks were seen circling the carcass before tucking in. Picture: Storyful/Carlos Gauna.

Gauna told Storyful this was the first time he’d seen behaviour like this from a shark off the coast.

“I’ve been filming sharks off the California coast for a couple years, and have never seen them eating such [a big carcass] so close to humans,” he said.

Gauna told Storyful he has noticed larger sharks appearing along the coast, and said they are showing “much less shy behaviour around humans.”

He told Storyful he has seen great white sharks “along various locations from near Santa Monica to Point Dume in Malibu, and into Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.”

Guana films along the coast to remind people there is wildlife in the area, he said.

“Keeping our shores clean, picking up our trash, and being respective of wildlife’s domain should be our focus as beachgoers,” he said.

The footage comes after a tragic incident closer to Australian shores, which saw 60-year-old Rob Pedretti mauled by a three-metre great white at Salt Beach near Kingscliff on June 7. He died from his injuries.

60-year-old surfer Rob Pedretti. Picture: Supplied.

The victim’s best mates paid tribute to their friend, and said he would be ‘angry’ at the monster great white that killed him but would not want the rogue creature culled.

There have now been three fatal shark attacks in Australia in 2020.

Gary Johnson, 57, an experienced diver was killed by a shark near Cull Island in Esperance on Western Australia’s south coast in January.

A shark also killed 23-year-old Queensland ranger Zachary Robba in April off North West Island some 50km east of Rockhampton.