Video captures dozens of hammerhead sharks at popular Queensland beach
Footage has captured dozens of sharks off a popular Aussie beach in what is said to be the most significant shark activity in the area in more than a decade.
Dozens of endangered hammerhead sharks were spotted off a popular Gold Coast beach over the weekend in what has been described as the most significant shark activity in the area in more than a decade.
One video on social media taken from a drone above showed scalloped hammerheads hunting in front of Palm Beach Surf Club on the Gold Coast. Scalloped hammerheads, named for their elegantly scalloped hammer-shaped heads, are critically endangered.
In the clip, uploaded by @blondenomads on Instagram, the sharks were seen circling and attacking a “bait ball” near the shore.
A bait ball is when a school of fish crowd together in a ball-like formation that exposes the least number of fish when predators are near.
Burleigh MP Michael Hart posted a short video on Facebook from the shore which showed at least one shark in the waves.
“Small sharks attacking a bait ball at Palm Beach today. Stay out of the water if you see this near you,” he warned on Saturday.
One Gold Coast photographer did exactly the opposite, describing the opportunity to swim with them as a “privilege”.
“It was such an important and rare event for Burleigh and the Gold Coast,” Janaka Rodrigue told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
Marine biologist Olaf Meynecke also swam with the sharks off Burleigh Heads over the weekend with “close to 100 other people”.
Dr Meynecke, from Griffith University’s Coastal and Marine Research Centre, told ABC the juvenile sharks were not dangerous but people should still maintain a safe distance.
“Those juvenile ones don’t actually present any danger unless somebody tries to grab the tail and flip it around and kiss it,” he told the publication.
He said it was the most significant shark activity in the area for more than 15 years and there had actually been about 40 scalloped hammerhead sharks swimming off Burleigh Heads since late March.
They are attracted to the area by warm temperatures and schools of bait fish are bringing them close to shore.
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