Heart of the Nation: Swansea 2281

WHAT a weird, unsettling photograph this is. You don’t quite know what you’re looking at.

140628 TWAM NO REUSE FEE APPLIES Shark at Swansea Pic : Kirsten Woodforth Picture: Captioned As

WHAT a weird, unsettling photograph this is.

You don’t quite know what you’re looking at. Has this large mako shark emerged from the depths to eyeball a terrified photographer in a dinghy out at sea? Is that blood in the water the aftermath of a fatal attack? It sends a shudder of primal fear down your spine.

Actually, Kirsten Woodforth took this shot during a pleasant Sunday afternoon stroll with her two kids, aged 10 and 12. They were down by the waterfront near their home in Swansea, south of Newcastle, and a boat had just come in after a game-fishing tournament. Usually they target species such as marlin, mahi mahi and tuna, says Woodforth, but on this day they’d hooked something that put a rather bigger bend in the rod. The shortfin mako, which grows to about 4m, is built like a torpedo and has an unusual metabolism that makes it warm-blooded – attributes that make it one of the greatest sprinters in the ocean, capable of swimming at more than 70km/h in short bursts.

The shark pictured, once landed and killed, was weighed and had samples taken from its body by a research scientist from the Department of Primary Industries. The head was then cut off. That’s what you’re looking at here: the decapitated head resting on the sand in shallow water next to the boat ramp.

Woodforth, 40, makes a living as a real estate photographer, so this image – a finalist in the ANZANG Nature Photographer of the Year award – is out of the ordinary for her. She knows it’s graphic and confronting, and the killing of sharks is a sensitive subject, but she hopes it will provoke discussion rather than anger. And the animal’s life wasn’t wasted. Makos are good eating. In a fittingly weird postscript to the story, the shark’s meat was donated to a local bible college.