Shock as great white shark washes up at Henley Beach South
A 2.7m shark washed up on a popular beach in Adelaide’s west on Monday, prompting an insane rescue attempt – before another turned up dead.
A great white shark stranded at Henley Beach was pulled into deeper water by a group of brave beachgoers on Monday morning.
Walkers spotted the 2.7m shark on the sand near the Torrens outlet at Henley Beach South and rushed to help.
Footage shared to social media showed them springing into action, as they attempted to guide the large predator back into deeper waters.
Another video then shows the shark swimming on its own in shallow water.
But the story quickly took a grim turn.
Not long after the rescue, another shark – roughly the same size – was found dead on the sand just north of the outlet.
While it’s unclear if it is the same shark, the timing and location have left locals rattled.
The incident comes amid a spike in shark sightings across South Australia’s coast, with reports stretching from Adelaide’s metro beaches to Yorke Peninsula.
Drone footage shared by Shark Watch SA shows a three metre great white swimming right alongside the Ardrossan jetty, and it looks like it’s been coming back here for the past few days.
“We look forward to sharing more footage of this shark if it decides to stick around,” the group posted, urging locals to help track its movements.
“There’s no reason why we can’t uncover a great breakthrough … by documenting the movement of this shark from a safe distance.”
Kristy Mahomet, who stopped by the Ardrossan jetty after seeing the video online, said it had made her think twice.
“It’s definitely a concern to hear about so many sharks being sighted so close to the shore,” she said.
“My young family and I spend a lot of time at SA beaches so it is definitely something that I pay attention to.”
Emmie Georgiou, another onlooker, said the recent spike in sightings raised bigger questions.
“It makes me wonder ‘what’s happening in our oceans?’ ‘Do the sharks have enough food?’ or ‘is there a deeper reason behind this?’,” she said.
“Swimmers and beachgoers need to be far more cautious and stay alert.”
In April, three South Aussies were hailed as heroes after rescuing a stranded great white shark on a sandbar between Ardrossan and Tiddy Widdy Beach.
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Originally published as Shock as great white shark washes up at Henley Beach South
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