Hundreds of sharks filmed in bait fish feeding frenzy near Byron Bay | Australia news
Large numbers of baitfish have attracted hundreds of sharks to feed in the shallow waters around Byron Bay, creating dramatic scenes at one of Australia’s most popular holiday destinations.
The event, which lasted several days, was recorded by many Byron locals who shared footage of the sharks feeding on the large school of fish, including black tip whales, dusky whales and bull sharks.
Footage of the massive splash of sharks feasting on a bait ball at Byron’s Tallow Beach as snorkelers swam nearby was widely shared on social media. In the video, the sharks can be seen herding a school of baitfish in a feeding frenzy near the rocky shore.
Jakob de Zwart, one of the Byron Bay photographers who filmed the show, was walking by the Byron lighthouse when he came across people looking at Tallow Beach and pointing at it. Luckily, his drone was in his car nearby.
“When the drone went up and I got a top-down view, it was just like ‘okay, this thing is next level big.’ I was going higher and higher and higher just to figure out where this thing ended up… and then I was watching this thing go towards there, there are undoubtedly 100 sharks here,” he said.
“[The sharks] We were very close. “We’re talking knee-deep water… and they were just coming in and fluttering around the bait ball,” he said.
Adam Smith, a professor at James Cook University and chairman of marine environmental organization Reef Ecologic, said Australians were “very lucky” to have this natural phenomenon in their backyard.
“There are very few places in the world where you can see these magnificent wild creatures up close and in such numbers, close to a small town or even a big city,” Smith told Guardian Australia.
Daryl McPhee, associate professor of environmental science at Bond University, said the event was “absolutely spectacular viewing for the finds.”
McPhee, who has witnessed this type of feeding on the coast over the last 40 years, called it “definitely not something people see every day.”
Although swimmers and snorkelers have been filmed in the water near sharks, both experts warn that the water is not a safe place for humans when this natural phenomenon occurs.
“It’s great that people can see nature so close in all its purity on our beaches and headlands, but it also presents challenges in terms of understanding what you’re seeing. [and] I respect what you see,” Smith said.
“Some people are probably pushing the limits a little too far and trying to swim or snorkel with these sharks, and there are inherent risks of people being bitten or potentially losing their lives.”
McPhee reiterated this warning: “Even though most of the sharks out there are small, they can still deliver a bite and are definitely in feeding mode… People shouldn’t be in the water and definitely shouldn’t be snorkeling and getting close-ups.”
The bait fish started disappearing yesterday, and the sharks followed. De Zwart visited Tallow Beach yesterday and found the situation “back to normal”.
