Marine Apex Predators. Shark Encounters.

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Rockhunter62 said:
Yes Bush but Lake Maquarrie has sea access so it's not surprising.

Cheers

Doug

What surprises me is though someone like a Marine Scientist that `I` would presume would have spent thousands of hours in the Ocean Diving and Snorkeling to come unstuck in an inlet bay in shallow water just having a splash around on a hot day.
Just bad luck for the poor guy.
Small story to go with this as follows.
Lucky Boy.
My brother of Emu Park and some readers here will know who he is. Locals call him Micky Fynn.
A retired Deep Sea Diver who was employed by our Defence Force as a Hydrographic Surveyor in Oceanography and Navigator on the HMAS Port Moresby Civil Division drawing and plotting charts around The Solomon Islands in the mid 70`s.
Being a heath and fitness fanatic maniac he use to go for a swim off of Emu Park Beach every second or third morning.
There was a buoy or marker out off the beach there a couple of hundred meters out the back .
He would use this marker as a distance guide of which he would swim around and swim back.
On one particular morning a Fisherman catches a World record Tiger Shark 5.5 meters right in that vicinity.
`i` think they were winching it up the beach when he arrived there.
He now walks the beach for exercise.
The biggest shark caught in Queensland is a 5.5m Tiger shark caught at Emu Park on 10 March 2012.
 
We have sharks hear all the time

Every morning the hellcopter go over my house as it is following the shore line looking out for sharks

We get multi media message saying shark alert
 
Shingle Slitters point Yarrawonga Park is a very popular picnic area and boat ramp on the weekends. Its less then a kilometer walk along the lake shore from where we live. When our three were still young we would picnic there, swim and take them fishing.
I sometimes swing the coin detector there during the week when its relatively quiet and few people are around .
Shark sightings in Lake Macquarie have been increasing over the last decade and many believe that is due to the commercial fishing ban that has allowed fish stocks to multiply and attracting sharks to enter the lake to feed and also breed there.
https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/622122/shark-in-lake-may-be-great-white/interactive/

Lake Macquarie has a shoreline of 174 kilometres, with more than 11,000 hectares of surface water and an average depth of 9.7 metres. With a volume four times that of Sydney Harbour, there is a lot of water to house a lot of fish. Angling has improved considerably since the introduction of a commercial fishing ban in 2002.
Its touted to be the biggest salt water lake in The Southern Hemisphere...
 
Bull Sharks, Hammerheads & Great Whites (no doubt other species too) all get into Lake Macquarie thru Swansea Channel.
Surprising how many tourists think the lake is separated from the ocean & shark free. A Marine Biologist would know they're there & the risk (still low) but probably enjoys a swim too.
It's the chance you take when swimming in any waters where sharks are.
More shark sightings there over the last ~20 years are likely due to commercial fishing being stopped in 2002, better management & more mobile phones to capture sightings.
Do a YouTube search, plenty on there.
 
goody2shoes said:
We have sharks hear all the time

Every morning the hellcopter go over my house as it is following the shore line looking out for sharks

We get multi media message saying shark alert
Was down the South Coast last week & seen that Mollymook patrolled beach was using a drone to check for sharks. Apparently the drone can set off an alarm/alert for nearby surfers/swimmers + the drone can automatically identify species.
 
If we have siting of sharks they will bring in drones and the hellcopter will hover over it...

It is part of life living by the ocean
 
This is where the attack happened ,top left of the picture.

1611528272_fdcf61b1-b348-4a20-8fa9-7bb4913bf00e.jpg
 
Interesting Picture nucopia cheers,
Is that a home drone shot or pinched off of the net.
If that is your locality you may have heard by now the local gossip on the actual details.
Looks as if that area is a little quiet on public attendance and some larger vessels in the anchorage indicating more depth.
My guess is solo swimmer doing the Australian Crawl Freestyle while wife snoozing on the beach.
Splash splash out in the open would certainly get cruisers attention.
So many variables on why but basically Sharkey was hungry.
Sick shark or slow injured shark or inquisitive shark but sharks are always hungry.
 
1990. Mate of mine and his parents moved to a town called Howard in Queensland. By memory, 45 minutes inland from Hervey Bay, town nearby called Childers.

We were perhaps 15 years old then, loved our fishing. Asked the publican who'd lived in the town his whole life if anyone's ever caught a shark in the town river? Nope was the answer. Not this far inland.

Next day we took 2 small game reels and roller tip rods we had to just near the town bridge. We used to go catch mulloway back home, so had small game reels with 50lb line and roller tip rods.

Bang. Within an hour, the reel drag screamed!.: caught a 6 foot bull shark . Hour later, a 4 foot white tip reef shark. Considering they were caught so far inland, the locals had no idea sharks were in their swimming river.
 
Growing up in the 80's surfing at manly beach or at best trying to they had shark alarm sirens.

Our biggest problem was the effluent pipe was supposedly only 50 meters out (i believe about 2k's now) So on the right tide with the right onshore wind was trying not to get bitten by the mossy turd shark and trust me that was scary but pity the poor bloke that had to suck it up for that gorgeous wave.

Whales are in abundent numbers these days and what do all animals like to do with plenty of food around?
I don't know for sure but maybe ask a kangaroo with 3 boyfriends at once capability?
 
I`ve listened to & have heard so many opinions by so many Experts about sharks over many years.
Sharks this & Sharks that. What they do. What they do not do.
Their not actually out to eat you ect ect.
Bottom Line.
If a Shark is hungry he/she will devourer whatever it takes to get a mouthful of meat.
Their not fussy when it comes down to this in certain situations.
Having fixed gills they constantly need tobe moving for oxygen so they use much energy and constantly need feeding.
There are some exceptions of where footage has shown sharks sleeping in channels where a high flow of water and oxygen is present proving they can be stationary.
I have not seen a Seal on the coastline for some time so Great Whites yum yum Cruiser will find another option.
I rarely see a turtle (Tiger Sharks Delicacy ) so what are they going to target next.
Any where any time is my motto.
Having trouble locating a news clip I wanted to paste for you readers.
Where a Bull Shark 6ft`a is snaking it`s self along a fair distance over river rocks with a little trickle of water running over.
Blatantly obvious it just trying to get upstream for the school of brackish fish water mullet.
Potentially also it maybe just seeking fresher water to clean out it`s gills which could indicate a sick slow shark.
Certainly swimming in murky water is not recommended as Sharks make mistakes and not having a clear visual decreases their sensory perceptions.
These days with the increase of Cruisers around `i` enter the ocean cautiously and quietly.
I do not splash around and `i` swim in a breast stroke stealth fog style fashion.
I do not do butterfly or any other ridiculous come & eat me movements.
These creatures can move at great speed in excess of 50 k/m per / h.
They can strike and be gone quicker than you know what has hit you.
I do not say don`t go swimming just add a little caution.
Any Where . Any Time.
 
Ive on ever seen sharks on tour dives , but after hearing the Queensland shark safe add a couple of weeks ago I stopped water detecting in the morning and evenings . Id rather come face to face with a snake than a shark .
 
Gem in I said:
Growing up in the 80's surfing at manly beach or at best trying to they had shark alarm sirens.

Our biggest problem was the effluent pipe was supposedly only 50 meters out (i believe about 2k's now) So on the right tide with the right onshore wind was trying not to get bitten by the mossy turd shark and trust me that was scary but pity the poor bloke that had to suck it up for that gorgeous wave.

Whales are in abundent numbers these days and what do all animals like to do with plenty of food around?
I don't know for sure but maybe ask a kangaroo with 3 boyfriends at once capability?

Are you referring that the Kangaroo was Gang Rapped or the boyfriends are Raving Homosexual Poofters of which reminds me.
A Marine biologist named Theo Brown was diving with his mate under Roseville Bridge in Sydney early 60`s.
His mate that was accompanying him was attacked by a shark.
He died some days later.
Theo after then dedicated his works to the research on Shark Behavior.
Interesting link below which sort of indicates that White Pointers favor Larger Food.

History Records of Attacks in Australia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_shark_attacks_in_Australia
 
Another Shark Story.
A group of blokes in a 14ft Quinny were on a spearfishing and fishing holiday in QLD.
They got caught up in a unexpected storm on a day trip out and sort refuge on a small type of Atoll Island.
For 10 days they were stranded quite some distance miles away from their base camp at Heron Island.
They ended up eating things like captured sea birds, some small baby turtles for soup and some small reef sharks.
They would go out in shallow water and splash around and entice the reef sharks tobe speared for tucker.
On one of the days a larger tiger shark appeared heading towards one of the splashers.
I heard he ran for his life hobbling over the coral patches.
I heard the Tiger was around 12ft long.
 
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