SOURCE: Newcastle Herald
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Newcastle’s beaches will be closed for a record fifth day in a row on Wednesday morning, after four shark sightings in 24 hours, a police boat’s close encounter and the discovery of the washed-up remains of a dolphin suspected to have been killed by a shark. Nobbys beach inspector Scott Hammerton was on a jet-ski investigating a shark lingering at the end of the breakwall about 2.30pm on Tuesday when water police called him to the northern end of Burwood beach.
‘‘A four-metre great white came up to the police launch, had a look at the boat, flicked its tail and went underneath it,’’ Mr Hammerton said.
‘‘It was right on the surface, about 50metres behind the waves, before heading into the surf zone.
‘‘At this point, we decided to call it off, it was not worth getting any closer.’’
Mr Hammerton said the sightings confirmed there were at least two sharks cruising along the city’s coastline.
Earlier in the morning, lifeguards spotted a large shark off Stockton breakwall and were also called to a reported sighting at Dudley.
‘‘When the guards went down, all they could find was a sunfish but we’ve seen sunfish and sharks together in the past,’’ Mr Hammerton said.
Surfer Craig Hollier, of Garden Suburb, said the seriousness of the situation hit home after he saw a dead dolphin washed on to the rocks at Leggy Point, at the southern end of Burwood beach.
‘‘It was a full dolphin except there was a section of its tail missing,’’ he said.
‘‘It could have been there for a day or two because you could smell it a mile away.’’
Mr Hollier said the dolphin had ‘‘definitely’’ been bitten.
‘‘People hear about the great white but they still go out – this photo shows what can happen to someone.’’
Mr Hollier had gone surfing between 11.30am and 2.30pm on Tuesday with his 14-year-old son, saying he had believed authorities were monitoring the risk and they were relatively safe.
‘‘But I won’t be going back to any Newcastle beaches tomorrow – I’ll be heading to Catherine Hill Bay instead,’’ he said.
The chairman of the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service, Cliff Marsh, said the shark was ‘‘15 foot and ... a real menace’’.
‘‘It’s been on patrol from Swansea to Nobbys and back again. There’s definitely more than one of them out out there too, there’s been a population explosion,’’ Mr Marsh said.
Mr Hammerton said the city’s beaches had been having one of the busiest summers in about 15 years before the first confirmed shark sighting near Merewether baths at midday on Saturday.
Lifeguards have since seen at least one shark each day on their jet ski patrols stretching from Merewether to Stockton, from 6.30am to dusk.
Mr Hammerton said it had been difficult to ascertain whether some of the sightings were of the same shark or different animals.
‘‘There seems to be a lot of life in the water now,’’ he said.
‘‘The only change in variables is from Friday night to Saturday morning we had an upwelling and the water temperature dropped from 23 to 18 degrees overnight.
‘‘The north-easterly winds pushed surface water down and replaced it with deep water from the south, which is nutrient rich and attracts more sea life.
‘‘The mixing of the warm and the cold water, that’s all I can put it down to.’’
Despite some bold swimmers and surfers hitting the surf early on Tuesday, Mr Hammerton said the continued sightings made any ocean activity a risk.
‘‘It’s been pretty wet the past few days but Tuesday was the first day that tested us – the sun’s out, there are nice clean waves and an easterly swell so we did have the odd tourist and a few country folk ask us what’s been going on,’’ he said.
‘‘But we’re still sticking to strict protocol, we don’t want to see anyone injured.’’
Mr Hammerton said lifeguards were informing beach-goers of the dangerous conditions by answering questions on the beach, putting up signs and making regular announcements over the loudspeaker.
‘‘We all want to get back in water too – we’re all surfers and ocean swimmers and are missing the water, craving it – but we still have quite a few shark sightings, which means it’s just not safe to open,’’ he said.
Mr Hammerton said lifeguards would liaise with water police and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter to form a strategy for the coming days, but that reopening the beaches would only be considered after a prolonged period without any sightings.
‘‘We’ve never closed the beaches for this long before, but we want to make sure they don’t open prematurely,’’ he said.
‘‘We want to do everything we can to be 100per cent sure that there are no more sharks in the area but right now, every time we look, we see one.’’
An update is expected on Wednesday morning after lifeguards complete a patrol.
Retired lifeguard Warren Smith, who worked the sands since 1975 until last year, said the closure had never been matched during his tenure.
‘‘Definitely not with one individual shark coming along and being a menace the way it is,’’ Mr Smith said. ‘‘[I’ve seen] nothing of this nature or with such consistency.’’
While schools of hammerheads had plagued the beaches years ago, Mr Smith said they were more centred on Stockton Bight.
Chloe Black, Alaura Duncan and Tyler Peisley, who are leaders with Christian Crusaders holiday camp, brought 47 children from Lake Macquarie to Nobbys beach for a swim on Tuesday.
‘‘It was a bit of a surprise that the beach was closed, but we know it’s for our own safety – we don’t want to get bitten by a shark,’’ Ms Black said.
‘‘The kids know we have their best interests at heart and are playing football and having a sandcastle competition. We’ll take them to a swimming pool later today.’’
Annabel and James Felton Taylor and their three sons made their monthly trip from Dungog to Nobbys beach for a swim and weren’t aware the beaches had been shut.
‘‘But we understand why they have been closed,’’ Mrs Felton Taylor said.
‘‘We were keen for a quick swim and we’re happy to risk a very shallow dip.’’
IT may be hunting stingrays, it’s probably not travelling with a newborn and it could be a local.
While it has grabbed attention since the city’s beaches were shut down on Saturday, Manly Sea Life Sanctuary life sciences manager Rob Townsend said Newcastle’s star shark is behaving in a fairly standard manner.
Observations that the shark was moving between Nobbys and Stockton could be linked to its diet, as it sought out stingrays in the mouth of the Hunter River, Mr Townsend said.
‘‘Your classic image of them ripping a seal apart is a bit misleading,’’ he said.
‘‘The majority of white sharks’ diet is stingrays, and it may be looking for them, as they are found in that kind of environment.’’
The species was regularly found in waters around Stockton Bight, he said, but it was more common for small sharks to approach the shallows than mature five-metre animals.
‘‘Really large white sharks, while they can be found closer to shore, generally you expect to see them a little further off unless they were searching for prey.’’
Mr Townsend said water temperature was less a factor for great whites than other species, including bull sharks.
Theories the creature was a new mother with a smaller shark in tow were also out of character, he said.
‘‘I think [the shark having a pup in tow] would be highly unlikely,’’ he said. ‘‘There’s never been any evidence of parental behaviour in sharks.’’
While beaches remained closed as a precaution on Tuesday, Mr Townsend said he was unable to tell whether the shark was aggressive even if it did come close to humans.
Boating and shallow swimming were activities that would probably be safe, he said, but added that whites were a species that demanded respect because of their record interacting with humans.
‘‘I wouldn’t go jumping in the water spearfishing or as a lone surfer,’’ he said.
A five-metre shark has been spotted off Stockton breakwall and at Dudley on Tuesday morning, leaving a question mark over when Newcastle beaches will reopen.
The council said all beaches remain shut and are unlikely to reopen on Tuesday.
"Lifeguards are beginning to see large schools of bait fish swimming near the beaches this afternoon, which have been a draw for the Great White shark spotted [on Monday]," the spokeswoman said.
"An update will be provided [Wednesday] morning or later [Tuesday] afternoon if the situation changes."
Redhead beach is also closed due to heavy surf.
Nobbys beach inspector Scott Hammerton said council lifeguards expected to sight more sharks around the high tide at 2.30pm and would be on jet skis patrolling from Stockton to Merewether up until dusk.
Mr Hammerton said lifeguards had seen at least one large shark every day since Saturday, but it was difficult to ascertain whether it was the same animal or a number of different sharks.
He said beaches would only reopen after lifeguards and the Hunter Westpac rescue helicopter could confirm a prolonged period without spotting any sharks.
‘‘We all want to get back in the water too, but we’re still having quite a few shark sightings which means its not safe to open,’’ he said.
‘‘We don’t want to take any chances.’’
Retired lifeguard Warren Smith, who worked the sands since 1975 until last year, said he had never seen a shark close the city's beaches for so long.
"Definitely not with one individual shark coming along and being a menace the way it is," Mr Smith said.
"[I've seen] nothing of this nature or with such consistency."
While schools of hammerheads had plagued the beaches years ago, Mr Smith said they were more centred on Stockton Bight and rarely lingered as long as the Great White apparently has in recent days.
He said he felt for lifeguards as they pushed into a fourth summer day of closing the city's beaches.
They would be watching the shark and ensuring public safety above all else, he said.
"[In a situation like this] the council lifeguards are really on edge the whole time to ensure they are covering the whole area," he said.
"You've got to feel for these guys as they've got to manage all that, but people want to go to the beach."