A paddleboarder has told how he was “stalked” by a shark while trying to get a closer look at a dead whale floating in the ocean north of Wollongong.
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Ben Reid, from Bundeena, used his GoPro to capture a number of sharks in a feeding frenzy around the mammal’s large, lifeless body off Wattamolla beach in the Royal National Park.
One can be seen thrashing in the water as it feasts on the carcass.
The footage, provided to the Mercury, shows Mr Reid standing on a rock ledge in the water as the sharks circle. Underwater vision also shows one of the sharks up close.
The 35-year-old said he and his mate heard about the whale and decided to check it out on Thursday afternoon.
“I went in on the paddleboard at first and got a bit freaked out by the thing [a shark]; it stalked me all the way out there and all the way back in,” he told the Mercury.
“So, I sort of found a little ledge on the rock that I could stand on and put my hand in with the GoPro and have a bit of a look.”
Mr Reid saw three sharks in the water – one big white, a juvenile white and what appeared to be a tiger – and said he was stalked by “the big guy”.
“He came under my board and he was well bigger than my twelve-foot-six paddleboard, which scared the crap out of me,” he said.
“I only made it maybe three quarters of the way out to the whale carcass and then turned around and paddled back in.”
The whale’s body, estimated to be 20 metres long, first became lodged on rocks near the beach on September 17.
It has since broken free and washed onto the sand.
The presence of the carcass has resulted in increased shark activity in the area and the NSW National Park and Wildlife Service has warned visitors to stay out of the water.
Asked why he chose to defy the warning, Mr Reid said: “I’ve always been on the water. I’m not really that scared of sharks.”
“I was really keen to see it up close [then] all the things started swimming up underneath me and it scared the absolute crap out of me, to be honest, so I got out of there as quick as I could,” he said.
Welfare group ORRCA has said the whale was male but its species was yet to be confirmed.
A member of the group had estimated the whale was about 20 metres, though its position in shallow water meant no formal measurement has been taken.
Mr Reid described the sheer size of the dead animal and its presence as “pretty amazing”.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever seen anything like that,” he said.
“I’ve always loved David Attenborough growing up and it was a bit of a David Attenborough experience firsthand.
“On the paddleboard, it was a bit hairy because you can’t really see what was going on; I had my mate on the rock yelling at me, going ‘get out, get out, it [a shark] is following ya’.
“Then I saw the shadow going under my board and I thought ‘oh Jesus, maybe he’s right’ and paddled back in.”
From the safety of the rock ledge, Mr Reid filmed the experience as he stood in the water.
“I was just leaning out as far as I could and he [the shark] could see me on the rock,” he said.
“I think the big guy was defending his territory because every time I leant out over the rock and he’d have a bite, he’d come straight back in towards me just to say ‘get out of the water’ kind of thing and then take back off again – which was pretty bloody cool.”
Mr Reid told how the biggest of the sharks, which he estimated was about four metres, grabbed hold of the carcass and ripped chunks off it.
“They must be bloody hard, whale skins, because the chunks that they were taking out weren’t that big,” he said.
“It didn’t look like much was coming off, it was just like a bit of skin and stuff coming off there and then there’d be bits of loose skin floating around in the water.
“You can sort of see that in the footage, little bits of flesh floating past.”
The emergence of Mr Reid’s videos came after two Sydney brothers filmed themselves swimming near the carcass at the weekend.
As visitors and thrill-seekers alike flock to the beach for a look at the carcass, authorities are working on how to get rid of it.
Towing the dead whale back out to sea is one of a range of options being considered by the NSW environment office.
However, the whale’s size and the beach’s location – more than 15km by car or boat from the nearest town – meant disposal options were limited, a spokesperson said.
– with AAP
Andrew Pearson
Andrew grew up in the western Riverina town of Hay and has strong ties to the region. He is a former DA journo who has a passion for breaking news and has covered everything from council and politics to crime and court.
Andrew grew up in the western Riverina town of Hay and has strong ties to the region. He is a former DA journo who has a passion for breaking news and has covered everything from council and politics to crime and court.
