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‘A smorgasbord’: Fisherman films shark feeding frenzy off WA coast
A dead blue whale has caused a shark feeding frenzy off the West Australian coast, forcing the closure of several beaches.
Swimmers are being warned to stay out of the water after multiple sharks were spotted feeding on the 20 metre carcass near Rottnest Island.
Dozens of tiger sharks and bronze whalers have been filmed tearing into the dead whale as it drifted north-east of Thomson Bay ferry jetty.
Local fisherman Jono Riley estimates he saw “35 to 40 sharks all taking turns having a bite”.
“The biggest one would have been close to four metres,” Mr Riley told 9News.
“It’s like they were at a smorgasbord just taking one bite at a time before coming back for another.”
Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries officers are using the frenzy to their advantage; they’re hoping to tag a number of the apex predators as they chow down.
Some sharks had been sighted as close as 100m from the shore, forcing Rottnest Island Authority to close beaches within a one kilometre radius of the whale.
The closed beaches include Thomson Bay, Pinky Beach, The Basin and Longreach Bay.
Rottnest Island rangers are working with The Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries to track the whale’s movements and people have been warned they are entering the water at their own risk.
The whale is currently being towed out to sea. They hope the current will push the carcass out to sea.
The shark sightings come after several attacks in WA waters in recent months.
A search was called off for father-of-two Paul Millachip who was pulled under the water by a 4.5 metre shark off Port Beach in Fremantle on November 6.
Another search was also called off for missing free diver Matthew Phillips whose car and empty diving bag were found in Lancelin on November 8.
According to authorities, there have been 15 shark attacks in Australian waters this year, three of which were fatal.
