Locals have been taken aback by the sight of a shark swimming metres from the shoreline at a popular Sunshine Coast beach.
Beachgoers noticed it at Dicky Beach, in front of the main car park, about 5am on November 1.
Kirsty Cammish was among those to film the moment.
“We’d headed down to the beach for sunrise and watched another couple filming something,” she said.
“We thought we saw a fin but we weren’t close enough to identify what it was, assuming it was maybe a dolphin.
“About 30 minutes passed and my husband spotted the fin again, so we ran down for a closer look and were absolutely stunned.
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“It was a pretty incredible thing to see first thing in the morning.”
Byron Durovic also captured footage.
“I was shocked when I saw it,” he said.
“My partner and I woke up at 4am to watch the sunrise.
“I chucked my boardies on to go for a swim and when we went down, I saw a fin about 5m from my feet.
“I told my partner ‘I swear I just saw a shark’ but she didn’t believe me.
“It (then) popped out right in front of us, belly touching the water. It was swimming insanely slow, almost as if it was just going for a stroll.
“I went in the water, a bit deeper, to try get a closer look but it disappeared and then reappeared about 30 seconds later.”
Queensland University of Technology fish biologist Victoria Camilieri-Asch viewed the footage and said the shark could be a juvenile blacktip or a juvenile from a larger whaler shark species, like a bull shark.
She said sharks can be found in shallow areas, particularly between high and low tide lines.
“These areas serve as important habitats for foraging and mating, and often provide nursery grounds for younger sharks, which benefit from more complex habitats such as these to hide from larger predators,” she said.
Ms Camilieri-Asch said it was relatively common for sharks to get so close to the shoreline but it was rarer for people to see them there.
“It is a natural behaviour being displayed, particularly in warmer months when prey is becoming more abundant,” she said.
Ms Camilieri-Asch cited a recent sighting at Snapper Rocks, where dozens of blacktip sharks were observed in a large feeding event near the shore.
“Although such events are normal, they are rare to witness up close and thus very special,” she said.
Related story: Shark tracked along shoreline by lifesavers
Meanwhile, Griffith University senior lecturer in marine ecology Vincent Raoult said the footage appeared to show a sandbank shark.
“The most likely explanation for this is baitfish near the shore, which it’s trying to feed on,” he said.
“It’s very common at this time of year, when baitfish are near the shore spawning.”
Sunshine Coast News has reached out to Surf Life Saving Queensland and Dicky Beach Surf Life Saving Club for comments.
