Watch: Video Shows Moment Australian Surfer Passes Over Shark
While catching a wave in Australia a few weeks ago, 19-year-old surfer Mitch Hargreaves passed right over a shark. Hargreaves posted a video of it from his GoPro on his Instagram account shortly after in which the shark can be clearly seen in the water, followed by him yelling “Shark!” to warn other surfers.
Hargreaves was surfing at Cellito Beach, North of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia, when he captured the evidence of the shark, according to The Daily Telegraph. Locals told him later that bull sharks are common in the area. Bull sharks are usually about seven to 11.5 feet in length and can weigh up to 500 lbs, according to National Geographic. Bull sharks are also one of the most likely types of shark to attack a human being, in part because humans and bull sharks both like shallow coastal waters.
Hargreaves told the Daily Telegraph that he had seen dolphins in the same area the day before, so he had brought his GoPro to try to get them on video. Little did he know he would end up getting something far more shocking on camera. He said he thought the shark was seaweed at first but as he got closer he realized it was a moving shark.
His father, who was surfing with him that day, was behind him but didn’t see the shark. The GoPro settings make it difficult to know exactly how large the shark was because the wide-angle setting on the camera makes objects in the distance look smaller than they really are.
Hargreaves told the Daily Telegraph that while this was the first time he’s ever seen a shark in the water, he will be on the lookout for sharks in the future, though that won’t stop him from surfing.
There were eight cases of unprovoked shark attacks in the NSW region of Australia in 2016. Of those eight, none resulted in death. In the whole of Australia that year there were 26 attacks total, both provoked and unprovoked, two of which resulted in death, according to data from the Taronga Conservation Society Australia.
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