A third confirmed sighting of a large great white shark (also known as a white pointer) in Twofold Bay since late November has raised concerns for the safety of swimmers and divers.
Retired commercial long-liner Garry Ballantyne was fishing in his 11 foot Savage with his wife Kathy and nephew Cody (aged 15) between the Navy Wharf and the shoreline when he saw a big dark shape in the depths.
“We were doing a few drifts and I saw a big black blob and just thought it was a ray,” Mr Ballantyne said.
“Then his fin came out of the water and he was huge. It came out the water about two and a half foot and the bottom part looked about 15 inches across.”
That fin would measure about 76 centimetres high and 30 centimetres across in metric.
“He circled the boat three times and chased the fish under the boat.
“A girl who was driving one of the log trucks on the Navy wharf was leaning over the back of the wharf and she yelled out ‘he’s huge!’”
Mr Ballantyne’s experience is the third reported close encounter with a large great white shark in recent months.
The first was by local salmon fishermen in late November 2008 very near to the same location.
The second was on Saturday December 6 when a boat sea anchor was attacked and tooth marks measuring almost five centimetres in width were left behind.
A shark expert from Sydney estimated the shark to be about five metres long and up to 20 years old.
“It was a big shark I tell ya,” Mr Ballantyne said on Monday afternoon, “and it was definitely a white pointer.” I’ve been a commercial fisher for a fair few years and I’ve seen some monsters while long lining.”
Mr Ballantyne said children had been diving off the wharf in the days leading up to the sighting and also water-skiing that same afternoon.
On Tuesday local purse seine fisherman and pilot Garry Warren said Twofold Bay was virtually empty of salmon and baitfish, all food sharks would be searching out.
“My prediction is that shark is hungry and if it comes across someone, seeing as it’s circling boats, it’s going to eat someone,” Mr Warren said.
“Salmon have all moved to the south and the north, there is a void of bait in Twofold Bay.”
Hopes are that the shark will follow the fish and move away but there’s no guarantee.
“The sheer size of it is the whole issue,” Mr Warren said.
“This is a monster.”
Mr Warren shares a popular belief that sharks are territorial and tomorrow, (Friday, January 23) marks the second anniversary of a brutal attack on Eden abalone diver Eric Nerhus.
A divers weight belt and vest gave Mr Nerhus the protection he needed to literally fight his way out of the shark’s mouth south of Eden.
Minister for Primary Industries Ian Macdonald said that citizens were more likely to die travelling to the beach than by a shark attack.
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