A shiver of sharks has been spotted feeding close to shore near a popular surfing spot on the Gold Coast on Australia’s east coast.
The large group of predators surprised spectators on the southern end of Rainbow Bay on Tuesday, near the renowned Snapper Rocks surf break.
It was not clear what species the sharks were, though the Tweed River, which reaches its mouth just south of Snapper Rocks, is known to be a bull shark nursery.
Footage posted to social media appeared to show the animals hunting.
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Sharks often swam close to shore when there were high numbers of bait fish, said Rob Harcourt, an emeritus professor of marine ecology at Macquarie University.
“Proximity to river outlets is where we’re more likely to find bait fish and therefore more likely to find sharks as well … particularly after a lot of rain.”
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It was “wonderful” for people to see sharks going about their daily lives in such close proximity, Dr Vanessa Pirotta, a wildlife scientist said.
“They were doing it close to shore and people had the opportunity to see them naturally foraging.”
Their sighting comes amid renewed criticism over the use of shark nets and drumlines after a two-year-old humpback whale was found dead while entangled in a net off the coast of New South Wales on Tuesday.
The Gold Coast sharks were recorded swimming in shallow water, despite shark nets and lethal drumlines farther offshore.
“Shark nets are not a silver bullet and animals can swim around them and underneath them,” Pirotta said.
Dr Olaf Meynecke, of Griffith University, said there was “basically no evidence” that shark nets and drumlines prevented shark bites.
In June, a leading shark researcher resigned from a Queensland advisory position after the state government announced a $88m expansion of its lethal shark control program.
Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson said in a statement: “What further proof do governments need that shark nets do not work, and can even attract sharks to beaches where they can feed on marine wildlife caught in these barbaric walls of death.”
