Sharks galore at Byron Bay

It’s been everywhere online this past week, but if you’ve missed it just Google “Sharks at Byron Bay” and get ready to be amazed. The bait fish balls have been plentiful and packed this year it seems, and the predators are loving it.

The following is a section of the latest news from ABC North Coast (Australian Broadcasting Commission).

The link to the full story, with vids, is at the bottom of this post:

Byron Bay shark frenzy attracts onlookers and a warning to steer clear

A marine scientist has warned against getting in the ocean with sharks after footage emerged of swimmers at Byron Bay next to a huge school of bait fish and hundreds of the predators.

Bond University associate professor of environmental science Daryl McPhee said that although the feeding frenzy was a sign of a healthy marine ecosystem, it was an unsafe environment for humans.

Footage on social media has shown swimmers seemingly unaware they are within a few metres of sharks, while some footage shows snorkellers deliberately swimming among them.

"The sharks are feeding, so the risk lies in someone in the water simply being nipped," Dr McPhee said.

"It may not be a life-changing injury or a fatality, but it's still not what you want to see, particularly if someone was bitten and was bleeding with that large number of sharks around."

Authorities believe two Swiss nationals attacked by a shark at Crowdy Bay National Park last month were swimming in the vicinity of bait balls.

Shark behaviour

Huge schools of pilchards have been darkening the surf zone, mostly to the south of Cape Byron, for several days, attracting hundreds of sharks.

Dr McPhee said the species included black tip whalers, dusky whalers, bull sharks and other smaller whaler species.

He said neither the number nor the behaviour of the sharks was unusual.

"It's what sharks do, they herd the bait fish close to shore so they can use the shore as a barrier to trap the fish.

"It's behaviour that I have observed for over 40 years in south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales.

"It's not unusual but we certainty are getting better and better at filming it."

He said this year had been particularly productive for pilchards and feeding events had been happening often over the past six months, particularly off Byron Bay, Lennox Head, Moreton Island and Burleigh Heads.

Healthy ecosystem

He said bait fish populations had boomed in the coastal zone, possibly due to nutrient pulses from upwelling offshore or riverine outfalls.

The phenomenon has attracted more than just sharks.

Onlookers have been flocking to Tallow Beach, among them the annual influx of schoolies to Byron Bay.

Jimmy Keogh from Surf Life Saving New South Wales said lifeguards had been working overtime to advise people of the risk.

Mr Keogh said the human schoolies had been heeding the advice and not generally venturing to the south side of Cape Byron, which is unpatrolled.

"Obviously, it's pretty spectacular, but we are just advising people to use caution," he said.

 - AUTHOR: HANNAH ROSS

 - SOURCE: ABC NORTH COAST

FULL ARTICLE WITH VIDS HERE