{"id":481597,"date":"2026-02-15T12:43:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T12:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/481597\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T12:43:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T12:43:26","slug":"solo-diver-recounts-brush-with-mako-sharks-off-tasmanian-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/481597\/","title":{"rendered":"Solo diver recounts brush with mako sharks off Tasmanian coast"},"content":{"rendered":"

Phillip Ellis Wells was on his own 20 metres underwater, 7 kilometres off the Tasmanian east coast, when the sunlight streaming through the crystal-clear water went dark.<\/p>\n

He was diving at Pulfers Reef, a rocky outcrop off Tasmania’s east coast that rises through the depths like an underwater mountain \u2014 better known for attracting fishermen than scuba divers.<\/p>\n

“I got a bit of shade, all of a sudden there was a flicker,” Mr Ellis Wells said.<\/p>\n

“I looked up and a mako shark \u2026 went over the top of me.”<\/p>\n

\"Seaweed<\/p>\n

Phillip Ellis Wells says he loves finding new spots to dive. (Supplied: Phillip Ellis Wells)<\/p>\n

The retired school principal had left White Sands Beach on a jet ski strapped with dive and safety gear, looking for an adventure.<\/p>\n

“I guess I’m the person who loves finding new spots \u2026 I love looking at marine life,” he said.<\/p>\n

But he had not expected marine life like this, a terrifying chance encounter 20 metres below the surface of the water.<\/p>\n

Mr Ellis Wells conservatively estimates the shark was 3 metres long.<\/p>\n

“It’s probably an underestimate. I don’t try to over exaggerate things,” Mr Ellis Wells said.<\/p>\n

“It cruised over me and I thought, ‘Well, I’ll just sit down low on the bottom and watch it cruise over me \u2026 so just stop there for a tick.'”<\/p>\n

Heart racing and unsure whether it was a mako or a white shark, Mr Ellis Wells knew he needed to make a plan.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The mako species, pictured, is considered the fastest of all sharks. (Flickr: jidanchaomian<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The shark then swam a little bit further away.<\/p>\n

“But I knew, I had a feeling that the shark knew I was there and was observing me,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Phillip Ellis Wells says he waited on the ocean floor to see what the shark would do. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

And then the shark came back, and it was not alone.<\/p>\n

“As I was grasping this situation, another shark, equally the same size, cruised over the top of me,” Mr Ellis Wells said.<\/p>\n

That’s two 3-metre mako sharks circling a lone diver.<\/p>\n

Mr Ellis Wells hid behind a boulder and checked how much air he had left in this tank.<\/p>\n

“They seemed to be a pair, they were going in the same direction, a little bit slower,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Seaweed<\/p>\n

Phillip Ellis Wells says diving is something he loves. (Supplied: Phillip Ellis Wells)<\/p>\n

Deciding whether to stay or go<\/p>\n

It was not long before he made eye contact with one of them.<\/p>\n

“I thought, ‘Well, this is more of a conflict situation than I’d hoped for,'” Mr Ellis Wells said.<\/p>\n

“I observed them going into the distance in the blue, but I knew, I just had a feeling, they were going to circle and come back.”<\/p>\n

The diver waited. He is not sure for how long, maybe five minutes.<\/p>\n

“It felt in a way it went very slowly, in a way it went very quickly,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The big decision was when to go.<\/p>\n

“I thought, ‘Well, clearly they’re not going to go away, I can’t really wait it out, so I’m going to have to come up at some stage.'”<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Phillip Ellis Wells says he tried to “remain very calm” during the encounter. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

Deep, fast breaths used up the air supply quickly and with just 100 bars left in his tank, Mr Ellis Wells knew it was time to go.<\/p>\n

“So I started to come up and ascend quite slowly and again just breathing very deeply,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Making sure I wasn’t panicking, because they pick up on [anything] like fish in stress, in distress.<\/p>\n

“The human in distress is the same thing, so [I’m] trying to remain very calm.”<\/p>\n

About halfway to the surface, the solo diver felt a presence, so he turned his head.<\/p>\n

One of the sharks was following him, about 10 metres behind.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Mako sharks are of the same taxonomic grouping as great whites. (Wikimedia Commons: Patrick Doll<\/a>)<\/p>\n

“I had this clear image of the head of the shark,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I thought, ‘Right, okay, this is getting a little bit more serious.'”<\/p>\n

After a heart-stopping race to the surface, the shark turned back and descended into the deep blue.<\/p>\n

But the drama was not over yet.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

As Phillip Ellis Wells surfaced, the shark appeared to descend back into the depths. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

In the panic, Mr Ellis Wells had lost sight of his anchor line to the jet ski. He ended up surfacing 100 metres away.<\/p>\n

“I have to say it’s probably the longest 100 metres I’ve swam for a while. The swim bit was probably where my heart was racing the most,” he said.<\/p>\n

“You can’t really look down and swim all at the same time with all the dive gear and so on.”<\/p>\n

Dropping the tank and scrambling onto his jet ski, Mr Ellis Wells caught his breath.<\/p>\n

He said two images stuck out the most when he reflected on the experience.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Phillip Ellis Wells vividly remembers the moment he noticed the shark following him. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

“One is when I looked up and first saw the first shark and the sun behind it, through the water,” Mr Ellis Wells said.<\/p>\n

“And the other image is when I was halfway up, two-thirds up, looking back and seeing the shark’s head following me.”<\/p>\n

He plans to dive again, but not at Pulfers Reef.<\/p>\n

“While I don’t mind taking calculated risks \u2026 doing something I really love, I think there’s a point where you need to say that’s enough and I think it’s too risky,” he said.<\/p>\n

As a former dive instructor, Mr Ellis Wells knows there will be questions about his decision to dive solo, and in such an unknown location.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Phillip Ellis Wells says he plans to continue diving, just not at Pulfers Reef. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

He has taught divers that they should always have a buddy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he says, at his age, there is not always someone reliable to go with.<\/p>\n

“There’s no doubt about [it], diving alone can come with some risk,” he said.<\/p>\n

“But at my age, that’s what I’m prepared to take.”<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the encounter, Phillip Ellis Wells says mako sharks are “absolutely beautiful”. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

Dry land and time have given Mr Ellis Wells time to reflect on his lucky escape.<\/p>\n

“They’re absolutely beautiful animals,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I mean, the mako shark is one of the, or is the fastest shark. So when they strike, they’re very quick.”<\/p>\n

Mr Ellis Wells said there was one positive thought that went through his head.<\/p>\n

“I thought \u2026 ‘Well \u00a0there are a lot of fish here, they’re hungry, there’s a lot more they can eat rather than me.'”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Phillip Ellis Wells was on his own 20 metres underwater, 7 kilometres off the Tasmanian east coast, when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[1313,64,63,38820,195857,50499,24675,244328,6344,244329,244331,128,2269,244330,120599,149328,2801,338],"class_list":["post-481597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-animals","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-coast","tag-deep-sea-diving","tag-diver","tag-diving","tag-mako-shark","tag-marine-life","tag-pulfers-reef","tag-scamander","tag-science","tag-shark","tag-shortfin-mako-shark","tag-snorkelling","tag-st-helens","tag-tasmania","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}