When “hundreds” of sharks followed a giant bait ball into the shallows of Byron Bay, chilled locals watched on in silent awe. But there were shocked screams when two groups of divers plunged into the water on Monday.
One of them, 24-year-old professional diver and documentary photographer Joel Bryant, told Yahoo News it was “unreal” seeing the event underwater.
“I didn’t see any sharks for a good five minutes, then I got really close, and they all just swarmed,” he said.
His encounter at Tallow Beach, while thrilling, has proved controversial as vision was shared across social media, attracting millions of views and hundreds of comments.
Some were jealous of the experience, with one saying, “That was made [of] bucket list stuff,” and another calling it “brave”.
While others accused the divers of having a “death wish” or “asking for trouble”.
A few were concerned the dive could put the sharks in danger, because when they attack, it’s common for authorities to hunt them down.
Bryant responded that if a shark killed him, he’d want its life to be spared.
“The shark should never be the target, it’s my own choice, I’m going in the water,” he said.
“My family knows this, my friends know this.”
Professional diver Joel Bryant (right) revealed he was calm while swimming with the sharks. Source: Tina O’Donell/Joel Bryant
Drone operator’s ‘anxiety’ as divers encounter sharks
Multiple species were observed feeding on the bait ball, including black tip reef sharks and bronze whalers, but also bull sharks, a species associated with fatalities.
Drone operator Tina O’Donell was fascinated by the spectacle but as the divers swam towards them, she couldn’t contain her nervousness.
“My heart was racing, I felt like I was having an anxiety attack,” she told Yahoo.
“In the footage, you can see one of the sharks came close to one of the guys, and it looked like he bent down and patted it.”
There was one thought that repeated in her mind as she watched on – “Am I going to film one of these guys being attacked by a shark?”
Incredible spectacle as sharks feed
There was more to Monday’s spectacle than just the divers entering the water — the bait ball and the sharks it attracted drew dozens of onlookers who were happy to watch from the sand.
Sixty-one-year-old drone photographer Marc Wilson called it a “once in a lifetime” event, noting that dolphins and sharks were feeding on the bait ball together, and happily “co-existing”.
“I’ve spoken to locals who were born and bred here, and are in their sixties, and they’ve never seen anything like it,” he told Yahoo.
“I’ve been droning for five years, and seen bait balls the size of three or four football fields, and while you might get the odd dolphin swimming through it, but nothing compared to this.
“It was just amazing to witness it – sharks were beaching themselves with a mouthful of fish and then shuffling back into the ocean.”
A diver from one of the groups (centre-left) appeared to almost touch one of the sharks. Source: Marc Wilson
Diver responds to shark controversy
Bryant has had years of experience, including diving in shark hotspots in northern Western Australia, but he would never encourage unskilled beachgoers to copy his behaviour.
He has no regrets about his decision to swim beside the bait ball, and argues “everything is controversial nowadays” in Australia.
“If this happened 20 or 30 years ago, people would be down the beach watching it, no one would have phones, and if a couple of guys wanted to dive in, then that would be their choice,” he said.
“The only difference now is that everyone has a high-resolution camera in their hands, and the ability with social media to share that allows you to put it out to the masses.
“And it’s not a matter of whether it’s right or not, people just seem to like to take offence at people just expressing their right to do things.”
Diver describes shark experience as calming
Under the water, Bryant said the feeling was “unreal” with moments of “chaos” as a variety of shark species fed on the fish.
“It was kind of murky because there was so much sediment, and the ocean current was moving everything around,” he said.
Initially, the sharks kept their distance and appeared to be spooked, but as he got closer to the bait ball, they just ignored him.
When Yahoo spoke to a group of divers after an unexpected encounter with a white shark off the coast of Bali in March, they were nervous.
But for Bryant, his moment with the sharks was planned and more of a “mellow” experience.
“It was electric, but at the same time, from diving experience, you learn to be really calm,” he said.
“You’re taking it all in, and trying to be relaxed and cool, because obviously you don’t want to be freaking out, or making any fast movements.”
Shark attacks have been linked to bait balls
Even ordinarily benign species of shark have been known to attack in the right circumstances, which is what happened in Israel last April.
Analysis of the incident in the journal Ethology concluded one “bold shark” likely bit the snorkeler’s GoPro camera, and this “triggered a feeding frenzy” of predation bites that overrode normal behaviour.
Advice for swimmers and surfers is generally to stay out of the water when there are large amounts of prey fish — a 2023 fatal shark attack in Sydney was linked to a bait ball.
While shark attacks are rare, in Australia, there are an average of 20 incidents a year that result in injuries, and an average of 2.8 fatalities.
Bryant stayed with the sharks for close to 30 minutes and never felt like his life was at risk, but he also doesn’t believe that death should always be feared.
“I think the whole world is deadly,” he said.
“The reason everyone is so scared and worried is that we’ve been coaxed into a society where nobody wants to think about death.
“Whereas if you spend time in nature, you realise death is a daily thing, and it’s part of life.”
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