Just 40 metres from the beach, a diver has spotted a large shark in the shallows of a reef. Most people probably would have missed the 2.5-metre-long bronze whaler, but Hunter Campbell has trained his eye over the years to keep himself safe when entering the water.
“I’ve got a bit of a keen eye for them,” he told Yahoo News.
“Just as we’ve pulled up to our diving spot, I’ve just seen the fins cruising over the reef, so I put the drone up and followed it around.”
More than 1.6 million people have viewed his image of the shark on Instagram since it was posted on the weekend. Most struggled to spot the ocean predator, highlighting the potential danger of entering the water without knowledge of the area.
“It’s always the ones you don’t see that get you,” Hunter said.
“We did get in for a little bit after we saw him, but I think he’d well and truly gone by that point.”
Where is the shark?
To find the shark in Hunter’s picture, you’ll need to look at the centre blue patch, and then its shadow can be seen beneath a streak of white wash.
It was taken at a remote beach in Western Australia’s Margaret River region, one of the nation’s best hotspots for viewing sharks. While the beach is relatively quiet, it is popular with divers.
Elsewhere in the country, the danger posed by large sharks varies. In NSW, there were four incidents involving humans in January, while in Victoria, there hasn’t been a fatality in 35 years.
Look close and you can see the bronze whaler is on the reef (left). Source: roughroads__/Instagram
When it comes to bronze whalers, they can be dangerous to humans, but they’re not known for their aggression.
“I think sharks get a pretty bad rap. But obviously, they can do some damage if you’re not careful,” Hunter said.
“I’ve swam with some monster tiger sharks that are big enough to pretty much swallow me whole, but they pretty much left me alone.”
Diver encourages Aussies to get off phones and into nature
Despite Hunter’s good fortune, almost any wild animal can be aggressive given the right circumstances.
This was highlighted in a 2025 report that found dusky sharks, a species thought harmless to humans, killed a snorkeller in the Middle East.
Hunter said he shares his travels around the great outdoors to encourage respect for the environment and to show that adventure can be found within a short drive from cities.
“It’s nice to get people out into the natural world, rather than just scrolling on phones,” he said.
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