An incredible natural event has been captured off Byron Bay, one of Australia’s most popular tourist destinations. Footage shared with Yahoo News shows a large bait ball, attracting several hungry sharks, believed to be bronze whalers, to the coastline.
A small pod of dolphins can also clearly be seen taking advantage of the schooling fish, providing further evidence to bust the popular myth that the two species don’t coexist.
Local aerial photographer Saxon Kent said it’s common to hear other surfers see a dolphin fin and assume there won’t be sharks around.
“A lot of people believe that, but I know it’s not true,” the 24-year-old told Yahoo.
Thousands watch shark and dolphin footage
So after he captured drone footage at Tallow Beach showing the two predatory species feeding side-by-side, he shared it with his 287,000 Instagram followers.
Jokingly, he added the caption, “Where there’s dolphins, there’s no sharks”.
Since he filmed and uploaded the footage on Friday, close to a million people have viewed it, and the bait ball has remained in the area, prompting tourists and locals alike to do the right thing and stay out of the water.
“Stunning footage,” “What a sick shot!”, and “Amazing” were just three of the hundred-plus responses to the post.
Another person added, “Everyone is friends when there’s food”.
Root of the shark and dolphin myth explained
Lawrence Chlebeck, a marine ecologist with Humane World for Animals (formerly Humane Society International) noted that baitballs attract a range of ocean predators, and while it’s a myth that you don’t see sharks and dolphins in the same waters, they have been known to show aggression to each other.
The footage clearly shows sharks and dolphins both feeding on the bait ball. Source: Saxon Kent
“There are stories that dolphins have protected their own, or even in some rare cases protected humans from aggressive shark behaviour,” he told Yahoo.
“So there’s no doubt those things can and have happened, but if there’s a bait ball in the area, birds, dolphins, large fish like tuna will use it as prey, and obviously large sharks will as well.”
Chlebeck said photographic evidence of the way marine animals behave and interact with each other will help viewers understand the ocean more intimately.
Last month’s fatal shark attack at Crowdy Bay in NSW also saw a bull shark in the vicinity of dolphins when the two Swiss tourists were attacked.
After the incident, Bond University shark expert Dr Daryl McPhee said it is a myth that dolphins deter sharks.
When Kent began watching the bait ball through his drone camera, he was primarily captivated by the beauty of the unfolding event.
“I’ve been flying my drone over sharks and dolphins for years, and to see them feeding together is super rare, especially coming in as close as they were,” he said.
When humans wade into the ocean, they’re entering the natural habitat of sharks, and Kent decided to share the footage to educate other swimmers.
Over the weekend, the NSW Government announced an investment of $2.5 million to boost its shark surveillance program to get more drones into the sky.
It comes as it faces increased scrutiny over its controversial shark nets, which are set at 51 beaches in eight local government areas between Newcastle and Wollongong.
Kent said he’s “all for drone surveillance over nets”, but that it’s also important to educate other swimmers about sharks so they know the risks when entering the water and can keep safe.
The bait ball has attracted a lot of attention around the area since it was first spotted on Friday, drawing curious onlookers to the sand to marvel over the last four days.
“It’s been quite an event in Byron, everyone is talking about it,” Kent said.
“Believe it or not, people out here are most excited and thrilled to see nature thriving, and we’re all pretty aware they will eventually go away, it’s a temporary thing.”
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