A videographer in Western Australia was amazed to see a critically endangered wedgefish leading a group of fish swimming just 200 metres from shore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back in 2024, Wildlife videographer\u00a0Jake Mason<\/a>, founder of\u00a0Return To The Ocean<\/a>, was flying his\u00a0drone<\/a>\u00a0in Shark Bay, Western Australia, when he came across the unlikely entourage.\u00a0<\/p>\n The wedgefish was spotted just off the coast of Western Australia. Credit: Jake Mason <\/p>\n \u201cAt first, I didn\u2019t know what I was looking at,\u201d he said in a\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0post sharing the footage. \u201cIt was a ball of something moving along.\u201d<\/p>\n As he looked closer, he started to make out different types of fish within the group. “I noticed it was a school of juvenile golden trevally, several cobia, and possibly a sharksucker or two,\u201d he said. Sharksucker is another name for\u00a0suckerfish<\/a>, or remora.\u00a0<\/p>\n Golden trevally, cobia and possibly a sharksucker can be seen swimming alongside the wedgefish. Credit: Jake Mason <\/p>\n To top it all off, they were all following the lead of a very special \u2013 and incredibly rare \u2013 creature. \u201cThe highlight is the giant critically endangered\u00a0whitespotted wedgefish<\/a>\u00a0leading the pack,\u201d said Mason.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mason flew his drone over the curious collection of creatures for around 10 minutes until he had to leave. At each turn, the fish followed the leader \u201cmove for move\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is quite possibly the coolest thing I\u2019ve seen while flying my drone in search of wildlife,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n The critically endangered\u00a0whitespotted wedgefish is a species of\u00a0fish\u00a0in the\u00a0Rhinidae\u00a0family. Credit: Jake Mason<\/p>\n Image and video credit: Jake Mason @jakemasondiving and Return to the Ocean @returntotheocean.com<\/p>\n More amazing wildlife stories from around the world<\/p>\n