Aussies stunned by underwater scene after fish weren't biting

Cameras have captured extraordinary vision off one of the Gold Coast's busiest beaches.

Two former AFL players got more than they bargained for after dropping their fishing lines off the Gold Coast over the weekend.

Ryan Davis and Matt Shaw were out on their boat near Burleigh Heads when they weren't quite sure why the fish weren't biting. So they decided to drop more than a line, putting a camera under water to see what they were dealing with – and that's when they spotted a huge group of bronze whaler sharks, Seven News reports.

“We had a look at the vision and realised there’s, you know, 80 to 100 sharks down there,” Mr Davis told the media outlet.

Ryan Davis and Matt Shaw in their fishing boat (left) and the footage of the bronze whaler sharks underneath the water (right).
Ryan Davis and Matt Shaw were fishing in their boat off Burleigh Heads on the weekend when they spotted up to 100 sharks below the surface. Source: TikTok/Gold Coast Bulletin

In a video uploaded to TikTok by the Gold Coast Bulletin, the two former Suns players were filmed standing in their boat before the camera dips below the water level.

Just metres under the surface an extraordinary swarm of sharks can be seen swimming back and forth.

Meanwhile, just a hundred metres offshore at Burleigh Heads, a stand-up paddleboarder caught dozens of scalloped hammerhead sharks on camera.

In Laurel Collofello’s footage from Sunday, a large group of the “cute” species can be seen moving across the ocean floor.

Laurel Collofello's footage of the dozens of hammerhead sharks swimming along the ocean floor at Burleigh Heads.
Laurel Collofello says there were dozens of scalloped hammerhead just 100 metres offshore at Burleigh Heads. Source: Instagram/Laurel Collofello

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Ms Collofello told Nine News. “You’d be lucky to see one shark let alone such a big group of sharks, and a critically endangered and vulnerable hammerhead shark is quite extraordinary.”

Shark frenzies to continue as waters get warmer

Experts say we’re likely to see more sharks in waters off our coastlines as water temperatures continue to rise as a result of climate change, which could impact the distribution of some specials.

Each year on average 10 people die from a shark attack around the world. Source: Getty
Each year on average 10 people die from a shark attack around the world. Source: Getty

"As water gets warmer, shark suitable habitat will expand southward and lead to shark migrations extending to new locations," Professor Charlie Huveneers, Research Leader of the Southern Shark Ecology Group at Flinders University, told Yahoo News.

“Through time, for example, you might end up getting more tiger sharks in Western Australia’s southwest corner. While tiger sharks can already occur as far south as the Great Australian Bight, they are likely to occur more frequently."

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