Fisherman's warning after catching huge shark at Aussie tourist spot
After reeling in a monster bull shark on the Noosa River fisherman Peter Hassett is warning people to keep out of the water.
A fisherman is warning “someone will die” from a shark attack in a popular Queensland tourist spot if more is not done to warn swimmers of the dangers.
Peter Hassett reeled in a massive bull shark in the Noosa River on Sunshine Coast last week, saying it was frightening to see how big the sharks in river are getting.
“Well what another epic night on the Noosa River with this big girl coming in for a chat, scared to see how big they are getting,” he wrote on Facebook.
“I would say they're in plague proportion at the moment. Watch your dogs and kids in the water, these guys don't discriminate!”
The shark measured more than 2.5m long, and Mr Hassett believes it was a pregnant female. He took a photo with the predator before releasing it back in the water.
The Coolum Beach fisherman warned it’s only a matter of time before a swimmer is attacked and killed in similar circumstances to the recent fatal mauling in Western Australia, where Year 11 student Stella Berry died. It’s believed a bull shark was behind the attack in the Swan River.
“The WA shark attack, there’s only a matter of time before the same thing happens here,” he told Noosa News.
“We’re just trying to make people aware that they’re there,” he said, adding that he hopes signs will be installed along the waterway to warn visitors of the sharks.
Mr Hassett said his wife no longer takes their toddler too far into the river and he’s stopped kayaking at night.
A TikTok video post last March shows at least a dozen sharks swimming towards a fisherman on the Noosa River after he splashes his rod on the surface.
"How did I even survive, we splashed way more than this," one stunned viewer wrote, while others recognised the area as a spot where they have swam before.
"Never going in there again," one said.
Bull sharks are 'opportunistic predators'
The warning comes just weeks after another Queensland resident spotted a shiver of around 20 bull sharks stalking the Brisbane River.
Dr Daryl McPhee, Associate Professor of Environmental Science at Bond University on the Gold Coast, told Yahoo News at the time bull sharks, along with tiger sharks and great whites, were "responsible for most fatal bites on humans and serious injuries”.
Australian tourist killed by shark off crowded beach in Noumea
Dolphin found dead in shark net off Bronte beach: 'Horrific'
"Bull sharks are opportunistic predators and as well as eating fish and stingrays are also known to consume mammals that enter the water including cattle, horses and dogs," he said. "[They] are one of the few shark species that can persist for long periods of time in freshwater.
"However, the risk of a shark bite is very low and drowning while undertaking water-based activities is a much higher source of human fatalities. Regardless of the number of sharks in the river, the risk of a bite remains extremely low. If sharks are known to be active in a specific location, avoid that location," he said.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
