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Fishermen shocked to reel in bull shark at Sydney swimming spot

Incredible footage captures the moment a group of Sydney fishermen go head-to-head with an almost three-metre bull shark.

The men were fishing at San Souci in Sydney's south on Sunday night when the large beast hooked onto their line, before engaging in a 45-minute battle.

Video shared by 9News shows one man almost knee-deep in the water pulling on the shark's tail. At first the men had no idea what was attached to their fishing line and were reportedly shocked to see what they had hauled in.

A nearly three-metre bull shark was caught by fishermen at San Souci beach. Source: 9News
A nearly three-metre bull shark was caught by fishermen at San Souci beach. Source: 9News

They spent 45 minutes attempting to detach it from their line before releasing it back into the water, 9News reported.

San Souci is a popular swimming spot among families with the surprise catch happening just a day after a Perth teenager was killed by a bull shark while swimming in the Swan River.

Increase of shark sightings

There's been an increase of shark sightings of late with climate change partly to blame, Professor Charlie Huveneers, Research Leader of the Southern Shark Ecology Group at Flinders University, previously told Yahoo News Australia. He said that warmer waters are pushing sharks into new locations.

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

In the past three days, DPI fisheries has sighted, tagged and released up to 24 sharks along the NSW coast, including four off beaches around Sydney. There's also been a handful reported off Western Australia.

Young teen mauled by bull shark

On Saturday, 16-year-old Stella Berry was mauled by a suspected bull shark in Perth’s Swan River — the first fatal shark attack the area has seen in over 100 years. Less than a week earlier, a fisherman pulled up a half eaten stingray with three giant bites taken out of it, believed to be from a bull shark.

Early last month, a group of Perth fishermen were captured handling a shark on the popular Quinns Beach, in the city’s northern suburbs. It's believed they were attempting to free it back into the water after it washed onto the shore.

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