Incredible moment sharks swim underneath surfers in WA
A photographer in Western Australia has captured the incredible moment several bronze whaler sharks swam amongst surfers while feasting on salmon.
Wildlife photographer Blair Ranford, who posts drone imagery on his Instagram page sharkyaerials, filmed the 3m sharks swimming around surfers at Yallingup Beach, about three-and-a-half hours south of Perth.
"We've had some pretty big schools of Australian salmon hanging out at the beach the last week in particular," Mr Randford explained.
"It's just attracted a dozen or so more bronzer sharks and in calm, clear water it just makes for those spectacular shots."
The clip shows a few surfers in the crystal clear water with a big school of salmon behind them, as the bronze whalers swim around them.
"You'd see the surfers see them once when they got very close and then they'd usually paddle into shore," he said.
"Some would get out of the water. Some would just wait three or four minutes and they'd paddle straight back out again."
Reminder to stay away from schools of fish that attract sharks
Mr Randford told Yahoo News Australia he usually takes the drone up five or six times a day usually and regularly captures bronze whaler sharks, as well as the odd tiger shark and great white.
Although he says bronze whalers don't have a history of attacking people, it's always a good idea to steer clear of schools of fish that sharks will be attracted to.
"Not every shark in the ocean is a great white," he said. "But often the sharks are right under the salmon, making it very hard to see them at water level. So always best to assume they are there and act accordingly, as in stay out of the school."
Mr Randford said most people are afraid of sharks due to limited visibility in the water.
"Your vision is extremely limited [as is] your ability to move fast. You know a flat head would move faster than us.
"So I think that's kind of what puts people on edge a bit that you are just so out of your element even though we enjoy going in the ocean."
Mr Randford said at the end of the day, sharks are simply curious, like any other animal.
"I filmed a Great White not long ago coming up and bumping a bit of wood on the surface, I've seen Tiger sharks nosing bits of seaweed, so they're always curious," he said.
"There's something different in their environment as they're moving along the beach. And they're just going to check it out. They're going to see what it is. And the reality is that's the majority of the time."
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