Seven seconds of danger at popular Aussie beach: 'Crazy footage'
The swimmer appeared to accidentally slap a venomous ray as he swam towards it at Bondi Beach.
There was a heart-stopping moment at Australia’s most popular beach on Thursday morning when a swimmer narrowly avoided the barb of a 1.2 metre-wide stingray. Time slowed down for seven gruelling seconds as a drone operator watched a man blindly swim towards the creature, unable to warn him of the danger.
“He didn’t have goggles on, so he just had no idea it was there, and he actually touched it,” Jason Iggleton told Yahoo News as he watched back the footage he took at Bondi beach on Thursday.
“I got some crazy footage. So many people swam over the same stingray, it was like it was heading towards them.”
Iggleton identified the fish as an Australian bull ray, the same species that killed the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin in September 2006 near Port Douglas in Queensland.
As he watched the Bondi beach stingray glide close to five swimmers this morning, Iggleton was concerned about their safety. Only a week ago, a popular social media account shared footage of two scuba divers swimming close to a large ray, prompting it to lash its tail towards them.
More amazing scenes from Bondi
How dangerous are bull rays?
The species is not aggressive and only uses the venomous barb on its tail to defend itself when it feels threatened. While the species is not endangered, there are indications numbers have declined in NSW waters due to fishing.
Bull rays are a favourite species of divers, due to their gentle nature. In August, residents of Mosman in Sydney’s north were horrified after two beloved rays were found hacked to death.
Iggleton uploaded his vision to his popular DroneSharkApp Instagram account. It appears to show the bull ray trying to avoid conflict with the swimmer after it's tail is accidentally slapped.
“When it sort of got in that defensive mode, I thought: Oh, here we go,” he said.
“The swimmer was very lucky. It looked like the ray was more scared than anything and freaked out when he touched it. But it tucked its tail down rather than lashing it up.”
It was a busy day at Bondi Beach on Thursday. Iggleton’s drone also picked up an endangered bull shark swimmer near surfers, and a mako shark caught on a drum line — a controversial baited device set by the NSW Government.
While the Department of Fisheries maintains drum lines help keep beaches safe, there are some concerns the baits attached to them actually draw sharks close to shore.
Scientists have urged the government to reconsider their use and adopt modern surveillance devices like drones and electronic warning systems.
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