Shark swims into Dalmeny Lake: Photos

The shark had a hook in its mouth and was trailing what looked to be a length of thick fishing line.

The shark estimated to be around 5-foot or 1.5-metres in length was seen by a number of people on the bridge over the lake entrance between 7am and 8am.

This includes Dalmeny local Paul Davies who sent in some great photos and who was sure it was a mako shark based on his years of working with professional fishermen out of Narooma.

Mako sharks look very similar to great white sharks, and it could have been a juvenile white shark, but both Davies and another professional fisherman contacted by the Narooma News reckon the blue tinge was a give-away for a mako.

He said the shark was trailing around 2 to 3 metres of fishing line and seemed to be disorientated and weak, possibly suffering from the impact of the line and hook.

He walks regularly on the beach at Dalmeny and has seen all kinds of animal life but this was the first mako he had seen swim into an estuary and it definitely was unusual.

“We have a smorgasbord of wildlife here,” he said.

“I thought about grabbing it to remove the hook but then I have seen what they do to boats, I also thought about calling Fisheries.”

Earlier in the day the Narooma News received another report and photo of the same shark from someone who thought it was a whaler shark, but who did not get as close a look as Davies.

They said it apparently it was swimming upstream into Mummaga or Dalmeny Lake, but it was not known whether the shark made it into the lake or back out into the ocean.

There have been reports of shark activity in the Narooma Bermagui area, with the Narooma News last week reporting on small hammerhead sharks being caught in nearby Wagonga Inlet.

Click here to read about the hammerhead sharks at Narooma