A large great white shark estimated to be at least 5m in length was spotted just south of The Kink on the edge of the Continental Shelf off Narooma a few days ago.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Charter skipper Matt Betts of The Sheriff spotted the large shark while trolling for marlin about 22km off Narooma.
“It was awesome...was the highlight of the day, bar the marlin,” Matt said. “It was 5-plus metres. A 6-metre boat was next to it and it was as big as the boat. The white came right up to The Sheriff.”
He and other charter boat skippers present were shocked when someone off a trailer boat jumped into the water with a proper underwater camera to film the great white, getting some great footage.
Skipper “Crusty” of the charter boat Tru-Dee V said the dolphinfish and the shark were hanging around a section of thick rope that was floating freely on the surf.
But the shark apparently was not interested in either the intrepid diver, the school of dolphinfish or any of the fish baits in the water.
The shark was apparently just cruising around checking out the boats and fishing activity, even rubbing up on the hull of the Tru-Dee V, Crusty said.
His deckhand was able to shoot some brief footage that they plan to upload to YouTube later this week.
This was the first large great white spotted by Mr Betts who said they were not that common to sea inshore and around Montague Island.
The marlin fishing has been exceptional off Narooma and Bermagui in the past week with local and visiting boats hooking up to 10 marlin a day.
Mr Betts said he counted more than 40 boats of all sizes at The Kink on Tuesday as word of the hot marlin bite is out there. For the record, he was able to get a striped marlin for his clients in between the shark viewing.
He posted the picture of the shark on his Facebook and one fisherman joked if he could talk the shark into coming to Montague Island to eat some seals, which take kingfish off fishing lines.
Commercial fisherman Jason Moyce of Bermagui meanwhile reported plenty of shark activity off local beaches, posting a photo of a large bronze whaler he caught on Tuesday, one of at least seven caught that day. Several were released as he has a weekly quota for the sharks.
And then he posted a video on Wednesday of an even larger 180kg bronze whaler he caught and released.
Mr Moyce said it was not unusual to encounter that many sharks in close, especially when the water has been crystal clear and 22 degrees.