Drone saves spear fisherman from shark attack

While chilling on his balcony in Bondi Beach, Australia, drone pilot Matt Woods launched his drone to take some aerial footage. What he didn’t expect was seeing a spear fisherman and a shark lunging towards him. Woods called the lifeguards and helped them prevent what could have been a shark attack.

While shark attacks are not as common as people think, Woods says that this particular shark seemed angry. “I spotted the shark straight away as there was a big bait ball of fish,” the drone pilot told Daily Mail. “As I got closer I could see it was also circling the diver in the water.”

You can see in the video that the diver was trying to fend the shark off by poking it with his spear gun. I can’t help but think that this got it even angrier, but correct me if I’m wrong. Woods said that the shark then went after the orange float attached to the diver. “He was charging it and trying to bite it, thrashing it about.”

The whole event lasted for almost half an hour. Woods’ girlfriend got on the phone with the lifeguards as he continued to monitor the situation and guide them in. “I was pretty happy once the lifeguard came out and I could see the diver had managed to scramble onto the rocks and reef,” Woods told Daily Mail. “First they cleared the water of surfers and swimmers. I went looking for the diver after trying to try and meet him but couldn’t find him.”

This isn’t the first time a drone pilot spotted a shark near swimmers. There were two cases in Australia last year: one at Sharpes Beach and the other at a beach in New South Wales. In 2019, a drone pilot spotted a shark at New Smyrna Beach in Florida.

The shark that rushed towards the swimmer was likely a mako shark. This species only attacked humans nine times between 1580 and 2017, at least as far as registered cases go. However, they could be attracted to spear fishermen if they are carrying dead fish. It’s possible that this creature was attracted to food as well, but I’m not sure its intended food was the human. All in all, I’m glad that it all ended well and that no one was hurt.

[via Daily Mail]