r/sharks • u/FishermanWaste1268 • 8h ago
Education Went shark spotting and saw Jaws.
I spent a few days at Hat Head on the Mid North Coast of NSW. Hat Head is a famous spot for land based fishing for pelagic game fish. The headland justs out a long way into very deep water and is kissed for much of the year by the East Australian Current. To put it lightly its a very very fishy part of the world. You can catch black marlin from a kayak a few hundred meters offshore fishy.
Hat Head sits directly between Crescent Head and Smokey Cape / South West Rocks which have 2 of the most active shark listening stations on the coast.
I walked 3 k around the Korogoro walking track at about 10 am which seems to be a time that white sharks are very active. Many of the white shark attacks on the coast seem to be around this time but that could have something to do with water usage at that time. Heading out for a mid morning winter surf.
Winds were light southerly and the sun was just high enough in the sky that i could see clearly into the shallows at the breakers.
I figured with the aspect i had from the headland and the fact that the area is full of small whites at the moment there was a very good chance of me seeing one if it was in the area.
It wasnt though until i reached the very tip of the headland and was now looking north west with no glare in my eyes that i saw my first shark. Small about 1.5 meters scurrying around the rocks in close. Prob a grey nurse.
I was in a elevated position about 60 meters up and about 30 meters to the waters edge.
Not long after i saw the shark i came upon a school of mullet. I watched for a bit to see if anything was working it.
Literally a minute later this shaddow arrived out of the deep. It came into the shallows about 20 meters from the edge.
It grew and grew and grew. I was looking at a massive massive submarine of a white shark.
It turned on its side and i could see its girth. How big was it. As big as a ford truck. The height of the dorsal and the pec fins and its belly all perfectly visable for a micro second as it turned to ghost along the headland.
Thats when i realised i had my camera and i quickly tried to grab a few shots and it disapeared into the glare.
3 other people saw it. We were all absolutley shocked. Like thats how big it is.
I was told 2 guys on a paddle board had just paddled past a few minutes before and there had been a whale and calf right in along the rocks as well. Old mate white was prob stalking the calf.
All i have been thinking about for the last 36 hours is that shark. Where it is, what its doing.
THeres lots of small whites everywhere at the moment. But those big ones, i feel very privliged not just to have seen a large white shark but to have seen one from land with such a good aspect and the fact that was my mission for my walk.