A bull shark spotted in the shallows stalking a decomposing, washed-up dolphin carcass has closed a beach in Sydney’s north.
A Surf Life Saving NSW drone detected a bull shark at Bungan Beach, Newport, on Sydney’s northern beaches about 12.40pm on Thursday, forcing its closure.
Footage posted on social media shows the dead dolphin washed up on the shore, with the shark lurking in the background.
“Thankfully the lifeguard at Bungan pulled me out of the water and told me about the 2.5m dolphin just up the beach being circled by a large (possibly) bull shark right on the shore,” Sydney photographer Cameron Bloom posted after sharing a video of the scene including the music of Daryl Braithwaite’s One Summer.
What remains of the dead dolphin shows bits of flesh clinging to its exposed bones after what appears to have been several earlier bites, likely from sharks.
“Wouldn’t be surfing at Bungan today,” Asher Ginsburg wrote on social media.
“Big shark following it in on the shore.”
Bull sharks, a territorial species that prefers brackish water and frequents Sydney Harbour in January and February, are suspected to be responsible for a number of recent attacks after a period of heavy rain.
Nico Antic, 12, died in hospital in January, days after being mauled by a bull shark after jumping off a rock near Nielsen Park, Vaucluse.
Andre de Ruyter, 27, lost a lower leg after being attacked by a shark at Manly on January 19, a day after Antic.
A shark also knocked an 11-year-old boy off his surfboard at Dee Why earlier that day.
Swiss national Livia Muhlheim, 25, was attacked moments after her GoPro captured her swimming with dolphins at Kylies Beach, south of Port Macquarie, in November. Her boyfriend Lukas Schindler, 26, was also mauled in the attack.
Jack Gramenz is a breaking news reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
