Dad saves bathers' lives after spotting huge shark swimming near beach
A fast-thinking father managed to alert an entire beach and those bathing in the sea to the presence of a large shark headed towards them, all thanks to his trusty drone. Watch the nail-biting clip below:
Wildlife photographer and videographer, David Alphonso was busy filming the wildlife on Meelup Beach in Western Australia when he noticed a shadow of a large creature in the water.
Recognising the eerie shape and realising that lives could be at stake, Alphonso then jumped into action, Facetiming his wife Kirsty who was at the beach at the time with their two-year-old child, Sonny.
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Incredibly, Alphonso was then able to use his drone to guide lifeguards to the shark via their jet skis.
The beachfront was evacuated as a safety precaution until a helicopter arrived and assessed the scene.
The whole event could have been far more disastrous if it hadn't been for Alphonso's quick thinking.
Speaking to The Sun, he said: "Good job I had my drone up there. There must have been up to 1,000s of people on the beach."
Alphonso said the sharks, likely to be either great whites or bronze whalers, were just a mere 10ft away from swimmers.
He continued: "I saw these sharks — possibly great white or bronze whaler — just 10ft or so from swimmers and 6ft from shore. The outline was unmistakable."
The shark was later confirmed as a bronze whaler shark; a lesser-known relative of the great white.
Alphonso is a big nature lover who free-dives and uses his drone to help him capture the beauty that is Australia's wildlife. His Instagram page, @fonzyfotos, is adorned with beautiful wildlife imagery and scenery shots he's taken over the years, including photographs of baby turtles, whales, sting rays and even Australian natives like wombats.
However, he understands that the occurrence could have been frightening for those at the beach that day and says he hopes the experience wouldn’t scare people from embracing the great outdoors in Australia.
He added: "They think shark escapes are something that happens every day now.
"Fair to say this would never happen in Northampton."
Topics: Australia
Harley Young