Drone alerts surfer as great white shark circles him off Australia coast
BY KATIE CAMERO
OCTOBER 07, 2020 12:15 PM
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article246282885.html
Professional surfer Matt Wilkinson was enjoying the water Wednesday in New South Wales, Australia, when a drone flew overhead with a recorded message. Responders on the lookout told him there was a dangerous shark in the area.
“I was surfing out the back at Sharpes Beach and just cruising on my own and I heard a splash and a noise and looked around and couldn’t see anything,” Wilkinson said of the experience, according to Storyful. “Then the drone came down and told me that there was a dangerous shark in the area, return to the beach.”
Wilkinson paddled safely to shore, but it wasn’t until he watched the drone footage that he realized how lucky he was.
“I got to the shore feeling a bit weird and the lifeguards showed me the footage and I realized how close [the shark] came without knowing it was there. It looks like it’s going for my leg and it changed its mind,” Wilkinson said.
Video shows the shark circling Wilkinson then approaching the water’s surface before curiously bringing its snout to the back of the surfboard. In Wilkinson’s favor, the shark decides to quickly swim away and disappear into the ocean.
“It sort of came out of nowhere, then went right up to Matt. It moved pretty fast. I was tracking it and notified the lifeguards and used the speaker on the drone to get everyone out of the water. Within 10 seconds it was at the surfer and five seconds later it was gone,” said drone operator Beau Monks, according to Storyful.
Wilkinson said he felt “grateful and pretty weird” about his escape because it reminded him of when he surfed in a competition just before former professional surfer Mick Fanning experienced a shark attack in 2015 in South Africa, according to Surf Life Saving New South Wales — a network of volunteer lifesavers, lifeguards and surfing instructors in Australia.
“When I saw the footage, I saw the similarities, like I had a yellow leg rope on and Mick’s board was yellow. I called my wife because I didn’t want her to see the footage before I saw it,” Wilkinson said, Surf Life Saving reported.
“She doesn’t want me surfing for a couple of days now,” Wilkinson added.
