Dolphins Saved an Australian Surfer From a 20-Foot Shark

When a 20-foot shark started to stalk an Australian surfer, dolphins within the area tried to push him to the shore.

(Photo : Pexels/Pixabay)
Dolphins Mammals

Dolphins Save a Surfer

The dolphins, which were eating a swarm of fish nearby, started acting differently than usual when Bill Ballard observed them while surfing at Wallagoot Beach in New South Wales.

According to Newsweek, Ballard was familiar with dolphin behavior because he had previously encountered dolphins in the vicinity. He said that it is hard to describe, but they kept coming up to the surface to stare at him and also started swimming back and forward, approaching closer and trying to push him towards the coast.

Soon after, a plane that had been flying above the dolphin feeding frenzy dropped down to warn him that a 20-foot shark was lurking in the nearby waters. The two passengers hung out of the low-flying plane and shouted at Ballard, pointing at a large shadow of something swimming nearby.

Warning Effort

One of Ballard's rescuers said that a shark was very close to him. It was the biggest one she had ever seen. It was probably about 20 feet long.

He was informed by the pair that they had spent many years flying over the coastline, particularly during the whale-watching season. He was unaware that he was participating in a feeding frenzy of dolphins on a large school of salmon as they flew over Wallagoot.

The pair observed a large shark coming while watching the dolphins. They concentrated all of their efforts on trying to warn them once they realized someone was surfing amid all of it.

When questioned if he had seen the shark, the surfer replied that he hadn't. Instead, he stuck to the adage that where dolphins swim, there are never sharks.

The pilot made his remarks, claiming to have been a pilot for many years and being aware of what a shark looks like. The pilot initially assumed they must have mistaken it for a dolphin, but he later became convinced that it was a shark.

Although Bill had previously surfed repeatedly near dolphins, he insisted that this time they had behaved differently.

ALSO READ: Rare Deep-Sea Shark With Protruding Eyes, Teeth Shocks Fisherman in Australia

Plane Crash

According to The Courier, the heroic efforts of the passengers to fly low enough to attract the surfer's notice resulted in their losing too much air to pull back up, forcing them to aim for the shore. They managed to alert Ballard, who rode the subsequent wave back in, but their efforts to get land were unsuccessful as they crashed into the ocean a few meters from shore.

As they attempted to reach the sand but were losing height, he stated, "I heard the engine overpowering."

He said that, when he had hurried over to see if they were okay, he had been surprised to see the woman was more preoccupied with his close call with the shark than the fact that she had just been in an accident.

While all of this was happening, Janine, Ballard's mother, was one of the first to get to the crashed plane. Everything happened so rapidly, according to Janine, that when the two attempted to take off again but started losing altitude she realized something was wrong.

She said that despite calling emergency services, nobody had been sent to the scene to assist because there were no serious injuries. Instead, a small group assisted in pulling the plane out of the water, provided the passengers with food and warm towels, and then transported them back to their automobiles.

Meanwhile, In Feb. 2022, BBC reported that a British swimmer in Sydney got killed by as shark.