A GREAT white shark measuring about three metres long has circled a boat in Lake Macquarie.
Daryl Evans of Floraville and Kerry Thomas of Pelican spotted the shark about 1.30pm yesterday while anchored at a spot known as The Barge, about halfway between Coal Point and Belmont.
‘‘My first thought was ‘We need a bigger boat’,’’ Mr Evans said.
‘‘We had a mesh fish keep hanging overboard that keeps the fish alive until you clean them, so I grabbed that because if the shark got there first we could have capsized.’’
The friends were in a four-metre tinny for their weekly fishing trip and had only been anchored at The Barge for an hour when they saw the shark about one metre under the surface following a berley trail up to the boat.
‘‘It circled the boat about six times, from about 10 to 15 metres away until he was about 1.5 metres away,’’ Mr Evans said.
‘‘We were excited but also had a little bit of fear – I certainly didn’t get too close to the edge or put my hands in the water. We were in awe.’’
The shark returned about 20 minutes later about three metres under the water and circled the boat once.
‘‘I’ve been fishing for 45 years and that is the first time I’ve seen a great white in the lake,’’ Mr Evans said.
The men warned a nearby houseboat and swimmers in the Swansea Channel.
Paul Wilcox, 50, died at Byron Bay on Tuesday when he was bitten by a shark while swimming off the town’s main beach.
source: theherald.com.au
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 