He said the sharks had been following their crabbing boat waiting for bait to be cast overboard.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Tiger said.
“You’ll get your random one out by your boat when you’re in the ocean, but not up in the channel like that.”
The water was only about three metres deep, and cloudy enough from dirt that the sharks, despite their size – were barely visible until they were right below the surface.
The area’s popularity as a crabbing region was the issue, Tiger said.
“There are crab pots everywhere, and the smell would be going all up and down the bay on the currents,” he said.
He said the sharks would have grown used to following crabbing boats tossing away their bait at the end of the day, and were unlikely to head elsewhere anytime soon.
And this could pose a danger, particularly considering the water visibility.
Tiger said just before they’d noticed the sharks, he’d been filling his water bottle to wash some mud off their esky, dipping his hand close to the water.
“The bubbling noise going out from the bottle filling up would have been enough to provoke a bite,” he said.
“And once they’ve got hold of you, they’ll pull you into the water and then they’re done.”
Tiger and his friend were only fishing in a tinny, which he said could easily have been tipped over if one of the sharks bumped it.
Shark’s dorsal fin ‘zipped back up’ after serious damage
“I’m still getting shivers,” he said.
And he warned a tragedy could be in the offing. The area is also popular with houseboats that drop anchor before the residents go for a dip to beat the heat.
“It’s a disaster waiting to happen,” Tiger said.
“I’ve been on the coast for 40-odd years but now the sharks are just getting out of control.”
