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Incredible moment dad uses his drone to save beachgoers from a potential shark attack after spotting a great white and two bronze whalers stalking the swimmers
- A drone cameraman spotted all three sharks.
- He saw the shark a few meters from the bathers
- Lifeguards were quickly alerted and the beach closed.
A wildlife cameraman at one of his favorite filming locations managed to save swimmers from a possible attack after spotting three sharks hanging around the shores of a popular beach.
British expat David Alphonso, his wife Kirsty and their sunshine of two years, Sonny, were enjoying a family day out with their London-based father and brother Sydneysider on Meelup Beach, 250km south of Perth, when they made the discovery. Saturday.
Alphonso and his brother had walked from the beach to a nearby promontory, one of their regular filming locations, to launch their drone.
The couple were viewing the live drone footage on an iPad when they spotted a shark just a few feet from the beach.
Wildlife videographer David Alphonso spotted a large shark (above) just offshore at Meelup Beach, WA
“It was about two or three meters from the shore, where it was very shallow, and it was swimming towards the swimmers,” Alphonso told Daily Mail Australia.
He said the shark appeared to be a seven-foot-long bronze whaler, so he quickly Facetimed his wife to raise the alarm.
“I told him, ‘You’d better go find the lifeguard, there’s a shark hanging around the swimmers,'” he said.
“We showed him the drone footage of the shark via Facetime, so he went to take a closer look.”
The lifeguard evacuated the swimmers from the water and headed out on a jet ski where Mr. Alphonso was able to use the drone to guide him to where the shark was.
Mr Alphonso (pictured with his wife Kirsty) said he also saw two other sharks from his drone.
“In the footage you can see him pointing at the shark,” he said.
“He must have thought it was bad enough to call the helicopter, he got there 15 minutes later and the shark alarm went off.”
Meelup Beach was closed for four hours as around 100 beachgoers waited for the shark to move.
However, at that time Mr. Alphonso said he saw two other sharks floating on the beach.
One was another bronze whaler of a similar size, but the other appeared to be a ten-foot-long great white shark.
“I was about half a kilometer from the beach, so I called the lifeguard again to warn him,” he said.
‘They’ve got quite a bit of a resident great white shark hanging around there right now.
“He told me a couple of days before that they had to rescue a couple of swimmers from the rocks because they saw a 10-foot great white shark in the water.”
Meelup Brach (above) was closed for four hours as swimmers waited for the three sharks to move on
Mr. Alphonso is a passionate wildlife videographer who regularly shares shark content on his instagram page.
He said that while he was quick to ensure the water was evacuated, it is unlikely that the sharks posed a real threat to the swimmers.
“I love sharks, I think it’s unfair that they are so vilified,” he said.
“They can be scary, but there is a small chance that they pose a real danger.
“They are an essential and important part of our ecosystem, we should not vilify them.”
For Mr. Alphonso, the worst part of the day was having to put up with his British father’s teasing that he had ruined everyone’s fun.
“He kept mickeying me for closing the beach at 35C,” said Mr Alphonso.