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A shark is seen striking just yards off the popular off-leash beach as dog owners are warned to keep their pets out of the water.
- Shark sighting recorded on a popular app Wednesday morning by a fisherman
- A group of Sydney dog owners issued the alert, suggesting that pets not go to the beach
- Veteran driver and photographer believes rumors of shark-hunting dogs are true
Dog owners at a popular beach have been warned to keep their animals out of the water after a suspected shark sighting.
A fisherman on the break wall at Kyeemagh, Botany Bay, in south-east Sydney, has registered a warning after spotting a dorsal fin just offshore on a shark alert app on Wednesday morning.
The warning was quickly shared with a local dog owners group by a local woman.
Dog owners at a popular beach have been warned to keep their animals out of the water after a suspected shark sighting.
A fisherman on the Kyeemagh breakwater, Botany Bay, recorded a warning about a dorsal fin near shore on a shark alert app on Wednesday morning.
“Maybe keep her pups out of the water today,” she wrote.
The advisory, posted at 2 a.m. Wednesday, described a single shark about 50 meters offshore in Botany Bay, next to the airport.
“Fishing on the Cooks River breakwater in front of…the old air traffic control tower,” he wrote.
‘Dorsal fin and slight churning of the water seen near the abutment of the General Holmes Drive Bridge’.
Users of the Brighton le Sands dog owners’ group regularly post photos of their canines enjoying a swim in Botany Bay, but were warned on Wednesday to stay away from the beach.
Dogs have long been rumored to be sharks’ favorite inshore prey.
Kyeemagh has a popular designated off-leash area for dogs to play and swim just a few yards from that spot.
Users of the Brighton-Le-Sands Dog Owners Group regularly post photos of their canines enjoying a swim in Botany Bay.
In 2017, a bull shark ate a dog in the shallows near Kurnell, south of Sydney.
Dogs have long been rumored to be one of sharks’ favorite inshore prey.
In 2018, veteran Australian diver and photographer Valerie Taylor confirmed in an article debunking shark myths that predators are indeed attracted to swimming dogs.
“Sharks’ curiosity draws them to any unusual creatures in their environment,” Taylor wrote in Australian Geographic.
“A small animal like a dog is more likely to be considered prey than a large animal.”