Overview
- Video from Tuesday afternoon shows a large shiver of sharks thrashing in shallow water off the southern end of Rainbow Bay near the Snapper Rocks surf break.
- Surfers mostly stayed on the sand as crowds watched, with footage showing one paddler heading out and some fishers dropping lines near the bait ball.
- The specific species seen in the footage were not confirmed, though the nearby Tweed River is known as a bull shark nursery.
- Marine scientists say bait balls commonly draw sharks close to shore and note such events are part of normal predator–prey dynamics, particularly near river outlets after rain.
- The sighting has renewed scrutiny of shark nets and drumlines following a humpback whale found dead in a New South Wales net, with experts and a Greens senator questioning their effectiveness and bycatch impacts.