Bronze Whaler Shark Glides Past as Surfers Wait for Wave in Western Australia

A videographer flying his drone over a beach in Western Australia recorded the moment when surfers awaiting a wave were graced with the company of a bronze whaler shark.

Dylan deHaas told Storyful that bronze whalers, also known as copper sharks, were easy to identify because of their shape, size and color, and were frequent visitors to the shallow waters of Dunsborough during the salmon migration.

“It’s this time of the year you get to see the true meaning of coexistence,” he said, “as these sharks regularly come within meters of surfers and swimmers while patrolling the beaches looking for salmon … The shark doesn’t want anything to do with the surfers and actively tries to evade them.”

In the video, the shark can be seen gliding towards the surfers, seemingly indifferent to their presence.

Based in Western Australia, deHaas regularly documents local animals for his Instagram account. He said that this event turned a “nice morning snorkel” into his “top ocean moment to date.” Credit: Dylan deHaas via Storyful

Video Transcript

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