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Watch As Drone Photographer Captures Rare Shark Attack & Saves A Diver’s Life
By Ell Ko, 30 Jul 2021
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Stock photo of a drone over a sea. Photo 220934448 © Vladimir Muravin | Dreamstime.com
When photographer Matt Woods sent out his drone camera to capture the gorgeous expanse of sea off Bondi Beach, Australia, he did not expect to become part of a rescue mission after what his camera revealed.
The Mavic 2 Zoom scanned the ocean, and Woods found some fish. And a shark. And a spearfisherman underwater, desperately trying to fend off the shark, which was lunging at him. The petrified diver had only a spear gun to defend himself with.
“The shark then went after his float that is attached to the diver,” Woods recounts in an interview for the Daily Mail. “He was charging it and trying to bite it, thrashing it about.” He also realized that the shark “looked angry,” driving even more concern.
This horrific scene prompted Woods to alert the lifeguards of the situation, staying his drone over the spot to keep track of the situation and guard the rescue effort to the right place.
Half an hour later, after clearing the area of surfers and swimmers, the lifeguard jet ski managed to remove the shark back out to sea. The diver was saved, and Woods reports that he saw him climb up onto the rocks and reef after managing to escape.
Drones like these could serve as useful implementations for lifeguards and similar efforts in risky areas, especially in the ocean, where it’s impossible for manned vessels to cover the entire area. As shown in this case, where the diver would’ve had no way of alerting anyone else of his predicament, imaging technology has the potential to save lives.
Mako sharks, like the one implicated this story, don’t often attack. There is an extremely low number of cases of such incidents in history. However, given that the fisherman may have had some dead fish with or near him, the unwitting bait may have been the trigger for this incident.
Despite heading down to the beach after the diver was able to get away, Woods wasn’t able to locate or meet him. But now that this story has made headlines, perhaps they’ll be able to say hello one day.
[via My Modern Met, photo 220934448 © Vladimir Muravin | Dreamstime.com]
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