Fisherman’s dire warning to swimmers after he caught a monster 2.5metre bull shark in the river of a popular tourist town
- Fisherman is fearful after catching bull shark
- Peter Hassett, 40, says the shark is just one of growing population
- He warns it’s just a matter of time before an attack
A fisherman who hooked a hulking bull shark in a popular swimming area near a major tourist town has warned of the threat posed by the predators.
The 2.5metre female bull shark was caught by fisherman, Peter Hassett, 40, in the Noosa River on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast last Thursday.
Mr Hassett fishes at the spot three times a week and claims that over the past year he has started losing more fish because they have been ‘bitten in half’ by sharks.
He believes that populations in the area are increasing to a point where it’s just a matter of time before the bull sharks – which proliferate in fresh water and not just at sea – turn to attacking people.
‘I would say they’re in plague proportion at the moment,’ Mr Hassett wrote on Facebook.
‘Watch your dogs and kids in the water, these guys don’t discriminate.’
Mr Hassett took photos with the shark before releasing it back into the river, noting that it looked pregnant with pups.
‘The WA shark attack, there’s only a matter of time before the same thing happens here,’ he told the Courier Mail, referring to the recent shark attack in Western Australia’s Swan River.
Just over two weeks ago, Perth teenager Stella Berry was mauled to death while swimming in the Swan River at North Fremantle.
Although the species of shark that killed Ms Berry was never confirmed, a 2.5m bull shark was spotted in the Swan River 24 hours before Stella was mauled to death.
Mr Hassett said that he wants to ‘make people aware that they’re there’.
Peter Hassett (pictured), 40, has issued a dire warning after catching a monster 2.5metre bull shark near a popular swimming spot on the Noosa River in Queensland
He no longer takes his kayak out into the river, while his partner refuses to bring their toddler too far into the water for fear of a shark attack.
Bull sharks are known for their aggressive and unpredictable behaviour and have been responsible for 148 attacks on humans in Australia since the 1900s.
A database collated by the Taronga Conservation Society Australia ranks bull sharks third – behind tiger and great white sharks – for the number of recorded shark attacks on humans.
The sharks are able to thrive in both fresh and salt water and usually come close to shore after dusk and before dawn around beaches, lakes and estuaries in search of food.
![Mr Hassett claims that bull shark populations in the Noosa region (stock image) have grown in the past year and it is just a matter of time before they attack a person](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/02/21/01/67902397-11773929-image-a-5_1676943514706.jpg)
Mr Hassett claims that bull shark populations in the Noosa region (stock image) have grown in the past year and it is just a matter of time before they attack a person
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