Aussie dad checks Shark Bay for predators only to find one lurking in plain sight

Incredible footage shot by a travelling family shows the moment a young dad checks to see if an Australian beach is safe to swim in before noticing something deadly lurking in the water.

BJ and Janelle have been travelling around Australia full-time with their two young children since May 2021 so they’re well-versed in the sometimes compromising landscape that is Down Under.

In a video shared on their Instagram Getting Lost Is Being Found, BJ walked up to the surface of crystal clear water at Shark Bay, Western Australia, and shook his foot, creating ripples in the surf.

Immediately a shadow appeared just in front of him and swam closer, revealing itself to be a large tiger shark thrashing around in the shallows. 

‘We were headed in for a swim and spotted a fin so my husband splashed a little to see if it was aggressive and it came straight at him,’ Janelle told FEMAIL.

‘We decided not to swim with the kids there.’

While it’s common to see sharks in its namesake of Shark Bay they’re not usually so far in at the shoreline, the family said.

Immediately a shadow appeared just in front of him and swam closer, revealing itself to be a large tiger shark thrashing around in the shallows

While it’s common to see sharks in its namesake of Shark Bay they’re not usually so far in at the shoreline, the family said

Their followers were shocked by how hard it was to spot the shark initially despite the sunny day and clear water.

‘Despite the clear water, it was hard to see until it hit the very shallow water,’ one woman remarked.

‘Lol. I was prepared to laugh at people being overly paranoid but then it popped up. Ok fair,’ said another.

A third added: ‘I’m surprised anyone makes it to 18 years old in Australia’.

In 2020, the CSIRO estimated there could be up to 12,802 great white sharks – including juveniles – active around eastern Australia.

The numbers around Western Australia are estimated to be much lower, at around 2,250.  

The family’s caravan and ute which they are towing around Australia

Their followers were shocked by how hard it was to spot the shark initially despite the sunny day and clear water

That number is likely to have climbed since. 

But your risk of being bitten by a shark in a year is less than one in a million, far less than the risk of drowning when you swim with no sharks involved.

There were six shark attacks recorded in Western Australia in 2021, including one fatality. The previous year there were seven attacks, with three people lost their lives. 

Last year there were 12 shark attacks across all of Australia and three were fatal. 

Global warming, changing fish populations and migrations or even ‘rogue’ sharks have been blamed for increasing numbers of sharks biting humans.