Juvenile great white shark cruising below kayak captured on GoPro
A keen kayaker got more than he bargained for after dropping and dragging his baited GoPro while paddling off a beach in SA, as the footage shows he was joined by a young great white shark
READING LEVEL: GREEN
An Adelaide marine enthusiast* has captured an incredible close encounter off SA’s Grange Beach, completely unaware he was sharing the waters with a juvenile* great white.
Andy Burnell, a passionate fisherman, regularly drops a baited GoPro off his kayak “to get a glimpse into the underwater world”.
On Sunday afternoon he headed about 1.5km offshore at Grange Beach and dropped a line, paddling around for about half an hour.
But it was only once he returned to the safety of his couch that he discovered he had not been alone.
“I downloaded my footage to the computer and was just skimming through it quickly, and then I was like, ‘Whoah, what’s that?’,” Mr Burnell said.
“For at least 10 minutes, (the shark) was right under my kayak just following the camera along. It was just luck, but it was really cool.”
Mr Burnell shares his marine highlights through Crab.e.cam on Facebook and YouTube, describing them as “little bits of theatre, just a minute or two long, little bits of drama”, which have been viewed all over the world.
A SA Department of Environment and Water spokesman said the shark, which was between 150cm-200cm long, was most likely a “really, really young” great white.
With her size and distinctive* markings, including a large injury on her right fin, Mr Burnell believed it could have been the first time she was sighted.
“I’m hoping that I can name her and she’ll go into the (Fox Shark Research Foundation) database, then in a few years’ time when she’s really big and she rocks up at Neptune Island that I can hear about it,” he said.
Mr Burnell said the “mind-blowing” encounter was a timely reminder to beachgoers that we share our waters with other animals, but said it would not keep him out of the ocean.
“It wasn’t a scary or dangerous thing, it was just awesome,” he said. “She was right near my kayak for 10 minutes, but she never did anything to upset me.
“All she was doing was being curious about the camera. They’re there all the time, you just don’t usually see them.”
There were 155 shark sightings at metropolitan* South Australian beaches between October to January 2021/22, with most between the Somerton to Grange area.
But Surf Life Saving SA said at the time that beaches remained safe for swimmers and the risk of being bitten was low.
GLOSSARY
- enthusiast: someone very interested in and involved with a particular subject or activity
- juvenile: young person or animal not yet an adult
- distinctive: special quality or features that makes something recognisable and different
- metropolitan: relating to a large city
EXTRA READING
Shark cam captures life and death struggles
Great white sharks in growth spurt
Sharks smash scuba diving depths
QUICK QUIZ
- Mr Burnell was kayaking how far offshore and from which SA beach?
- The shark is estimated to have been what size?
- What was the distinctive marking Mr Burnell noticed on the shark?
- Which organisation’s shark database does Mr Burnell hope will one day include this juvenile?
- How many shark sightings were there at SA beaches between October to January 2021/22?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Interview the shark
If you could interview the juvenile great white shark about this story for Kids News, what questions would you ask? Write four questions. Then, write the answers that you think the shark might give you about her encounter with Andy Burnell and his GoPro.
Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English
2. Extension
“Whoah, what’s that?” Use this as the first sentence of a story!
Time: allow 25 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English
VCOP ACTIVITY
What happens next?
Imagine this story is part of an animated series made up of three cartoons. The three cartoons tell the complete story and this article is only Part 1. Think about what the rest of the story could be and draw the next two cartoons that tell the story.
Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Visual Arts; Visual Communication Design; Critical and Creative Thinking