Yorke Peninsula Electrician Joins Locals in Unlikely Shark Rescue After School Drop-Off
A South Australian electrician unexpectedly found himself helping to rescue a stranded shark on the Yorke Peninsula after noticing unusual activity along the coast on his way home from the school run.
Hamish Anderson had just dropped his children off at school on Tuesday morning when he spotted several people gathered near the cliffs at Ardrossan.
“There were a couple of people on the cliff having a bit of a look over, and I’m like, ‘That’s a bit strange’,” he told
Upon closer inspection, he and a few locals saw a shark slowly becoming beached.
“I stood up the top for five, 10 minutes and just [checked] whether it was going to free itself,” Mr Anderson said.
He believed the animal was a white shark, roughly 2.5 to 3 metres in length. With the tide receding, he realised the situation was becoming more urgent.
“Once it stopped fighting, I thought, ‘We better get down there and give it a hand’,” he said.
After heading home to change into more suitable clothing, Mr Anderson returned to the beach, where he and two other locals cautiously approached the shark and attempted to help it.
“It was pretty big… the water level was halfway down on itself, so it was pretty shallow,” he said.
Approaching the animal from behind to avoid startling it, the trio gave it a shove toward deeper water.
“It never tried to turn around or anything like that. It sort of just let us help it,” Mr Anderson said.
Though it initially resisted moving off the sandbank, their efforts eventually got the shark into deeper water — but it lingered nearby rather than swimming off.
“It was just sitting there for a little while,” he said. “I kept checking throughout the day, when I could, to make sure it wasn’t coming back in.”
The Department of Primary Industries and Regions later advised the public to report shark sightings within 500 metres of the shore to SA Police on 131 444. If a shark over 3 metres is observed further out or in distress, the 24-hour Fishwatch hotline (1800 065 522) should be contacted.
