As far as the sharks were concerned it was fine dining – a calorie-rich, floating whale carcass they could chomp away at without all the effort associated with a catch. It was a setting that cast the finned fiends as vultures of the sea rather than stealthy predators.
According to the Illawarra Mercury, curious onlookers watched on as a whale carcass, just off the coast of Bulli beach, was torn to shreds by large sharks this morning. Initially, someone mistook the mass of white blubber for an overturned boat, but the thrashing and splashing around the edges soon made it apparent that this was a floating, feeding frenzy rather than a maritime disaster.
Eventually, the lump of lacerated blubber washed up against rocks just North of Bulli Point. With sharks still lurking and the water ripe with the scent of whale oil, authorities have issued a warning about swimming, surfing, or diving between the beaches of Sandon Point and Bulli.
Chris Van Woerden, who grew up surfing the breaks around Bulli, was looking forward to a Spring weekend blessed with good weather and a fun-size east swell, but the reports of an all-you-can-eat shark café, just off the coast, have prompted a change of plans. “I definitely won’t be chasing waves this weekend down the local,” he insisted.