02-05-2025
Aussies issued stern warning after family's 'sad' find on beach
An Aussie mum and her kids were taken aback during a recent beach walk after making a "heartbreaking" find. And the unsettling scene, left discarded on the shore, has now prompted a stern reminder from authorities who have called for the behaviour to stop.
Bonnie Wright was walking along the New South Wales central coast near Forster with her young children when she spotted something lying on Pebbly Beach last week.
"It was situated in the middle of the rocks ... I couldn't identify it, so I used a piece of drift wood to flip it over," Bonnie told Yahoo News. The mystery find was revealed as a perfectly in tact shark head, with its body was nowhere to be found.
Bonnie snapped a picture of the animal's discarded head and posted it online, asking others to identify the species and ask why it would have been left in that condition. Aussies quickly responded, with the head believed to be from a Port Jackson shark.
"Not sure why you would kill one.. [they] clean up the water," one said, while many commented expressing how "sad" it was to see.
"[They're] basically a water puppy that eats shellfish. They don't deserve this," one person said of the sharks, which are harmless to humans.
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Recreational fishers are permitted to catch Port Jackson sharks in areas not protected by the Fisheries Management Act 1994, however, they are required to dispose of any offcuts correctly.
"[The department] always encourages fishers to dispose of any fish waste responsibly and if facilities are not available, to take them home for disposal rather than discard them at their fishing spot," a NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) spokesperson told Yahoo News.
"DPIRD encourages all fishers to ensure they practice responsible fishing at all times. This helps to maintain a positive reputation and social licence for the fishing community... [and] this also extends to considering others and setting a good example in your fishing approach."
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