A bull shark wobbles off the Sydney Harbor Opera before being released by a fisherman
Incredible moment a fisherman catches a giant bull shark in Sydney Harbor as tourists look on in horror, before bravely pulling a hook out of its mouth and releasing it: “Why would I never swim there?”
- Bull shark caught in Sydney Harbor
- The fisherman reeled it in while shocked tourists looked on
- Bull sharks among the most aggressive species
A brave fisherman has come face to face with a massive bull shark after he managed to catch it in front of horrified tourists.
Sydneysider and experienced fisherman Jordan had rowed to the center of the harbor in a kayak to drop a whole frozen mullet into the water to lure the shark before retreating behind the walls of the Royal Botanic Gardens to catch it.
Passing onlookers looked on in astonishment as he slowly brought the shark close enough to shore to remove the barb from its mouth and release it off the Sydney Harbor Opera House.
Despite the relative ease with which Jordan caught him, bull sharks are one of the most aggressive shark species in the world, responsible for the most fatal attacks on humans.
Jordan paddled a kayak and tossed a whole frozen mullet into the harbor to attract the bull shark (pictured) before bringing it in from the Botanical Gardens.
He slowly brought the shark close enough to shore that he could remove the barb from its mouth and release it again.
Jordan told Daily Mail Australia that he had never fished in the harbor before but decided to give it a try after seeing others catch sharks on their own.
“It took five to 10 minutes to lure the bull shark once it took the bait and a minute to release the shark after the hook was removed, then it swam hard away,” he said.
“I couldn’t really understand what the tourists around me were saying about the language barrier, but they were very intrigued with what was going on.”
Jordan’s iconic fishing look, including him swinging on the tarnished wooden post next to him while wearing a Bunnings sweater, was embraced by people who viewed the video online.
‘Barefoot, sporting a mullet and in front of the Opera House, can you get more Aussie?’ wrote one.
The person who filmed it, who goes by Sarks Total Fishing and whose name is Sarkis, told Daily Mail Australia that he had just met the fisherman who caught the shark that day before offering him a hand.
“I met him there and he was fishing for other species at the time, when the shark landed I helped him,” he said.
Sarkis said he had caught many Port Jackson sharks in the harbor, some as long as 1.5 meters.
Earlier this year, another fisherman named James Murray caught a monstrous 10-foot bull shark after a 25-minute battle near the same part of the harbor.
‘Barefoot, sporting a mullet and in front of the Opera House, can you get more Aussie?’ wrote one online user.
James Murray also caught a monstrous 10-foot bull shark while fishing in Sydney Harbor in January 2023 (pictured)
Mr Murray tagged the beast so other fishermen could monitor its growth before returning it to port to “live another day”.
He also revealed that swimming in the harbor was a “pretty bad idea,” especially from December to early March, when bull sharks enjoy warmer waters.
‘I could eat you right if you dive into the water. I would avoid it by staying out of Sydney Harbour,” Murray told 2GB.
These recent catches come after the NSW government opened its first Sydney Harbor ‘beach’ in decades in January this year.
The public netted harbor swimming spot is located at Marrinawi Cove at the northern end of the Barangaroo Reserve.
A database compiled by the Taronga Conservation Society Australia ranks bull sharks third, behind tiger and great white sharks, for the number of recorded shark attacks on humans with 148 in Australia since the 20th century.