A group of Australian fishermen made a costly mistake by not moving their cars away from the incoming tide, causing their vehicles to get stuck in the sand.
A Jeep Grand Cherokee and a Great Wall V240 ute were photographed stuck in the sand after launching their boats at Lancelin Beach in Western Australia on Saturday morning.
Lancelin Towing owner Clint said Yahoo! News that a massive surge caused the vehicles to get stuck.
A group of Australian fishermen made a costly mistake by not moving their cars away from the incoming tide, causing their vehicles to get stuck in the sand.
Lancelin Beach, Western Australia (pictured): where vehicles were caught on Saturday morning
He added that high tides and large swells are common during the colder months.
‘We have had three, four days of waves of more than three meters. In winter we can find waves of four or five meters. It’s just the volume of water,” she said.
“The surge pushes the water up and then it just goes under the wheels of the car, making it look like mud, which makes the cars sink like that.”
It is believed that the men were commercial fishermen and did not know what awaited them when they returned to shore.
A relative of Clint’s sent him photos of the incident at noon, but by then the vehicles were no longer on the beach.
“I think their friends must have taken them out,” he said.
Many Australians criticized fishermen for the “silly” mistake and said it was “common sense” to move vehicles away from the shore.
Vehicles launch boats from Lancelin Beach in Western Australia
There have been incidents of getting stuck on the beach in Western Australia in the past, but locals are divided over the installation of a boat ramp.
“When will people learn?” added another.
The scenes have renewed calls for a boat ramp to be installed on the beach.
‘Some people want it, some don’t. But it would be very difficult to get a boat ramp working,” Clint said.
He explained that during the summer months, the coastline can extend 20 to 30 meters, but in winter it can be reduced to only 5 meters.
He said a nearby jetty is always “completely submerged” during “times of high tides” during the colder months.