Surfers' close encounter: how feeding shark caused a splash at Merewether

Main picture, by photographer Dave Rowland, shows surfers at Merewether close to a shark hitting a bait ball of fish on August 19. Inset pictures, by Peter Lorimer, show lifeguards acting quickly to search the water on a jet ski and close the beaches.

A lifeguard closes Merewether beach yesterday. Picture by Peter Lorimer

Merewether beach was closed after a shark sighting on August 19.

A lifeguard on a jet ski searches the waters off Merewether for the shark.

A brave surfer remained in the water.

The shark scare wasn't enough to deter some keen surfers.

Lifeguards closed Merewether beach on Monday, August 19, after a confirmed shark sighting.

A surfer continued to hit the waves.

Lifeguards closed Merewether beach on Monday, August 19, after a confirmed shark sighting.

Surfers at Merewether on Monday.

A surfer at Merewether on Monday.

A SURFER has told of the moment a shark attacked a bait ball of fish just metres away from him and his mates at Merewether on Monday.

The close encounter between four surfers and a two-metre shark was captured by photographer Dave Rowland from the beach just before 9am.

Todd Hainsworth was hitting the waves at his local break less than 100 metres offshore when a commotion erupted.

"It was just a splash that was quite aggressive, and then it went quiet, and then the shark came up again and did the same thing again to this bait ball of fish," he told the Newcastle Herald, safe from dry land.

He said it was clear the predator was feeding on the school of small surface fish.

"We said, 'look out, that's definitely not a dolphin', the way it attacked the fish fairly aggressively," Mr Hainsworth said.

It went quiet again, though the surfers could see the water moving from where the shark had moved on the bait ball.

"We said, 'let's get in'," Mr Hainsworth said.

Todd Hainsworth, Nick Campbell, Dave Rowland, Chris Davis and Scott Kenyon with the on-duty lifeguard. Picture supplied

The group headed for the rocks nearby to scramble in as quickly as possible.

One surfer, Chris Davis, who got close enough to see the shape of the shark in the water, got his leg rope caught and had to quickly undo it, leaving it tangled around the rock as he swam for shore with his board.

The leg rope later washed up down the beach.

Mr Hainsworth, a regular surfer, said he'd seen sharks before and knew there'd been multiple sightings in the past week, but it was his first time near one that was in the midst of a feeding frenzy.

"It's just part of life ... I don't have anything against them," he said.

Mr Hainsworth said the lifeguard on duty had been watching and reacted swiftly, calling on the jet ski based at Nobbys to head to Merewether and comb the water for the shark.

Beaches were closed on Monday. Picture from beachsafe.org

The lifeguard immediately closed the beach and evacuated swimmers.

The red flag and shark warning sign remained in place at Merewether throughout the day on Monday. Dixon and Bar beaches were also closed.

The breed of the shark has not been confirmed.

It comes as a warmer weather is expected to sweep into Newcastle this week.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has forecast a top temperature of 23 degrees today, 26 tomorrow and 24 on Thursday.