Australian surfer's close encounter with shark captured by drone stuns internet | WATCH

A spine chilling footage of a professional surfer’s encounter with a dangerous shark in the ocean has got the watchers hailing the surfer’s luck. In drone footage shared by the responders at the Surf Life Saving, New South Wales, Matt Wilkinson was surfing at Sharpes Beach at Ballina when drone operators spotted a five-foot shark sneaking behind him. Surfer Matt had a close encounter with a shark at Ballina, the team informed, adding, that a drone overhead alerted Matt via a warning over the speaker. 

The World Championship surfer was stunned looking at the recorded video and credited the arrival of a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) in being able to get out of the ocean safely in a press release while the 1.5m white shark followed him. The drone operated by Surf Life Saving NSW on behalf of the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) was on a surveillance flight and was shocked to see the speed at which the gigantic fish raced behind the surfer. The team alerted Matt, who, fortunately, heeded the warning at right time.

“I was surfing out the back at Sharpes Beach and just cruising on my own and I heard a splash and a noise and looked around and couldn’t see anything,” Wilkinson said in the release. “Then the drone came down and told me that there was a dangerous shark in the area, return to the beach,” he added. 

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Shark was 'going for leg'

Grateful about his strategic escape, the world acclaimed surfer compared the incident one Mick Fanning, a former Australian professional surfer and a shark attack survivor experienced in 2015. “I saw the footage I saw the similarities like I had a yellow leg rope on and Mick’s board was yellow is what I was thinking about when I came in,” he said. Matt said that he was at loss for words when the lifeguards showed him the footage, adding, the shark was “going for my leg” and then changed mind. Matt’s wife, on learning about his epic escape in the ocean, forbade him to go on surfing for a couple of days. Under NSW Government’s $8million 2020/21 NSW Shark Program and many other coastal LGAs, the Surf Life Saving NSW flies the UAVs to assist the lifeguards to protect the swimmers from accidents and sea creatures. 

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