Shark Photobomb Australia: Surprises Surfers In Competition, Photo Fake Or Real?

A shark photobomb Australia incident took place during the annual Coffs Harbour Boardriders Club Competition Sunday. Surfers at Macauley's Beach in New South Wales were surprised as a large jumping shark accompanied them in one of the photos during the contest.

The photo of the shark photobomb Australia was taken by amateur photographer and local resident Steph Bellamy, reports the BBC. She used her smartphone to capure the Sunday event and unknowingly took a photo of the shark as well.

According to Bellamy, she was photographing mothers and their children paddling on their surfboards when the shark photobomb Australia incident took place.

Spectators also saw the shark leaping in and out of the water, close to the surfers and swimmers, hence photobombing one of Bellamy's images of the competition.

On Tuesday, the 47-year-old said she did not know that the splash in her viewfinder was a shark until she took a closer look at her mobile image later on.

"The shark actually jumped twice," Bellamy told the BBC of the shark photobomb Australia incident. "It breached [the surface] once, and it breached again, and that was the shot that I got. It was all in the blink of an eye."

"I could hear people asking 'What was that?'... I didn't realise it was a shark until I zoomed in on the picture," she added.

She also said that it was unusual for a shark to swim so close to the coast.

Bellamy, like other mothers in the area, reportedly had children in the Coffs Harbour Boardriders club who were taking part in a special mothers' heat toward the end of day of the local surfing competition. The shark photobomb Australia occurrence apparently took place a few meters (yards) away from the group when the shark appeared during the second breach, which Bellamy unexpectedly snapped with the sea creature.

While many may be skeptic as to the authenticity of the shark photobomb Australia, the incident is real, and experts can attest to this fact.

Bellamy quickly showed the image to organizers, proving to them that the disturbance wasn't simply due to a dolphin or tuna, but an actual shark. The surfers were called out of the water for about 15 minutes. According to Bellamy, no one was hurt and the contest continued.

"Nobody was rattled. Everybody was really cool and blown away that I got the shot, and everybody wanted a picture of the shark," said Bellamy of the shark photobomb Australia incident.

"They stayed on the beach for about 10 minutes, and then went back in and continued surfing," she said. "There was no immediate danger, because the shark was obviously chasing a fish, and certainly wasn't interested in our girls out there - thank God!"

The Associated Press reportedly spoke to one of the surfers, and he was described as surprisingly chill about the shark scare.

Lee Winkler was among the surfers near the shark in the photo. According to him, at first he thought it was just a tuna fish.

"It was having a bit of fun," Winkler said. "It just jumped up and had a spin, then jumped up and had another spin, then went away."

Providing further confirmation as to the authenticity of the photo of the shark photobomb Australia, a shark expert from James Cook University, Colin Simpfendorfer, said the image was indeed that of a shark.

He said the species could be a spinner shark, common in the region and is known to jump from the water. He estimated the sea creature to be about 2 meters (7 feet) long based on the shark photobomb Australia photo, according to the Associated Press.

The shark photobomb Australia snapshot was also examined by New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (DPI) officials. According to a DPI spokeswoman, scientists also identified the creature to be that of a spinner shark.

Spinner sharks are reportedly found generally at the north of Jervis Bay. Their maximum length could reach up to 280 cm (9ft).

The shark photobomb Australia photo had been widely shared since Sunday, but according to Bellamy, though the public's response was generally positive, some people still insisted that she altered the shark photobomb Australia image digitally.

To this her response was: "That cracks me up - I'm a 47-year-old mum who wouldn't know how to Photoshop to save my life!"