Attack of the Freshwater Shark?

At one time or another, most fishermen have a Jaws moment. For one gnarled veteran trawling Tuggerah Lake, actually a smallish freshwater lagoon situated about 90 km north of Sydney, that moment came just over an hour before sunrise on July 9. Police have declined to release the name of the fisherman, whom they describe as elderly and harboring a mistrust of the media. His version of what happened comes through police and, though emanating from a commuter suburb of Sydney, Australia, has made it around the world.

It was around 4 degrees Celsius on the lake at 5.30 am on Wednesday, making it the coldest morning of the year in these parts. Wrapped in several layers of clothing, the fisherman was startled by splashing noises coming from underneath his craft, then alarmed by a recurring thudding sound, as though something were striking it. Having rushed to one side of the boat, he peered down to see a gigantic fish trapped in a net.

It so happens he knows a lot about marine life. From this specimen's conical-shaped snout and peculiar coloring — gray dorsal area, white underside — and the size of the beast — clearly longer than his 5.5-m. (18-ft.) boat — he identified it as a great white shark, the world's largest predatory fish. He may or may not have known that it is rare, but not unheard of, for white pointers to attack and even sink boats as long as 10 m. (33 ft.). Whatever the case, he didn't muck about: in a state somewhere between agitation and terror, he cut the net loose and the shark with it, then watched as it swam away.

"He said it was bigger than his boat," reported local Chief Inspector Tim Winmill. "He's got an 18-ft. boat and he said it would have been 21 ft. (6.5 m.)." Winmill said police had no reason to doubt the fisherman's story: he was known to local authorities as a responsible member of the industry. As a result, police have issued a warning to anyone using Tuggerah and two smaller, connected lakes to take extreme care. Though the water at this time of year is numbingly cold, it's school holidays in New South Wales until the end of next week and some children won't necessarily be deterred from swimming or other activities.

How would the ocean-going monster have gotten into a freshwater lagoon? Tuggerah Lake is connected to the Pacific Ocean through a tidal channel called The Entrance. It is 12 km long and 4 km. wide, with an average depth of 6-7 m, roughly 20 feet. "It's not a big lake," said Chief Inspector Winmill, "but it's a bloody big shark — if it's true."

Experts have their doubts. Calling on 35 years of experience with sharks and shark attacks in Australian waters, "and my knowledge of shark biology and behavior, I'd say it's highly unlikely that a white shark as large as indicated would get into a lake through a small opening as that at this location," says John West, curator of the Australian Shark Attack File. "White sharks have not been found in estuarine or lake locations before as they are less tolerant of variations in salinity than, say, the bull shark." It seems, West concludes, "that the fisherman has got the wrong identification."

Maybe so; but he has a great yarn, which, as any old seadog will tell you, is even better.