Great white shark stalks Twilight Bay in Western Australia

Twilight Bay is one of the most picturesque spots in Western Australia. But it is also home to a mammoth great white shark.

The spot in the Esperance region is popular with visitors who love to launch themselves off the beach’s iconic jump rock.

Then last week, footage was taken of the shark also cruising around the rock.

Local Cale Walker, who was flying his drone in the area on January 20, filmed the shark swimming around the large rock, with an alarm being sounded on the beach to alert everyone to the danger.

But in Mr Walker’s drone video, two swimmers appeared to be stranded as they waited for the animal to depart.

According to locals who were at the beach that day, five people who were already on the rock decided to risk it and power back to shore when they thought the shark had moved on.

But two people decided to stay put, with the local surf lifesaving club called in to help.

Dane Holdman, a lifesaver at the Esperance Goldfields Surf Life Saving Club, was one of the people tasked with rescuing the two men.

“Personally, I probably wouldn’t have gone in the water, just being the fact there is a shark and there are surf lifesaving members on their way to assist,” he told the ABC.

Mr Holdman and another lifesaver drove their inflatable boat up to the rock, pulling it onto a flat section that allowed the two stranded men to jump in and avoid the water.

According to locals, that particular great white shark has become an infamous part of the Esperance region, which has been rocked by a number of shark attacks over the years.

Last week’s rescue also wasn’t the first time lifesavers have had to bring people in off the rock thanks to a shark sighting.

Three people have been killed by sharks in the Esperance region since 2017.

In January 2020, diver Gary Johnson was killed by a shark at Devils Rock, off the coast of Esperance.

His wife Karen Milligan witnessed part of the attack but was forced to let him go when she realised “his eyes were open but he was unresponsive”, an inquest heard last year.

The other two attacks at Esperance happened at Kelp Beds, a popular surf break not far from the town.

Teen surfer Laeticia Brouwer died in 2017 after she was mauled by a shark at the surf break.

She was surfing with her dad when the shark struck her and pulled her beneath the waves.

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Her dad managed to get Laeticia to shore but she died from her injuries a short time later.

Local surfer Andrew Sharpe was also killed by a great white shark in October 2020.

Authorities searched for him for three days but he was never found.

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