And local shaper quits surfing after Great White feeding frenzy near famous pointbreak.
Yesterday, the little beach town of Angourie was blessed with the performance of two Great Whites and two Tiger sharks eating a dead Humpback whale near the world-famous point.
Read the initial report here .
“It would’ve been a disaster if it washed up on the rocks. There wouldn’t have been surfing for months,” says Laurie’s big bro, Hughie, who jumped in his own boat for a squiz at the action. “Laurie called me and said, ‘Fuck, drop your tools and get your boat in the water.”’
The big-wave surfer and apprentice tiler, Laurie Towner, who is thirty two, was first on the scene along with David “Baddy” Treloar whose section in Morning of the Earth inspired a generation to shuck work and disappear north. The pair saw that a dead Humpback whale, fifty feet long or so, was threatening to drift right onto the rocks at Angourie Point and used Baddy’s boat to tow the giant mammal a mile offshore.
“It would’ve been a disaster if it washed up on the rocks. There wouldn’t have been surfing for months,” says Laurie’s big bro, Hughie, who jumped in his own boat for a squiz at the action. “Laurie called me and said, ‘Fuck, drop your tools and get your boat in the water.”’
Hughie, who is thirty five and runs a carpentry biz out of nearby Yamba, said that as soon as he got to the whale, one of the Great Whites came to check him out.
“Next minute, two Tigers turned up,” he says. “They were real curious. One came so close I gave him a little pat on his dorsal fin. They’d go in for a feed, come over and cruise around the boat, head back for another feed then come back.”
Hughie says the biggest of the two Whites was around ten feet, although one Tiger was slightly larger. Keen to share the “incredible” experience Hughie went in and grabbed two pals including Will Webber, a noted shaper and brother to the well-known Greg Webber.
“Oh my fuck, oh my fucking god,” Will said when he arrived at the scene.
“Will said he’s having a big board sale this weekend,” says Hughie. “He gave up surfing after seeing that.”
Meanwhile, as far as Hughie knows, the whale is drifting south towards Brooms Head.
Commented on Disqus? Log out, tap the Disqus button, and your old name and comments come back. The box is ours.
Your comments are still here. Every one of them.
Twelve years of BeachGrit comments came across from Disqus. Connect and we will show you how many are yours. We get your username, nothing else.
Connect Disqus to reveal.
So there I was, me and my mates, and the shark, and the snake , and the spider and the emu.
But first, let me tell you about me mates Stuart, Nigel, and Simon. They are the kind of guys you want on your side in this situation.
“‘Fuck, drop your tools and get your boat in the water.”’
I thought his name was Hughie?
““Oh my fuck, oh my fucking god,” Will said when he arrived at the scene.”
What?
I should of learned english at school, I could of understand better who this Fuck might be, and I would of spare you with my stupid comments.
Another popular Australian name to add to your lexicon is ‘Yakunt’.
My name, which even total strangers, mysteriously, all over the world seem to be aware of, is ‘Dickhead’.
I’ve worked with australians and south africans, there were endless discussions about the use of the word “dick”, used to talk about fat people in South Africa if I’m correct. And for the aussie I spent the most time with, the world was split between cunts and dudes… I never knew if I was one or the other…
All those grown men wearing shorts always made me nervous, that’s for sure.
Its washed up in the yuragir national park. Thanks for passing on the problem to the next surfing community boys! In all seriousness WHY can’t the NPW tow these things back out to sea?
Bummer for you guys.
Wait til the greens get a hold of this.
A boatload of surfers dragged a dead whale out off their break !
Baddy n Laurie could have shit coming their way.
I hope they don’t – but it’s a fukkn weird world in pc land.
Normal cunts aren’t allowed to take matters into their own hands, oh no.
There will be some fukkn department of some fukknthing to make sure it’s treated respectfully and in the appropriate manner.
Like take it out 20k’s and blow the fucker up.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
not exactly true. Right, KS!?https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Zig and Sharko! What a great cartoon.
how is it possible that every australian works in some form of the construction trades? what do they all be building? is there some sort of population explosion requiring massive public works that i’d not heard about?
We don’t have Mexicans.
Except in Victoria , South of the border .
Yeah huge problem in WA, Mexicans coming across from vic…
Australia’s the land of the tradie superstar. Car parks are infested with Davo’s, Dazza’s and Shanes who pull down 200k and are rolling in nice utes (pickups) and fourbies (SUV’s) with mint quivers of js’s and dhd’s and a lot of them shred. Its the every-man dream and a good reason penalty rates shouldn’t be legislated away.
This is actually all bullshit mate.
Not where I live. Easy to tell how good the surf is by the number of tradie’s wheels in the carpark. And the continued complaints from the punters regarding the lack of tradies available and/or how long it takes them to complete a job.
lots of empty houses in suburbia
It’s either that or rack up a 40k communications degree at Uni which will guarantee you a job curating the IG account at the local coffee shop
Which is scarier, do you think, the white pointers or the tigers?
BTW wots all that white stuff? Is it COCAINE? Is that why Webber and co were so quick to investigate?
Oil from the carcass of the whale and froth
Huge chunks of white stuff the sharks are BURYING THEIR NOSES IN.
Don’t play innocent with me sunshine!!!
As my uncle would say, ” Coupla Mick Gaggers!”
Aha, fat and muscle then broski
Methinks I am too subtle for you sir.
I know what you meant, I couldn’t resist
Like you would know the difference if a chunk of your leg was gone.
If given the choice of an actual tiger or a bear, I’d pick a tiger as having your neck bitten would be way quicker than being pinned down and eaten alive.
You?
I dunno, somehow tiger sharks scare me more. I don’t know why. Perhaps the fact that they eat more random stuff generally and can saw their way through turtle shells is concerning.
Tigers vs Bears… mmmm. Mammals have a different psychological thang altogether. Perhaps because we share the land with them, we can deal with them on sliiiiightly more even footing.
The idea of a big sharky-boi looming out of the deep gloom gives me a severe cramping case of the hoobly-gooblies.
I’d put four of the fukkers on a par with each other, CB.
In no order whatsoever – GW, Bull, Tiger and Mako.
Any of them can go mental. What triggers them ? Who fukkn knows …
And anyone who’s seen a pack of blues nut off or hammerheads knows they can be just as crazy. Rage n fury.
Sounds like my 5 yo daughter.
Lot fucking easier to carry a semi-automatic on land though. I find lugging one while attempting backhand reos somewhat annoying as they tend to swing around and smack me upside me face.
I wish others had fish filming with commentating skills like this guy.
I know this shit is an old video, but crunk Aussie’s sound like crunk Bostonians.
That guy needs to work with Turpel and liven him up a bit.
big bait balls everywhere at Ballina.
Legs up.
I’d be skipping the early and the late, LT !
Midday is looking a little shaky too…
👀 👀 👀 👀
avoiding a sharkbite is so simple, just climb on nearest tree…
just surf greasys LT
ha…..it looked fun the other day