Northampton man living in Australia spotted three sharks and helped evacuate ‘packed’ beach

A Northampton man living in Australia spotted three sharks while flying his drone and helped lifeguards evacuate a “packed” beach.

David Alphonso, 36, is originally from Blackthorn but moved to Western Australia eight years ago as he had always wanted to travel.

He has a passion for wildlife and the outdoors, became a keen photographer seven years ago, and now regularly flies his drone along Australian beaches.

On January 5, he visited Meelup Beach with his dad, who was visiting from Northampton, brother, wife and son.

He and his brother went for a walk to the spot David would usually fly his drone from and within 30 seconds of it taking flight, he had spotted a bronze whaler shark swimming in the shallows.

David said: “I’d never seen one that close to the shore and to people.”

The first thing he did was video call his wife, who he asked to alert the lifeguard.

“As she ran over to the lifeguard, they knew something was wrong and could tell a shark had been spotted,” he said.

The lifeguard went and saw what David was seeing on his iPad screen, which is what he always uses to look at his drone footage.

The lifeguard then boarded a jet ski to go and get a closer look at the shark and when it was confirmed it was a bronze whaler, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service was called out.

Following the sighting of the singular bronze whaler, it did not take long for another to appear – as well as a larger great white.

David said: “The shark alarm was set off by the helicopter, which was hovering above where the sharks were, and the beach had to be cleared immediately.

“Everyone had to leave the water as quickly as possible and it was closed for a couple of hours.

“It was packed with at least a good few hundred people, as it is the summer holidays.”

The 36-year-old says the Australians were not shocked by the news of the sharks as it is more common than everyone realises, but “tourists looked worried”.

He also said it was a “cool experience” to use his passion of photography and sea life to help the lifeguards and potentially save lives.

To see more photos and videos of the shark sightings, visit David’s Instagram page here.