Photos of an Enormous 6 metre shark caught in Australia goes viral on facebook.

12 August 2015

Photos of an Enormous 6 metre shark caught in Australia goes viral on facebook.

Facebook pictures emerge claiming to show a terrifying SIX METRE shark hauled on board a fishing boat off Seven Mile beach in Lennox Head - one of Australia's most popular surfing spots
Two photographs of a dead tiger shark, which is reportedly six metres long, have started to circulate on Facebook
Geoff Brooks said the massive apex predator was hauled out of the water off Seven Mile beach in Lennox Head
Reports have emerged that the shark's enormous body had been handed over to authorities with the CSIRO
However, a spokesperson revealed that no one from CSIRO have accounted for the body
A fisherman has come forward, claiming to have caught the marine predator off the Tweed coast 'a while ago'

By BELINDA GRANT GEARY FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

PUBLISHED: 02:30 GMT, 12 August 2015 | UPDATED: 05:22 GMT, 12 August 2015

Photos of an enormous tiger shark's corpse have started to circulate on social media, with some claiming it was pulled out of the water in northern New South Wales over the weekend.

Geoff Brooks posted two images of the six metre apex predator to Facebook on Tuesday, claiming that the tiger shark was 'caught off 7 Mile Beach' near Lennox Head, on the northern NSW coast, at some stage over the weekend.

'As far as I'm aware; It was a kill order on a shark here on the far north coast that was identified as being responsible for a local attack.'

'And yes - it's real,' he added.

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Geoff Brooks posted two images of the apex predator to Facebook on Tuesday, however he said the tiger shark was 'caught off 7 Mile Beach over the weekend'

Mr Brooks said he could not confirm if the shark was killed intentionally after hearing reports that the marine predator may have been caught in nets surrounding the Lennox Head area.

While the Northern Star have reported that a fisherman named Matthew came forward to confirm that it was him that pulled the massive shark out of the water off the Tweed Coast 'a while ago', even taking the jaws as a souvenir.

'I was the one that took that photo and I was the one that caught that fish,' he said.

Matthew, who has not been formally identified, said he caught the shark 14 miles off Tweed Heads about three weeks ago.

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'As far as I'm aware; It was a kill order on a shark here on the far north coast that was identified as being responsible for a local attack'

He claims that the marine predator was hunting another breed of shark when he pulled it from the water.

'I was fighting the Hammerhead and he came up and swallowed it,' Matthew told the Northern Star.

He said that the pictures that have appeared on social media were used to identify the monster shark as he had no idea of its exact species when it was caught.

The fisherman claims to have spotted sharks well over 7 metres off the Tweed coast, commenting that this specific monster was 'only a little one'.

The Northern Star have reported that the giant tiger shark was sent to the fish markets when it was caught and that the only proof of its existence are a set of jaws taken by the fisherman as a souvenir.

Other reports claim that the body was handed over to authorities with the CSIRO, however a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that the shark has not been accounted for by CSIRO staff.

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The shark was reportedly hauled on to a boat on Seven Mile Beach, off Lennox Head

'We've seen the photos but we haven't got any information that it has been handed in or where it was caught,' he said.

'There has been no indication from staff that it has been handed in to a CSIRO site, all we can say is that it is a tiger shark and not a white.'

TIGER SHARK

Scientific name - Galeocerdo cuvier

The Tiger shark is found in tropical and warmer temperate waters, including waters surrounding northern Australia, Perth and the Bass Strait.

They are most commonly found along the NSW coast in summer.

Tiger sharks are known to reach a length of around six or seven meters and a weight of around 1,000 kilograms.

Breeding occur every two years, usually in the summer.

They are known to eat a huge variety of animals, including turtles, sea snakes, dugongs and ocean mammals such as dolphins or whales.

This comes amid reports that a vigilante group of surfers are planning a covert culling of sharks in the area following a string of sightings and attacks along the popular coastline.

The revelation came during a community meeting earlier this week where residents were informed that businesses in the area were facing foreclosure after tourists started avoiding the area, fearful that they will fall victim to a shark attack, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Ballina shire mayor David Wright said he feared some locals may 'take the matter into their own hands'.

He said a helicopter team, that patrols beaches in the area at a cost of $16,000, are closely monitoring seven great white sharks in the area, which are believed to be up to five metres long.

According to the Department of Environment, several species of shark are known to be dangerous to humans, including the tiger shark.

However, it states that no shark are thought to target humans as prey, rather the 'majority of shark attacks can be attributed to the shark confusing us with its normal prey'.

Surfer and conservationist with Positive Change for Marine Life warns that culling will have absolutely no impact on the number of sharks interacting with humans each year.

'Eliminating individual species that are slow to reach sexual maturation and whose numbers are already under extreme pressure from human activities is not only influencing the balance of our oceans, but it is proven to not make any difference on shark/human interactions in all areas where culls have been carried out.'

He said removing them, with little understanding of their behaviour or migration patterns, is simply a 'band-aid solution' that will not solve the issue surrounding attacks in the area.