'My heart was racing': Family captures shark close call at WA beach
A family on holiday in WA got more than they bargained for when a shark got a little too close for comfort at a popular dolphin-watching hotspot.
Ruth Daw, her husband Derek and children, Arran and Chloe, were fishing at a Monkey Mia beach, a couple of hours north of Perth, when they thought they'd spotted a dolphin in the distance.
But when they pulled a phone out to try and catch it on camera, the family realised it wasn't actually a dolphin at all.
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The family thought it was a dolphin at first until it came closer. Gaw family / Supplied
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"My son and my husband were just standing there fishing and then next minute, it just came in fast as," Ruth told Today.
In the footage, a turtle desperately tries to get away from the shark - swimming towards the shore to escape.
But the shark is clearly hungry and hits the sand, thrashing around wildly as it tries to capture its prey just a few metres from the shocked family.
"I just couldn't speak, my heart was racing it was just amazing," Ruth said.
Chloe, Ruth, Arran and Derek (L-R) were on holiday in Monkey Mia when they filmed a shark chases a turtle close to the sand. Today
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Thankfully, hitting the sand must have startled the shark and the turtle managed to escape - from what the Daws could see.
But that was just one animal encounter the Scottish family managed to have while on holiday.
"We've seen sharks, snakes, dolphins since holidaying at Monkey Mia," Derek said.
"I mean, I just can't believe people come to this country given the number of ways that they can be killed," host Karl Stefanovic joked.
See the wild footage in the video above
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