Photographer captures extraordinary surf event off Aussie coast: 'Pretty amazing'
Queensland man Doug was filming off the coast of Caloundra, on the Sunshine Coast, just before lunch on Wednesday when he came across the spectacular sight — tens of thousands of mullet swarming to form a massive underwater bait ball.
In an interview with Yahoo News, Doug explained he's lucky enough to witness the event annually, but despite its yearly occurrence he still feels fortunate to be able to catch a glimpse each time.
"It's pretty amazing, actually," he said. "I live here on the coast, and I've been doing drone footage since 2007. People love seeing it — it's a natural spectacle we're lucky to see so close to shore."
While the sight's undoubtedly impressive to view, it's actually fairly normal fish behaviour. Used as a defence against attacks, fish like mullet typically swarm together in tight, swirling formations when threatened by a predator, like a dolphin, shark, or large fish, beneath or nearby.
"They bunch up tight for protection — safety in numbers," Doug of Bluey's Photography said. "When something rushes at them, you'll see a real burst of white water on top of them. Could be a big snapper, could be a shark."
From above, bait balls look like moving shadows, shifting spirals, or pulsing galaxies in the water. Drones have made it possible to see this beauty from a new perspective, turning marine biology into an art form.
"When the fish get disturbed, they panic, flutter and surge — something's lunged up from beneath. I watched for over an hour with a fisherman, [wondering] "What is it? What's chasing them?" — but we couldn't see anything. I've seen sharks and dolphins do it before, but this time it must've stayed deep," Doug said.
"They'll break away from the ball, form a long line, then regroup into another ball — all to stay away from predators."
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Each year, around this time, generations of the same mullet fishing families gather on the beaches near Caloundra, anticipating the mullet run. Because fishing is prohibited within the Pumicestone Passage — a marine park where mullet spawn — the fishermen rely on lookouts with radios to monitor the fish as they migrate up from Moreton Bay.
Once conditions are right — typically when calm seas and westerly winds prevail — the mullet exit the passage and swim close to shore, offering a narrow window for the fishermen to cast their nets, and for Doug to capture his footage.
"They use the roe from the females for export, and then send the rest to bait shops, the cannery, or for pet food," he said.
In places like southeast Queensland, bait balls are a predictable but short-lived event, tied to water temperature, spawning cycles, and wind conditions.
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