Makos are semi warm-blooded sharks that are super fast and powerful. Source: 7 News

IF you think it’s safe to take a dip in Sydney Harbour, you had better think again.

Last week, a fisherman caught a massive two and half metre, 150-kilogram shark near the Gladesville Bridge over the Parramatta River, in Sydney’s northwest.

Patrick Melograna said he had been fishing for jewfish, also known as an Atlantic goliath grouper, to celebrate his father’s birthday, when he landed the monster catch on his line.

“It was a team effort to bring this beast on board, [after] battling with it for 1.45 hours,” he told The Weekly Times.

“We’ve since identified it as a Mako shark although we originally thought it might have been a bull shark..”

Mr Melograna admits he was shocked at finding the shark so far into Sydney Harbour.

“This is normally a deep-sea species, so to see one this far down the harbour is very rare indeed,” he said.
“We measured it at over eight feet long and conservatively weighing in around 150kgs.”

Makos usually don't come close to land. Source: 7 NewsSource:Supplied

Fishing expert Al MGlashan agreed it’s very rare for the dangerous species to be seen as far west as Gladesville, especially given Makos prefer the open sea.

“There’s a chance they’d come up because the harbour’s so healthy these day,” he told Yahoo.

In the past two decaded, there has been four incidents involving sharks in the Harbour.

These include a swimmer bitten at Charles Street Wharf in 1996, a man bitten at Leichhardt the following year, rowers being rammed at Homebush in 2000 and a kayak being snapped by a shark near Cabarita in 2002.

While the recent incident might sound troubling, Mr Melograna said it’s just something we have to accept.

“They’re part of nature and we’ve got to learn,” he said. “Don’t jump in when there’s a big bait school, or at dusk and dawn or dirty water.”

A giant hammerhead was caught in the Brisbane River earlier this year.Source:Supplied

Earlier this year, a Logan fisherman reeled in a monster hammerhead shark in the Brisbane River.

Kurt Ockenfels, 33, was fishing at the mouth of the river when he pulled in the 3.2m shark.

The fisherman said he had caught similar sized sharks in the past, but had never seen a fish this big in the Brisbane River.

“We’ve caught 12ft plus tigers and 10ft plus bulls and 10ft plus hammers out in Moreton Bay and on Fraser Island,” he said.

“But this shark coming out of the mouth of the river is the wow factor of this catch.”

Like all the sharks Mr Ockenfels reels in, this hammerhead was tagged and released back into the water.

“We don’t know much about sharks and that’s why we’re out here tagging as many sharks as we can as often as possible,” he said.