--- title: Aussie 'Surfs' a Whale Carcass, Encircled by Feeding Sharks description: An Australian who leapt into shark-infested waters and climbed atop a floating whale carcass now admits it probably wasn't the best idea canonical: https://time.com/3554404/australia-surfer-whale-sharks/ author: Dan Kedmey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-03T15:34:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:14:17.379Z og:title: Watch This Guy 'Surf' a Whale Carcass Encircled by Feeding Sharks og:description: "Mum thinks I'm an idiot, dad's not too proud either" og:url: https://time.com/3554404/australia-surfer-whale-sharks/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ea86bf447e354cc/698763e7e20a8729b6a82cc2/whale-carcass-shark.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Great whit shark (Carcharodon carcharias) dorsal fin above water og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch This Guy 'Surf' a Whale Carcass Encircled by Feeding Sharks twitter:description: "Mum thinks I'm an idiot, dad's not too proud either" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ea86bf447e354cc/698763e7e20a8729b6a82cc2/whale-carcass-shark.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch This Guy 'Surf' a Whale Carcass Encircled by Feeding Sharks  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Nov 3, 2014 3:34 PM UTC  Great whit shark (Carcharodon carcharias) dorsal fin above water Great whit shark (Carcharodon carcharias) dorsal fin above waterGetty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Nov 3, 2014 3:34 PM UTC An Australian man who leapt into shark-infested waters and climbed atop a floating whale carcass, so he could balance on it like a surfboard, now [admits](http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/03/world/asia/australia-man-dead-whale/) it probably wasn’t the brightest idea. Harrison Williams spotted the sharks — including a great white — before he jumped into the water, he told a reporter from the Seven Network, a CNN affiliate. Video of the bizarre incident shows Williams, 26, swimming up to the whale carcass as the silhouettes of two massive sharks circle nearby. “He was too busy chomping on the whale so wasn’t too bad,” Williams explained. Asked if he thought he might be a “bloody idiot,” Williams said, “Yeah” and added that his family wasn’t too thrilled with the decision either. “Mum thinks I’m an idiot, dad’s not too proud either.” \[[_CNN_](http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/03/world/asia/australia-man-dead-whale/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3554404/australia-surfer-whale-sharks/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3554404/australia-surfer-whale-sharks/"},"headline":"Watch This Guy 'Surf' a Whale Carcass Encircled by Feeding Sharks","datePublished":"2014-11-03T15:34:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:14:17.379Z","description":"\"Mum thinks I'm an idiot, dad's not too proud either\"","url":"https://time.com/3554404/australia-surfer-whale-sharks/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Sharks","Australia","animals","Ocean"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ea86bf447e354cc/698763e7e20a8729b6a82cc2/whale-carcass-shark.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ea86bf447e354cc/698763e7e20a8729b6a82cc2/whale-carcass-shark.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Great whit shark (Carcharodon carcharias) dorsal fin above water","caption":"Great whit shark (Carcharodon carcharias) dorsal fin above water","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3554404/australia-surfer-whale-sharks/","name":"Watch This Guy 'Surf' a Whale Carcass Encircled by Feeding Sharks"}}]}] ```