Chris Hemsworth shared a wild story on the Smartless podcast about surfing through a series of shark attacks near his Byron Bay home that left two dead.
Chris Hemsworth told a thrilling story on the Smartless podcast about a time he went surfing in Byron Bay. While he was out in the water, helicopters flew overhead, sirens blared, and police raced along the shoreline all during what he called a shark attack “feeding frenzy.”
, Chris Hemsworth has kept busy with interviews and events to promote his latest thriller, Crime 101. The movie has already earned an impressive 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
As he’s been making the rounds, which often involves popping up on various podcasts these days, one topic seems to keep coming up for the Australian star: his love of surfing down under.
Chris Hemsworth at a Q&A for Crime 101 in Los Angeles, California
Photo credit: Kevin Paul, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
On the popular Smartless podcast, Chris Hemsworth talked about surfing in Australia and brought up the topic of sharks.
Around the 50:27 mark co-host Jason Bateman asked him, “I’m amazed by your overall toughness and how you handle nature and all that. So in Australia, you’ve got snakes, spiders sharks… have you ever spotted a dorsal fin while surfing?”
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Hemsworth said, “Oh yeah. When I came home and away to Byron Bay, there were a bunch of shark attacks – two people died, and one survived – all in just two weeks. One happened right near my house, another one was ten minutes south, and the third was five minutes to the north. I thought, ‘What have I done moving here? This is insane.'”
, news covered a spike in shark attacks in Sydney Australia. That city sits about a day’s trip south of Byron Bay. Over just two days, there were four attacks. One cost a surfer their leg, and another claimed the life of a young boy.
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Even so, Bateman asked, “But you’re still paddling out?”
Hemsworth answered, ” as long as other surfers were out there too. It improves your chances a bit. There was a time when helicopters used to fly along the beach checking for sharks. If they spotted one, they’d send out a siren as a warning. It felt like chaos, like a shark attack rampage. Then the cops would show up and tell everyone to get out of the water. At first, the surfers would say, ‘No, we’re not leaving.’ But , one by one, everyone would start heading back to shore. In the end, they’d all give in and leave.”
Bateman asked, “You mean the top predators, right?”
Hemsworth responded, “Yeah bull sharks and great whites.”
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Still, Hemsworth pointed out how rare shark encounters are by bringing up some well-known comparisons to other risks and throwing in another example for perspective:
“I surf every day. You’ve heard the stats. It’s like getting hit by lightning. Car accidents are also way more dangerous. I even saw one stat that said more people in the U.S. die from shaking vending machines trying to get candy or snacks. Not sure if that one’s true though.”
Source:
Dashel Pierson (Feb 24, 2026). Chris Hemsworth Surfs Through Shark ‘Feeding Frenzy’ in Australia (Video). SUPER. https://www.surfer.com/news/chris-hemsworth-surfing-sharks-australia-smartless
Header Image: Chris Hemsworth at a Q&A for Crime 101 in Los Angeles, California
Photo credit: Kevin Paul, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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