An amateur Youtuber only ever wanted to document his explorations around Australia. He had no idea that one particular expedition into an abandoned wildlife refuge would end up with him working alongside the police...
Youtube Explorer
31-year-old Luke McPherson is a Youtuber who lives in Victoria, Australia. Living in Australia has given him a lot of opportunities to roam and explore the great wilderness that his country has to offer. He started his Youtube channel to document his journeys for other people who might be interested in exploring. He did it for fun and never expected it to blow up...
Abandoned Wildlife Park
The Alonzo F. Bonsal Wildlife Preserve was once a popular spot to see wild animals in captivity. Luke lived nearby and used to visit it frequently as a child. It had been left abandoned, though, and he knew that it was the perfect spot to film an exploration video.
Closed Down and Abandoned
In 2012, the park was closed due to tons of offenses and violations against animal protection laws. They didn't have the proper license to display native animals which caused a lot of problems within the community. Luke had some wonderful childhood memories at the reserve, so he knew that he had to gear up and go see the abandoned park.
Totally Desolate
The property owner ended up getting evicted pretty quickly, so they left things quite a mess. All of the animals had to be surrendered to the RSPCA, so there weren't any left behind. At least, that's what he assumed...
Exploring
It was really easy to break into the grounds. It was pretty much security-less... All they had to do was jump over a very short gate and they were in. They started exploring one of the guest services buildings that lead to an animal exhibit. When Luke opened the door, he was hit with a stench so bad that he had to cover his mouth and nose.
Gross Cave Habitat
Luke shined his flashlight around the room and tried to take it all in. The ceiling of the room was arched and made of dirt and the "windows" had been dugout. They were in some sort of natural cave habitat! There was a dark opening in the wall that lead them deeper into the exhibit...
Predators?
Luke made his way deeper into the cave. He was met with a sign that said "predators" which told him what used to live there. He kept seeing signs about "dangerous" animals that used to inhabit the room...
An Ominous Glow
As Luke was exploring the premise, he noticed a weird glow coming from under one of the closed doors. He decided to head in and see what was in that next room. When he opened the door, he noticed how dirty the room was. There was shattered glass everywhere...
Another Horrible Smell
Suddenly, he was hit with another foul smell different than the first one. This smell had more of a chemical odor to it... It was almost painful to breathe in. Something was wrong, and Luke knew that he had to break out his camera and film whatever he was about to find.
It Was Burning
Luke had never had a smell "burn" before, but this smell was burning his nostrils. He was disgusted but intrigued at the same time. He noticed that there was a huge tank in the darkroom that he was in... Maybe there were chemicals in there?
A Total Mess
Luke had to climb over mountains of trash to get to the tank to check it out. He had to keep his flashlight on the ground to make sure that he wouldn't trip and hurt himself on anything... Then, he got to the tank and shined the flashlight inside.
He Was Stunned
Luke's heart felt like it stopped when he saw the eerie glow from inside the tank. His flashlight was illuminating a shark! His hands began to shake as he studied the beast for another moment... He had to make sure that it wasn't alive.
Abandoned
Luke couldn't believe what he was seeing. The tank must have been about fifteen feet long and ten feet deep. The shark took up most of the space. The stench was coming from the nasty waters and decomposing shark...
So Eerie
The more he investigated, the more reality set in. That was a real dead great white shark in that tank! Its teeth were massive and its eyes were dark and dim. It was simmering in old formaldehyde, which is probably why it hadn't decomposed in the seven years since the reserve closed.
Getting Dizzy
The longer Luke lingered, the dizzier he got. He needed to get out and get some fresh air. A dead shark was not what he was expecting to find on his adventure! What was the story? Why was this poor shark left there to die?
It Was The Only Thing Left
Luke decided to explore for a little while longer just to make sure nothing else had been abandoned... Thankfully, the shark was the only animal that he found on the reserve. He needed to figure out what happened. Did these people abandon a live shark and leave it to die?
The True Story
After Luke returned from his adventure, he decided to deep dive into some research about the reserve. That's how he learned about Rosie, the great white shark who was on display at the facility. Rosie had died in a tuna fishing net ten years before the facility closed down. Someone came to Rosie's rescue...
Rosie the Shark
After hearing about the tuna net situation, an artist bought Rosie's dead body. He gifted it to the wildlife park for scientific research. Rosie was fully intact... She offered something that most wildlife preserves could never imagine!
Rosie's Body
Naturally, Luke's discovery made headlines. Many people were worried about what would happen to Rosie's body. Would she be forced to stay in that tank? Wildlife experts have checked it out and decided that it'll remain at the reserve until further notice... Her tank isn't posing a risk to public health, so she should stay put.
What Else Did He Find?
Even though he didn't find any other abandoned animals, he did find some extremely bizarre things at the reserve. He continued recording the entire time when he found mattresses, couches, and graffiti all over the walls. It looked like people had been living there...
Bones?
As he was searching around the property, he found tons of different bones. Luckily, the couple of skulls that he found wasn't human-shaped, so he assumed that this wasn't the work of some serial killer.
More Chemical Smells
Luke was searching through another building when he smelled that same chemical smell. He didn't want to find another dead shark in a huge tank of formaldehyde, but he knew that he had to check it out...
Searching for the Smell
He used his flashlight to see what he was walking on as he investigated. He saw family photos, important documents, and other personal items all over the ground. He even saw more bones, but they were tiny... He assumed that a cat was possibly using this place as a dining hall.
Old, Decaying Furniture
Luke found even more evidence that people were possibly living on the refuge. He found a pullout mattress, couches, and even some torn up clothes. Suddenly, he felt a sense of dread...
Tons of Rooms and Dark Spots
It randomly hit him that he might not be alone. It would be extremely easy for someone to hide in that place. There were so many doors, hallways, rooms that he never even investigated just because there were so many. Was he being watched?
Children's Things
He decided that he wanted to leave. He made his way back through the refuge but ended up stumbling upon unknown territory. He was getting a bit turned around. As he tried to leave, he noticed children's clothing, books, and toys on the floor. Maybe a family was living there...
Scarier Than a Dead Shark
Luke decided that he did not want to find who could have been living there. After all, he found a dead shark! That was more than enough for him. Luke started to take in what kind of trash was all around him... There must have been squatters in the building.
Was He Alone?
Luke did his best to be quiet in case he wasn't alone. He didn't hear or see anything suspicious, but he didn't want to be foolish. There was a good chance that someone was sneaking around and watching him without him knowing.
Finally Leaving
Luke was panicking just a bit. He was a little lost and couldn't find the entrance that he came in from. He didn't want to run into anybody that would want to hurt him, so he wanted to get out quickly. Finally, after circling the area for a little bit, he made his way out unscathed...
Shark Find
Luckily, Rosie the Shark was the only thing that Luke found. After he got home, he posted his video to Youtube to try and spread the word about Rosie. After all, she was worth talking about! He did advise people not to go due to the evidence of squatters that he found. Luckily, the police made more of a presence at the refuge after the discovery of Rosie to keep people away.