From sharks, to hailstorms and drivers driving badly - it was a wild year for unbelievable videos.
While wildlife seemed to dominate the video watch list - particularly sharks - there was everything from dashcam footage to court and crime stories that drew readers attentions this year.
IN OTHER NEWS:
- Listen to our new audio briefings on your smart speaker
- Tobias Pick appears in court over death of Launceston woman Jingai Zhang
- Cruise ship to circumnavigate Tasmania next month
- Contamination conditions put on Fragrance hotel
- New Zealand media company fined after Tasmanian Aboriginal slur
- 'Ticking time bomb': Tasmanian tourism operators urge JobKeeper extension
So without further ado, these are the most watched videos from across the Australian Community Media network this year:
Shark launches at boat and these fishermen filmed it
A Tasmanian fisherman and his son were left trying to piece together why a shark - suspected as being a great white - attacked their boat near Tenth Island off Beechford in July.
Sean and James Vinar were making the most of the calm conditions by taking their 5.5-metre boat from Low Head to the island to observe seals about 9am.
But as they pulled up to film some video and take photos of the island, they were suddenly interrupted.
Read the full story: Launceston fishermen escape great white shark attack at Tenth Island off Beechford
When thousands of mullet and great white sharks mix, it's wild
An aerial photographer turned saviour when he warned a fishing crew of a potential killer just metres from them on a NSW beach in May.
Forster photographer Adam Fitzroy was at Tuncurry's Nine Mile Beach capturing fisherman Danny Elliott and his crew haul in another large school of the fish during the annual mullet run.
A number of great white sharks tried to get in on the action, and one particular shark came within metres of the shore as the fishermen pulled in their catch.
Hailstorm tears through Canberra
Who can forget the massive hailstorm that smashed the nation's capital back in January?
Fast-moving thunderstorms brought heavy rain with golf-ball-sized hail stones which caused widespread damage in the Belconnen suburbs, city and inner south.
It was just the latest in Canberra's bizarre summer after the city was enveloped for weeks in thick bushfire smoke.
Weinstein trial to kick off in New York
Back in January, the trial of Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was about to get underway.
Two years after US media detailed numerous allegations against Weinstein, triggering a cascade of accusations against other powerful men and the spread of the #MeToo movement, the trial was set to begin.
Weinstein, 67, faced five charges stemming from allegations he raped a woman in 2013 and performed a forcible sex act on another woman in 2006.
'Never seen it before in my life': Shark cruises close to wharf
Eden's Drew Mudaliar was among the few to catch a rare glimpse of a shark cruising close to the Eden wharf in NSW's South Coast in June.
Mudaliar said it was a very opportune time as he was launching his boat to go out for a morning fish.
"Never seen it before in my life mate - 30-plus years of fishing at the wharf here," Drew said of the experience, sharing video of the encounter on social media.
"We were just launching the boat to go out fishing, it was definitely a mako shark and about 10-feet-long so a pretty large shark."
Mr Mudaliar said sharks were obviously common in Twofold Bay, but it was rare to see them so casually close to the wharf, but he believes it might have been recovering from an apparent wound.
Aussie Ark returns platypus to the wild after bushfire rescue
Five platypus rescued from certain death following drought and bushfire were released back into the wild by Barrington Tops based wildlife conservation organisation Aussie Ark in November.
Waterways in the NSW Hunter and Manning catchments were severely impacted by drought and fire; the Manning River stopped flowing for the first time in recorded history.
Following the bushfires Aussie Ark staff were in the field providing supplementary food sources, relocating animals and bringing into care those that needed veterinary attention.
Dangerous highway incident caught on dashcam
Police were left wondering how an incident on the NSW Hume Highway didn't add to the nation's road toll.
NSW Police has shared the vision of a ute and truck travelling in Sydney's south-west in May.
The video shows a larger truck travelling in the left lane next to a small truck which is swerving between the right lane and rest lane.
The ute then appears to accelerate to try and overtake the smaller truck in the rest lane.
The small truck appears to continue blocking the ute from passing in the rest lane before the dashcam footage cuts out.
Woman charged after alleged road rage incident on busy street
A 29-year-old woman was charged after a pedestrian was hit and several cars were rammed in an "extremely dangerous" incident in Newcastle CBD in November.
The incident occurred after the woman and a 55-year-old man, who were known to each other, met in the car park of KFC on Hunter Street, Newcastle, in NSW's Hunter region and an argument broke out.
The man then left in a yellow Holden Barina, and police allege the woman pursued him in a ute Ford ute and rammed the Barina multiple times along Honeysuckle Drive and King Street.
99km/h, a wet deck, a police car and a head-on waiting to happen
Footage of a vehicle narrowly avoiding a head-on crash with a police patrol car shows there's just inches between life and death.
The frightening video was released by police in January ahead of the Australia Day long weekend, with Victorian south-west police road safety adviser Senior Sergeant Chris Asenjo urging the community to stay safe on the roads.
Great white shark pays visit to NSW Mid North Coast rock pool
The calm waters of the Tuncurry Rock Pool on NSW's Mid North Coast attracted plenty of attention but no swimmers in June, after a great white shark was spotted cruising in the popular swimming area.
Great Lakes Advocate senior journalist, Jeanene Duncan, arrived at the pool one morning for a swim and said the creature had attracted quite a crowd.
Ms Duncan said most people agreed the shark was around five feet long but there was debate about whether it was a juvenile great white or a grey nurse shark.
What do you think? Send us a letter to the editor:
Kim Chappell
As Senior Producer - Digital for ACM's regional titles I assist newsrooms in digital best practice. Before this role, I was the digital journalist with ACM's national team and prior to that, the digital specialist with ACM's Agricultural division. I started as a general rounds journalist with The Land in 2006, moving up to hold the title of chief of staff before switching to digital reporting in 2015.
As Senior Producer - Digital for ACM's regional titles I assist newsrooms in digital best practice. Before this role, I was the digital journalist with ACM's national team and prior to that, the digital specialist with ACM's Agricultural division. I started as a general rounds journalist with The Land in 2006, moving up to hold the title of chief of staff before switching to digital reporting in 2015.
