Shark drone monitoring is being expanded along Sydney’s beaches after a series of attacks, including two deaths, but authorities warn the technology cannot guarantee that swimmers and surfers will be protected.
The New South Wales government has launched a $120 million, two-year shark mitigation programme featuring near-constant daytime surveillance, two listening stations for tagged sharks in Sydney Harbour and smart drum lines designed to bait and release potential problem animals.
It has also installed 51 traditional mesh nets between Newcastle and Wollongong, despite its own environmental concerns about the method.
The measures follow a fatal attack on 57-year-old surfer Mercury Psillakis at Dee Why and a separate incident at Coogee in which Sydney mother Leah Stewart was seriously injured by a four-metre great white shark.
Ms Stewart, 35, fought off the shark with a series of punches before undergoing several operations, including the amputation of her left arm.
Mike Psillakis, the victim’s brother, believes drone surveillance could have made a decisive difference in both incidents.
“I believe that if there was a drone on the days my brother and Leah were attacked, my brother would be with me and Leah wouldn’t have those injuries,” he said.
Shark drones offer protection but no certainty
Drone operators must watch screens manually and decide when beaches should be cleared. Marcel Green, who runs the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries shark programme, said a serious attack while a drone was operating was a matter of when, rather than if.
On January 19, a young surfer at Dee Why had his board bitten through by a shark while a drone was monitoring the area. Mr Green said the surfer appeared to have seen the shark before being knocked from his board, after which the animal bit the board.
“On that day we we had a drone operating … probably 500-600 metres away,” he said.
The incident occurred on the same day 25-year-old Andre de Ruyter lost a leg after being bitten while swimming at North Steyne Beach in Manly. The previous day, 12-year-old Nico Antic was fatally mauled off Shark Beach at Vaucluse.
Mr Green said drone operators were not expected to provide complete protection, with factors including murky water beyond their control.
“We’re always driving home the message that you know even if the worst thing does happen, this isn’t your fault,” he said. “You’re here trying to provide a community service and prevent something that some people say is inevitable anyway.”
University of Sydney shark attack policy expert Chris Pepin-Neff said Australia could not be made completely safe from sharks and warned the coming summer could bring further encounters.
“There is no shark-proofing Australia,” they said.
They linked the risk partly to warmer conditions associated with a newly emerged El Niño weather pattern, saying bull sharks favoured warmer water. Higher temperatures could also mean more people swimming and more bull sharks entering Sydney Harbour.
“We need to be well and truly braced with our expectations because I believe the year is going to bring more human shark interactions,” Professor Pepin-Neff said.
“We have to treat the beach like the bush. You can have the best surf lifesavers in the world and the best technology in the world, and the wild is still the wild.”
With sharks moving along the coastline, authorities face the challenge of balancing public safety with the disruption caused by clearing beaches.
Mr Psillakis said his brother’s death had unsettled the local surfing community, with some people reconsidering whether to enter the water and many parents worried about their children.
“I say to them that the ocean has never been safer with the drones operating and yet still they’re rattled,” he said. “We’re a surfing nation, we love the beach and our coastlines are some of the nicest in the world. It’s pretty sad actually.”
