Council wants better shark surveillance
The first shark attack at Bondi Beach in 80 years has prompted Waverley Council to look for ways to better protect beachgoers at Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama beaches.
Mayor Sally Betts said the council had instructed lifeguards to improve surveillance, and has asked the Bondi Marine Discovery Centre to provide more public information about sharks and safe swimming.
“Lifeguards do a great job of patrolling the beaches but we want to increase protection for our beachgoers,” Councillor Betts said. “If we need more nets or aerial surveillance we will be asking for support from the State Government.”
The council motion follows several shark attacks this year which have Sydneysiders worried. Bondi was closed again recently when a three-metre great white was spotted at the southern end of the beach. Lifeguards cleared the water before reopening the beach.
There has been growing controversy over shark netting the NSW Government first installed in 1937. A review of shark nets is due in April but concerns have emerged about the effectiveness of the netting and the collateral damage it inflicts on the coastal ecosystem.
Greens MLC Ian Cohen has called the review a joke and says the people of NSW are paying close to $1 million a year for nothing.
“Are the nets even working? The answer is a resounding ‘no’! The fact that the two most recent attacks occurred on meshed beaches demonstrates that pretty conclusively,” he said. “If you look at the pictures of the Bondi and Avalon nets you can only laugh. How can Minister Ian McDonald possibly tell the public that they work? These nets are a security blanket only.”
Mr Cohen said that by listing the number of sharks caught in the nets the report seemed to suggest each shark caught equates to an attack averted.
“The figures show 100 great whites caught from 51 beaches over 17 years of meshing. NSW has 721 beaches and 93 per cent are not meshed. Why aren’t the great whites picking off swimmers on all those other beaches?” he asked.
“[From] 1974 – 2009 there were 12 attacks across 51 meshed beaches and 45 attacks on the 650 non-meshed beaches. You’d say you were safer on a non-meshed beach – although we know the number of people on NSW beaches is not evenly spread.”
There are certainly more people in the water every year at Sydney’s beaches. More than 40,000 people flock to Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama beaches on summer weekends.
Mayor Betts said better education was needed to improve swimmer safety.
“We all need to become more aware of shark danger,” she said.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries website says sharks don’t target people; they are usually accidental by-catch for large sharks, and the most dangerous times to swim are dawn and dusk, or when seabirds are diving, and when small fish are jumping.
There has also been conjecture about whether the attacks indicate greater shark presence in our coastal waters. The CSIRO’s Barry Bruce said statistics were “almost useless” when it came to shark attacks. “It’s a high profile, low risk and low frequency event, but with high consequence,” he said.
– BY JEREMY BROWN
