A shark behaviour expert has criticised Tony Abbott, stating that the former prime minister “doesn’t understand the science” after he called for a shark cull following an attack at a Sydney beach.
Leah Stewart, a 35-year-old woman, was bitten on the leg and arm by what is believed to be a great white shark on Saturday morning at Coogee beach.
In a statement released on Monday afternoon, Stewart’s family described her as a “passionate teacher and Coogee local” whose injuries remain “severe and life-threatening”.
“She remains in a critical condition and has undergone multiple surgeries in the days after the attack,” they said.
“As a family we are shocked and devastated that this could happen to our beloved partner, daughter, and mother who is so full of life and energy.”
They expressed gratitude to lifesavers, medical staff, and members of the public for their support.
Abbott said in a social media video that it was “so wrong that we don’t cull sharks after attacks” and advocated for establishing a fishery to catch sharks.
Emeritus Professor Rob Harcourt, who leads the marine predator research group at Macquarie University, stated that a shark cull would not reduce the risk of attacks at beaches.
“Tony Abbott doesn’t understand risk, he does not understand climate change, and he doesn’t understand the science when he calls for a cull,” Harcourt told Guardian Australia.
“What’s the point in a cull? A cull won’t change the risk unless you completely remove white sharks from the ocean. It’s not feasible and it would be an ecological catastrophe.
“This was a rare incident and it’s tragic. But calls for a cull are not based on any evidence that would change the risk. It’s a kneejerk reaction.”
Professor Culum Brown, who researches fish behaviour at Macquarie University, described calls for a shark cull as “a very naive way of scoring political points”.
“We should be looking at ways we can coexist with nature,” he said. “We should not be having this 18th-century approach to annihilating nature because it threatens us in some way.”
The New South Wales Premier, Chris Minns, noted that the great white shark is a protected species and ruled out a cull.
“I’m not convinced it would work and we’ve certainly had no expert evidence suggesting to us that we could ward away great whites from our beaches as a result of a cull,” he said.
“Because the reality is for those sharks, they may have come from New Zealand, they may have crossed the Pacific Ocean. I’m not convinced it would work and certainly we haven’t received evidence or information that it would work.”
He called for a “rethink” of the state’s approach to shark protection, including shark netting and the use of new technology such as drones.
Harcourt suggested that using drones to survey beaches was a more practical way to reduce the risk of bites.
“If you put drones over a beach and then call people in [when sharks are spotted] then you are less likely to be bitten,” he said.
On Monday, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority temporarily lifted a ban on using drones to survey for sharks at Coogee. The eastern suburb beach is close to Sydney airport flight paths.
Surf Lifesaving NSW’s public safety manager, Brent Manieri, confirmed that drones would be allowed to fly across several beaches for the rest of the week.
“We will be operating … to ensure there’s a level of aerial surveillance that the community can feel safe and assured in when they want to come back down and have a swim,” he told the ABC on Monday.
Dr Daryl McPhee from Bond University, who is researching shark bite trends, said: “Had drones been able to fly, this is one bite that could have been avoided.”
He described it as “extremely rare” for a person to be bitten on a patrolled beach because “there are a lot of eyes on the water”.
McPhee noted that between 1980 and 1999 there was an average of 0.6 shark bites causing injury each year in NSW, but the current rate is 4.16. Most of that increase has been driven by bites in the north of the state.
Population increases mean more people are in the water, which likely contributes to the rise, he said. Increasing whale populations also attract more great white sharks to the coast.
Lawrence Chlebeck, a marine biologist at Humane World for Animals, argued that culls cannot work because sharks are migratory and swim thousands of kilometres.
Any cull would probably involve attracting sharks with bait, which he said would increase shark activity. “In my opinion that would increase the risk,” he said.
He revealed that since 2012, 174 great white sharks have been killed as a result of the state’s shark nets, along with 40 bull sharks and 42 tiger sharks.
