The New South Wales government will fund year-round dawn-to-dusk drone patrols at 70 beaches under a $34 million expanded shark monitoring program, Premier Chris Minns announced on Sunday. The initiative aims to restore confidence among beachgoers following a series of shark sightings and attacks, including a great white shark attack on Sydney mother Leah Stewart at Coogee beach earlier this month.
Program Details and Coverage
From 1 July, drones will operate daily from dawn to dusk across all 38 of Sydney's ocean beaches and 32 beaches in the rest of the state. The program, run by Surf Life Saving NSW, also includes increased drone monitoring at other regional beaches, with daily flights from 1 December to 30 April, weekend flights year-round, and extended daily flight hours. At least one beach in every coastal local government area will benefit from year-round coverage, focusing on those with the highest numbers of swimmers and surfers.
Surf Life Saving NSW CEO Steve Pearce said drones have already proven effective, having identified and prevented over 2,000 sharks from interacting with swimmers and surfers this year alone, while conducting more than 100,000 flights.
Technology and AI Trials
The funding will also support trials of new artificial intelligence shark detection systems over summer, which could eventually enable automated flights. University of Sydney shark policy expert Associate Professor Christopher Pepin-Neff described the AI plans as "ambitious and bold" but cautioned realism: "With more drones in the air, that is going to mean sharks are discussed a lot more across Australian beaches. We need to treat the beach like the bush. It's the wild."
Shark Management and Cull Debate
Despite multiple attacks in the past year, some fatal, Minns has resisted calls for a cull of great white sharks, which are a protected species. He noted that white sharks travel vast distances, making culling ineffective. Pepin-Neff agreed, stating that white sharks are pelagic and do not travel together, so a cull would have no effect. However, Minns said bull sharks, which are not protected, are under review, and he "can't rule out" a cull if their numbers are higher than normal in summer.
Macquarie University emeritus professor Robert Harcourt, an expert in marine ecology, said long-term tagging data shows no evidence of an increase in bull shark abundance, though some sharks are arriving earlier and staying longer. He called a cull "not a rational response" but welcomed the drone funding, which provides swimmer surveillance and keeps people safe from all hazards.
