The New South Wales Government has launched a fleet of drones at some of Sydney's most popular beaches to monitor for shark activity, part of an $87 million plan. The drones are immediately available for lifesavers to use above Bondi, Tamarama, and Maroubra Beaches from Thursday morning.
Drone Patrols and Timing
The drones will patrol the beaches between 7:30am and 4pm, coinciding with lifeguard surveillance. This initiative follows heightened community concern over an increase in shark activity across Sydney. Bondi Beach was closed for the third consecutive day after another shark sighting on Thursday, believed by authorities to be a great white shark—the same one spotted two days earlier.
Previous Incidents and Community Pressure
Drones had already seen limited use at some Sydney beaches and were introduced at Coogee Beach after 34-year-old mother Leah Stewart was mauled by a suspected great white on June 13. Stewart suffered bites to her arms and legs, significant blood loss, and fractures throughout her body. One of her arms required amputation, and wounds contaminated with sand and debris posed an extreme risk of infection.
The increased shark activity led to mounting pressure on Premier Chris Minns, who on Wednesday ruled out a summit on the issue but announced that measures such as drone detection would be funded by the government. “We’re going to unveil some practical measures that we think can make a big difference,” Minns told Sunrise. “Particularly in relation to drone technology and nets, particularly during the summer period, and we’ll be making announcements very soon.”
Premier's Remarks on Mitigation
Minns acknowledged the limitations of the technology: “I can’t promise that there won’t be further attacks, I can’t promise that great whites won’t interact with swimmers. But I think we can mitigate the number on some of our most popular beaches.” He described the mitigation measures as a “world-leading” approach, noting that the government needs time to build a framework for using the technology. “It’s not as if we can take it off the shelf from California or Miami or Brazil or Johannesburg, places where there is big populations and shark attacks, we have to invent it right here in NSW,” he said. “We’re determined to do that, but there’s not an automatic solution to this problem that I can roll out this afternoon. If there was, that’s exactly what I’d do.”
