Coogee Beach shark attack prompts temporary drone ban to be lifted
Updated ,first published
A drone ban on Coogee Beach will be temporarily lifted to allow Surf Life Saving NSW to scan for sharks following a horrific attack that left a woman fighting for her life.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) banned drones from flying in Coogee because the beach was in the flight path of commercial airlines, but granted a temporary exemption on Sunday in response to the attack.
Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said the government would work to make the exemption permanent but would not answer questions about why the exemption had not been requested before. He said the ban was implemented “for good reason”.
“We are working with Surf Life Saving New South Wales to make sure we can adopt this technology on our beaches,” he said, adding that the government was funding Surf Life Saving NSW to train staff to pilot drones and purchase two new drones.
Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive Steve Pearce said the organization would push for the ban on flying drones over Coogee Beach to be permanently lifted. “Drones have proven to be the number one factor in the shark mitigation strategy for the protection of swimmers and surfers,” Pearce said.
Surf Life Saving NSW drones have detected more than 2000 sharks along the state’s coastline since last July and authorized more than 1000 interventions to protect swimmers and surfers from sharks, it said.
Saturday’s attack left a 35-year-old woman in critical condition and follows a series of similar incidents over the summer that increased pressure on the Minns government’s shark mitigation strategies.
Finance Minister Daniel Mookhey said on Sunday that the government was already funding the “world’s largest” shark mitigation strategy but would “explicitly look at whether additional money is required” before next week’s state budget.
Moriarty said he was seeking urgent advice from the Department for Primary Industries (DPI) and Regional Development, which runs the shark mitigation programme.
While he did not rule out a potential shark cull, Moriarty emphasized that there would be a focus on technology, including unmanned artificial intelligence drones.
“The priority for keeping people safe is to have more drones in the skies, to track and tag more sharks so we can understand their movements and people can make informed decisions and educated decisions about swimming on our beaches,” he said.
“We want to make sure it can be available at every beach.”
White sharks will not be targeted in the ban due to their protected status.
Aviation expert Neil Hansford said he could not understand why the exemption could not be made permanent as long as the drones were operated by qualified pilots through Surf Life Saving NSW or emergency services.
“You can’t use a drone at Coogee because it’s under the flight path to the short runway at Mascot. Such bans are not uncommon,” he said.
“[But] If they had just accepted a fixed rule of not flying above say 500 feet or 1000 feet and limited them to that, I think that could have been easily negotiated. 300 meters would be very safe.”
In a statement, a CASA spokesperson said current approvals only allow for the use of drones in emergency situations at Coogee due to its proximity to Sydney Airport, but said it would meet with Surf Life Saving NSW “to explore whether existing approvals to operate at Coogee could be safely adapted to better support its operations”.
The shark attack shocked a number of experts, including DPI shark program leader Marcel Green.
“[It] “It was quite a unique and different event,” he said, adding that the swimmer “did everything right” by swimming among the flags and in clear water during the day.
“This was just one of those random events. We can never be 100 percent protected on every beach, every day, all the time,” he said.
The 35-year-old woman was in a critical but stable condition at St Vincent’s Hospital on Sunday morning. Health Minister Ryan Park said he spoke with one of the emergency room doctors who provided first aid to the woman after the attack and described the incident as a “distressing sight”.
“[T]his was a graphic scene in detail. “He had obviously been put in a critical condition because he had lost a lot of blood,” he said.
Stating that the woman’s condition is stable, Park said that the woman is “far from getting out of the forest.”
Member for Moriarty and Coogee Marjorie O’Neill thanked first responders and said her thoughts were with the 35-year-old victim. He is in critical condition at the hospital.
“We know that many people in our community are afraid, afraid, afraid to get back on the water,” he said.
A community event will be held at Coogee Surf Life Saving Club on Monday evening to assist those seeking advice and support.
Be the first to know when important news happens. Sign up for breaking news alerts Turn on notifications in email or in the app.
Amber Schultz is a crime and justice reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect with: X or email.
