Official shark sightings off New South Wales beaches have reached their highest level in five years as aerial drones are increasingly used to spot them.
This summer, 50 beaches, from Fingal Head in the north of the state to Pambula Beach in the south, will have drone pilots scanning daily aerial images of popular swimming spots for oblong, dark shapes resembling sharks.
Michael Coventry from Surf Life Saving NSW’s UAV division at Dee Why Beach on Tuesday.Credit:nick moire
In Palm Beach on Tuesday, the shark alarm went off and the beach closed for 30 minutes after a drone operator spotted a seven-foot hammerhead shark just off shore.
That beach evacuation is just one of many expected this summer, as increased use of drones leads to more shark sightings.
According to data from Surf Life Saving NSW, the number of sharks sighted on the state’s netted beaches increased from just six in 2017-18 to 104 in 2021-22.
Sydney’s beaches, stretching from Palm Beach to Cronulla in the south, had the most shark sightings, with 53 recorded in the 12 months to July 2022, followed by the Central Coast with 20 sightings and the Hunter Region, with 18 sharks sighted.
A report from the Department for Primary Industries earlier this year attributed that huge increase to drones, not more sharks. “This increase is unlikely to represent an increase in sharks along NSW beaches, but more likely to highlight the value of drone aerial surveillance to detect sharks,” he said.
Drone technology has been used to spot sharks in New South Wales since 2017, but this is the first summer that every local government area along the coast will have at least one beach with a drone pilot on duty.