Sydney’s Coogee Beach reopened on Monday under the watchful eyes of lifeguards and jet ski patrols, after a shark attack over the weekend left a woman critically injured and prompted a safety review at Australia’s popular shorelines.
The 35-year-old victim was swimming about 30 meters from the shore on Saturday morning when she was bitten by a three-to-four-meter-long shark, sustaining serious injuries to her arms and lower left leg. She remains in the hospital in stable condition.
Local authorities urged swimmers to be cautious.
“Our Lifeguards will continue JetSki patrols throughout the day, and Surf Life Saving NSW is operating a shark-spotting drone at Coogee Beach,” Randwick City Council said in a statement.
The council will host a community gathering on the incident on Saturday.
Coogee, south of iconic Bondi Beach, is symbolic of Sydney’s coastal lifestyle. The beaches, which lie east of the city, are famous for their golden sands and dramatic coastal cliffs, drawing millions of tourists from around the world every year, making water safety a high-stakes priority for the authorities.
Saturday’s attack was the latest in a series of shark encounters off Australian beaches. The week before, a man died after being attacked by a shark while fishing off the coast of Western Australia.
Last month, a 39-year-old man died after being attacked while fishing on Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef. Ten days before that, a 38-year-old was fatally mauled on an island near Perth in Western Australia.
Dozens of beaches along Australia’s east coast, including in Sydney, were closed in January after four shark attacks in two days. Those followed heavy rain that created murky water, attracting sharks and reducing their visibility.
While shark encounters remain statistically rare, a Reuters analysis of data from the Australian Shark Incident Database shows a gradual rise, with the country averaging nearly 29 incidents per year over the last decade, up from roughly 16 per year in the 2000s.
Shark cull
The attack has forced a regulatory review of aerial surveillance. While emergency drones were deployed on Monday, Coogee normally faces strict flight restrictions because it lies directly beneath Sydney Airport’s flight path.
New South Wales Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said on Monday that it had been a really tough summer for shark activity, and nothing was off the table as the state considered safety measures. However, she said any action would prioritize technology, such as the drones.
Some experts have said Saturday’s attack was by a white shark, classified as a vulnerable species and protected under environmental laws that make it illegal to target, capture, or kill the animal without approval.
However, the attack has again led some to suggest a cull, a highly contentious issue.
“It’s so wrong that we don’t cull sharks after attacks,” former conservative prime minister Tony Abbott said in a video posted on his Facebook page.
