Australia fends off sharks

AVOIDABLE: NEW AND OLD TECH BEING USED TO PREVENT ATTACKS ON BEACHGOERS

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PREPARATION. Surf lifesaver Oliver Heys unpacks a large drone on Dee Why Beach in Sydney. High above Sydney's beaches, drones seek one of the world's deadliest predators. AERIAL. This frame grab shows a shark swimming near Lennox Head in northern New South Wales. EYE. Surf lifesaver Eliza Heys pilots a drone on Dee Why Beach in Sydney.

(AFP)

High above Sydney's beaches, drones seek one of the world's deadliest predators, scanning for the flick of a tail, the swish of a fin or a shadow slipping through the swell.

Australia's oceans are teeming with sharks, with great whites topping the list of species that might fatally chomp a human.

Undeterred, Australians flock to the sea in huge numbers - with a 2024 survey showing nearly two-thirds of the population made a total of 650 million coastal visits in a single year.

Many beach lovers accept the risks.

When a shark killed surfer Mercury Psillakis off a northern Sydney beach in September, his grief-stricken family called it “a tragic and unavoidable accident”.

Increasingly crowded waters and rising ocean temperatures that appear to be swaying sharks' migratory patterns may be contributing to an escalation in attacks, despite overfishing depleting some species, scientists say.