Sam Morgan, 20, is in a coma at a Gold Coast hospital after being attacked by a bull shark Tuesday at Lighthouse Beach in Ballina, NSW. Photo: Facebook / Le-Ba Boardriders
On Tuesday evening, 20-year-old Sam Morgan was mauled by a Bull Shark while surfing at Lighthouse Beach in Ballina, NSW Australia. A promising young talent, Morgan now rests in an induced coma at a Gold Coast hospital while he recovers from severe lacerations on his left thigh. The attack was the third at Lighthouse Beach over the course of just three months, spawning concern and a call for the government to take preventative action.
After an attack on a bodyboarder in August at Lighthouse Beach, Australian officials set aside $250k in preventative measures, which included water surveillance and a campaign to educate the public about the species with Surf Lifesaving NSW.
Morgan’s mauled board seen here. Photo: ABC News / Eloise Farrow-Smith
But as the attacks continued – Morgan’s threshed thigh being the final straw – the gov’t has decided to up their game.
Per a report from ABC, Australian officials have approved a push for ‘eco-friendly shark barriers.’ The enclosures barricade swimmers and surfers from sharks coming in from deepwater using a nylon net spanning from seabed to surface, shoreline to shoreline. The nets have a big enough opening for other, smaller marine life to travel through freely; but they will block larger animals like sharks from getting close to shore.
“There were meetings, even as early as Monday this week, to look at the types of eco-barriers that we could put in at Lighthouse Beach,” Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair said.
After Morgan’s hospitalization, however, local surfers like president of the local Le-Ba Boardriders Club Don Munro, say that it’s too little too late.
“I don’t know what it takes, it’s like a revolving door at the moment, it’s just going round and round,” said Munro. “Yes, we want that to happen now, we need that to happen now.”
The government has confirmed that the nets will be installed at Lighthouse Beach in the next couple months.
