A drone helped keep surfers away from the nearby shark. Photo: Drone Shark App//screenshot
Just 10 days after a white shark attacked a woman on Sydney Beaches, a drone spotted another shark patrolling, alerting lifeguards and surfers of the danger.
The Instagram account Drone Shark App, which posts daily drone updates of Sydney Beaches, saw the shark within 50 meters of surfers on the morning of June 23. The account reported that there were lots of salmon around, which likely attracted the predator.
“At first, I wasn’t completely certain, but I was about 90 percent sure it was a white shark,” the post’s caption says. “After reviewing the 4K footage, that identification was confirmed.”
The drone operator alerted lifeguards to the shark, who then sounded an alarm and launched a Jet Ski to the drone’s location. The shark did not make aggressive maneuvers towards surfers, and no one was injured.
The sighting comes less than two weeks after a white shark attacked 35-year-old Leah Stewart at Coogee Beach, just two miles south of Bondi. She remains in critical condition.
7News reported that the local government has allocated AUD $86.6 million for shark attack mitigation, measures such as shark nets, drum lines, tagging programs, drones, education, and research. Chris Minns, Premier of New South Wales, said he will access emergency funds to increase the efforts.
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