{"id":476526,"date":"2026-06-14T07:37:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T07:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/476526\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T07:37:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T07:37:11","slug":"nothing-off-table-shark-culls-on-cards-after-attack-at-sydney-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/476526\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Nothing off table’: shark culls on cards after attack at Sydney beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest shark attack<\/a> that critically injured a woman in front of shocked swimmers has reignited calls for culling as a community reels from the incident off a popular beach.<\/p>\n

And the New South Wales government is not ruling out the measure.<\/p>\n

The attack happened about 20-30 metres from shore and between the flags at Sydney’s popular Coogee Beach about 11am on Saturday (local time).<\/p>\n

The woman, believed to be in her 30s, was airlifted to hospital after being brought from the water by an off-duty lifeguard.<\/p>\n

\"Lifeguard<\/p>\n

Lifeguard Charlie Verco told 9News the shark was the biggest he\u2019d ever seen. (Source: Nine)<\/p>\n

It has prompted strong calls by NSW independent MP Rod Roberts to cull sharks for the sake of community safety.<\/p>\n

Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty did not rule it out on Sunday.<\/p>\n

“Nothing is off the table in terms of how we keep the community safe,” she told reporters.<\/p>\n

Shark nets would be installed on September 1 and the government was seeking expert advice from the Department of Primary Industries, Moriarty said.<\/p>\n

Mitigation programs included drone surveillance and shark tagging.<\/p>\n

\"Coogee<\/p>\n

Coogee Beach, Sydney. (File image). (Source: istock.com)<\/p>\n

“We swim in the ocean with living, breathing animals and we have to share the ocean every day,” she said.<\/p>\n

Roberts said swimmers needed to be protected.<\/p>\n

“We’re not talking about culling out on the Great Barrier Reef, just the popular swimming areas around Sydney,” he said.<\/p>\n

Marine experts and conservationists warn culling is not a sustainable, scientifically grounded solution.<\/p>\n

Footage from a Westpac Life Saving Rescue Helicopter shows a large shark swimming close to the shore after the attack.<\/p>\n

All of Sydney’s eastern suburbs beaches remain closed after Randwick City Council made the call to prohibit anyone entering the surf during the 24 hours following the attack.<\/p>\n

The closure includes Coogee, Clovelly and Maroubra beaches, and “all other ocean beaches under council management”.<\/p>\n

As a precaution, Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama beaches are also closed.<\/p>\n

Surf Life Saving NSW officials said the woman was taken to St Vincents Hospital with serious arm and leg injuries but was “semi-conscious and breathing”. <\/p>\n

Guards stationed at the beach responded immediately, administering emergency first aid and CPR before paramedics arrived, Randwick mayor Dylan Parker said.<\/p>\n

The shark involved is believed to be three-to-four metres long and possibly a Great White, which is a protected species.<\/p>\n

An exemption to fly drones has been sought by SLNSW from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Ms Moriarty confirmed.<\/p>\n

Lifeguards were seen testing them out on Coogee beach.<\/p>\n

The Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries shark programs leader Marcel Green said Saturday’s attack was “unique and different”.<\/p>\n

“She [the swimmer] was doing everything right but it was just one of those random events and we can never be protected 100% every day, all the time,” he said.<\/p>\n

About 170 white sharks have been detected by the department’s listening stations dotted across the entirety of the state’s coastline<\/p>\n

The most recent fatal attack in Australian waters happened on June 6, when 35\u2011year\u2011old diver Daniel Turpin was bitten by a suspected 4.5\u2011metre shark while spearfishing near Albany in WA.<\/p>\n

His death followed those of 38\u2011year\u2011old Perth father Steven Mattaboni off Rottnest Island and spearfisher Michael Jensz, 39, south of Cairns in May.<\/p>\n

In January, NSW made international headlines after recording four shark attacks in 48 hours.<\/p>\n

Two resulted in people being hospitalised in critical condition, while the other two escaped without serious injuries.<\/p>\n

Coogee Surf Life Saving Club will host a community gathering on Monday at 6.30pm (local time).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The latest shark attack that critically injured a woman in front of shocked swimmers has reignited calls for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1081,50,85,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-476526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-accident","tag-animals","tag-australia","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}