June 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\nThe plan follows a great white shark attack on a woman swimming between the flags at Sydney’s popular Coogee Beach on June 13.<\/p>\n
Teacher Leah Stewart, 34, was critically injured and later had her arm amputated following the mauling.<\/p>\n
Under the expanded monitoring programme, announced on Sunday, 72 beaches – including at least one in every coastal local government area – will benefit from a fleet of drones watching over them 365 days a year.<\/p>\n
“No one can promise a shark mitigation programme that can guarantee that there will be zero encounters with sharks,” Mr Minns told reporters at Cronulla.<\/p>\n
“But our plan here is to reduce the risk for swimmers and surfers in NSW beaches by using the latest technology … so that you get earlier warning if you’re in the water that there is a shark in the vicinity.”<\/p>\n
The program could eventually culminate in the use of autonomous, AI-enabled drones, rather than human-controlled craft.<\/p>\n
Two trials of the technology are due to take place during summer.<\/p>\n
“We want to use old technology and we want to use new technology,” Mr Minns said.<\/p>\n
“When we can roll out automated drones and AI-assisted monitoring, (it) will make a big difference … because we’ll be able to identify and distinguish between different kinds of marine life for the first time.”<\/p>\n
Beaches with high numbers of water users will be prioritised for the additional monitoring.<\/p>\n
The bolstered surveillance will kick off on Wednesday and include year-round coverage of all of Sydney’s main beaches.<\/p>\n
Some 500,000 drone flights were expected to be logged annually, Surf Life Saving NSW head Steve Pearce said while pointing to a drone being tested overhead.<\/p>\n
“This is just one of a fleet of drones … that will be rolled out, up and down the NSW coastline, that allows our pilots to pilot drones hundreds of kilometres away from where they’re actually situated,” he said.<\/p>\n
Controversial shark nets will be retained at some beaches, but they will be fortified by aerial surveillance.<\/p>\n
Humane World for Animals Australia marine biologist Lawrence Chlebeck welcomed the world-leading commitment to drones, which he said were the best way to watch for sharks and reduce the risk of bites.<\/p>\n
But he urged the government to scrap shark nets because they entangled other animals and were considered outdated and ineffective by the scientific community.<\/p>\n
The nets, which are removed during the winter whale migration season, will be reinstalled in September.<\/p>\n
A fundraiser to cover Ms Stewart’s medical procedures and help her family has garnered more than $A500,000 in donations.<\/p>\n
The 34-year-old mother spent a week on life support and endured multiple surgeries but has been taken off the critical list.<\/p>\n
The attack reignited calls to cull shark populations to protect swimmers, but Mr Minns said great whites could not be targeted as they were a protected species.<\/p>\n
Nico Antic, 12, was fatally attacked by a shark while swimming with friends near a popular beach at Vaucluse, in Sydney’s east, in January.<\/p>\n
Surfer Mercury Psillakis, 57, died after being bitten by a shark at Long Reef beach, in the city’s north, in September.<\/p>\n