Drone ban lifted at Coogee Beach after woman mauled by shark

A ban on drones will be temporarily lifted at Coogee Beach to allow Surf Life Saving NSW to scan for sharks following a terrifying attack that left a woman fighting for her life in hospital.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) bans drones from being flown at Coogee because the beach is in the flight path of commercial airlines, but granted a temporary exemption on Sunday in response to the attack.

Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty said the government would work to make the exemption permanent, but would not answer questions as to why an exemption hadn’t previously been sought. The ban was in place “for good reason”, she said.

“We’re working with Surf Life Saving New South Wales to make sure that we can embrace this technology above our beaches,” she said, adding the government was funding Surf Life Saving NSW to train staff to pilot drones and to purchase two new drones.

Surf Life Saving NSW chief executive Steve Pearce said the organisation would push for the ban on flying drones over Coogee Beach to be permanently lifted. “Drones have proven to be the number one factor in the shark mitigation strategy for swimmer and surfer protection,” Pearce said.

Surf Life Saving NSW drones have detected more than 2000 sharks along the state’s coastline since last July, Pearce said, and allowed more than 1000 interventions to protect swimmers and surfers from sharks.

The attack on Saturday left a 35-year-old woman in a critical condition, and followed a series of similar incidents over summer which increased pressure on the Minns government over its shark mitigation strategies.

The Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said on Sunday that the government was already funding the “world’s biggest” shark mitigation strategy but would “obviously look to see whether or not any additional money is necessary” ahead of the state budget next week.

Moriarty said she had sought urgent advice from the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and Regional Development, which runs the shark mitigation programme.

While she would not rule out a potential shark cull, Moriarty stressed the focus would be on technology, including unmanned AI drones.

“The priority for keeping people safe is more drones in the sky, tracking and tagging more sharks so that we can understand their movements, and people can make decisions – informed decisions and educated decisions – about swimming at our beaches,” she said.

“We want to make sure that it can be available on every beach.”

White sharks would not be targeted in the ban due to their protected status.

Aviation expert Neil Hansford said he couldn’t see why the exemption couldn’t be made permanent, so long as drones were operated by qualified pilots through Surf Life Saving NSW or emergency services.

“You can’t use drones at Coogee because it’s under the flight path onto the short runway at Mascot. This sort of ban is not uncommon,” he said.

“[But] if they accepted a fixed rule not to fly them above, say 500 feet or 1000 feet, and limited them to that, I think it would be easily negotiated. A thousand feet would be very safe.”

The shark attack shocked a number of experts, including DPI shark program lead Marcel Green.

“[It] was quite a unique and different incident,” he said, adding the swimmer was “doing everything right” by swimming during the day, between the flags and in crystal clear water.

“It was just one of those random events. We can never be protected 100 per cent at every beach, every day, all the time,” he said.

The 35-year-old woman was in a critical but stable condition at St Vincent’s Hospital on Sunday morning. Health Minister Ryan Park said he had spoken to one of the emergency physicians who had provided first aid to the woman after the attack who described it as “a harrowing scene”.

“[T]his was a scene that was graphic in detail. She was obviously transported, having lost an enormous amount of blood, into being in a critical condition,” he said.

While the woman was in a stable condition, Park said she was “far from out of the woods”.

Moriarty and Member for Coogee Marjorie O’Neill thanked the first responders and said their thoughts were with the victim, a 35-year-old woman. She is in critical condition in hospital.

“We know many people in our community are scared, frightened, afraid to get back in the water,” she said.

A community event will be hosted at Coogee Surf Life Saving Club on Monday evening to assist those seeking advice and support.

CASA has been contacted for comment.

Be the first to know when major news happens. Sign up for breaking news alerts on email or turn on notifications in the app.