‘It’s not going to be me’: Despite risks of shark attacks, Sydney beachgoers still catch the waves

SYDNEY – On a sun-drenched day in Sydney, it is no surprise to see crowds heading breezily into the water at Coogee Beach, one of the city’s most popular beaches.

But this summer has been anything but ordinary.

During a tragic 48-hour period from Jan 18 to 20, the city recorded four separate shark attacks, including one that claimed

the life of a 12-year-old boy

who was bitten while swimming with friends at a beach in Sydney Harbour in the east.

At Manly Beach, a popular tourist spot in the city’s north, a 27-year-old surfer was hospitalised after being bitten. An 11-year-old surfer was attacked and had his surfboard bitten into at Dee Why Beach in Sydney’s north, and a 37-year-old surfer suffered minor injuries at Point Plomer, also in the north.

The spate of shark encounters was reportedly unprecedented.

Suddenly, many in this beach-obsessed city were checking the New South Wales government’s SharkSmart app for real-time alerts on shark sightings and beach closures, as well as advice on how to avoid an attack.

Some began avoiding the beach altogether, heading to suburban public pools or enclosed ocean pools.

But it has been impossible to keep beachgoers away for long.

At Coogee Beach, Mr Greg Littrich said he had not given a moment’s thought to the recent spate of attacks as he was preparing for a swim on Feb 6. “It’s not on my mind at all,” he said.

The 58-year-old television engineer, who has lived in Coogee for 30 years, said the attacks were terrible and had put a “bad vibe on the whole beach-going experience”, but they had not kept him away.

“It is rare that so many attacks happened close together like that, but as Australians, we are used to the possibility of sharks,” Mr Littrich said.

Another swimmer at Coogee, Ms Mara Hyde, a tourist from the US, told The Straits Times that she had been in Sydney for only three days and had heard about the shark attacks from family friends. But she was not discouraged from swimming, noting that “there are a lot of people out swimming”.

“There have always been sharks in the water,” the 24-year-old said. “It’s very uncommon (to have an attack).”

But Ms Hyde said she may not swim at dawn or dusk – the times when the risk of shark attacks is believed to be greatest.

“If it was just me (swimming), it would stop me,” she said.

Shark attacks occur occasionally in Sydney, and beachgoers are familiar with the sight of helicopters keeping an eye out for sharks, or the siren warning swimmers to leave the water after a shark is detected nearby.

But the attacks in January led to

beach closures

and prompted the New South Wales government to expand its offshore drone surveillance.

The government also plans to conduct research on bull sharks, including tagging and monitoring them to understand their numbers and movements, and to install “listening stations” in the harbour to detect tagged sharks.

But shark experts have been quick to call for calm. Most say the spate of attacks does not mean that the city’s beaches are suddenly more dangerous.

Dr Nicolas Lubitz, a marine ecologist from James Cook University, told ST that the attacks were due to a “perfect storm”. This included heavy rain that flushed an overabundance of food from rivers into the harbour and ocean, as well as an increased number of people using beaches and waterways in summer.

“Sharks are opportunistic predators and know they have an advantage when the water is dirty and murky,” he said. “I don’t think they seek to bite people. In unfortunate conditions, people can be in the wrong spot.”

Australia experiences 2.8 deadly shark attacks a year, according to the Australian Shark-Incident Database. There have been 23 deadly attacks since 2020 – an increase believed to be due to global warming, which is prompting more people to spend longer time in the water and could also be affecting the habitats of sharks.

Inevitably, the recent attacks led to fresh debate about measures to improve safety, including calls to retain or expand the use of controversial shark nets.

The government currently operates shark nets at 51 beaches in and around Sydney from Sept 1, 2025, to March 31. But the nets are fiercely opposed by some experts, who say they kill marine life but have not been shown to improve safety.

The authorities had intended to remove some nets but shelved the plan after the death in September of a 57-year-old surfer who was attacked by a shark at Dee Why Beach.

Dr Lubitz questioned the use of shark nets, saying they kill marine life such as turtles and whales, and that it is difficult to prove if they improve safety. He said the best way to try to ensure safety was to heed official advice: avoid swimming at dawn or dusk, after heavy rainfall or in murky water.

“But even in perfectly crystal-clear conditions, you can still have a shark bite,” he noted.

Indeed, many in Sydney seem to accept that shark attacks – like the risk of a car crash for motorists – are a remote and unavoidable risk, but one that they are willing to take.

Stepping onto the sand at Coogee, Mr Littrich, gesturing at the crowds of swimmers, said he was not surprised that the recent attacks had “not put people off”.

“You always think that there is someone else farther out in the water,” he said.

“Everyone always thinks it’s not going to be me.”