The Minister for Primary Industries Niall Blair has today announced the NSW Government would fund aerial shark surveillance for the first time on the State’s North Coast over the school holiday period.
As part of the NSW Government’s focus on the North Coast, and to assist local councils, aerial surveillance of the beaches between Byron Bay and Evans Head will kick off today until Monday 6 October.
The increased surveillance will take place every day over the holiday period in areas of known shark aggregation sites.
“The NSW Government is committed to making our beaches safer, so as of today there will be increased aerial surveillance carried out on the North Coast, to help spot any immediate shark threats from the air,” Mr Blair said.
“This is in addition to the range of targeted projects already underway on the North Coast, including the shark tagging program.”
The North Coast Local Waters Shark Tagging Project is progressing well, with eight great white sharks now tagged off Ballina.
Data has shown the sharks are travelling large distances in a short period of time, with one tagged shark recorded to have travelled up to 550 kilometres in a week, confirming that white sharks are highly migratory along the NSW coast.
The shark tagging program is designed to gather important scientific data about the movement and distribution of sharks.
A series of SharkSmart radio advertisements are currently airing along the North Coast and information is being distributed by surf lifesaving clubs on how to be SharkSmart.
Everyone who plans to visit the beach is encouraged to download the SharkSmart app which allows on-the-spot risk assessment to be conducted before entering the water.