Coogee Beach reopens under drone patrols after shark attack ignites cull debate

Attack and rescue

At around 11:15 am on Saturday, a 3 m to 4 m shark bit a 35-year-old woman swimming 30 m off Coogee Beach. The victim sustained deep wounds to her arm and lower leg, including a 30 cm bite on her thigh that exposed bone. She is now in a stable condition in hospital.

Surf lifesaver Charlie Verco, who was on a paddleboard nearby, reached the woman within moments.

I saw the shark come out of the water and its size shocked me. I kept paddling toward her and the shark dragged her under – I thought, ‘what do I do now?’ A few seconds later she resurfaced.

Off-duty doctor Ian Ferguson helped apply tourniquets on the sand before the victim was airlifted from a nearby rugby field.

Reopening and heightened patrols

Coogee Beach reopened on Monday morning with JetSki patrols and a shark-spotting drone, a notable step given the site’s location under Sydney Airport’s flight path, where drone use is usually restricted. The council has also scheduled a community gathering for Saturday to address the incident.

New South Wales Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said it had been “a really tough summer for shark activity” and that “nothing was off the table” as the state reviews safety measures.

The cull debate

Former prime minister Tony Abbott called for sharks to be culled in a social media video, saying it was “so wrong that we don’t cull sharks after attacks”. The suggestion was swiftly rejected by experts and the state government.

A cull won’t change the risk unless you completely remove white sharks from the ocean. It’s not feasible and it would be an ecological catastrophe.

NSW Premier Chris Minns pointed out that the great white is a protected species and that there is no expert evidence a cull would deter sharks from Sydney’s beaches.

A string of fatal encounters

Saturday’s attack is the latest in a series of shark incidents off Australia. In January, four attacks in two days prompted dozens of beach closures after heavy rain. Since mid‑May, three spearfisher divers have been killed by sharks, and a 12‑year‑old boy died in Sydney Harbour in January after a bull shark attack. Last week a man died fishing off Western Australia, following two other fatalities in Queensland and near Perth in May.

According to an analysis of the Australian Shark Incident Database, the country now averages 29 shark incidents a year over the past decade, up from about 16 in the 2000s.