Fatal Encounter Revives Discussion About Disputed Shark Nets in Australia

Marine waters has traditionally been a central component of Glen Butler's life.

For five decades a board enthusiast for half a century and, during that period, he explains he seldom concerned himself about sharks.

"You recognize you're stepping into their domain, so you're careful," the senior surfer remarked.

However his assurance on the water was shattered in recent weeks.

He traveled for a wave session with his friends one weekend morning at the coastal spot in the beach communities north of Sydney. Not long after the surfer exited of the surf, companion surfer the experienced surfer was tragically lost by a great white shark.

"It has rattled us a bit," Mr Butler acknowledges. The surfer and his identical sibling Mike were recognized in the beach community, he notes: "You'd always say greetings."

Australia Highest Risk Place for Shark Attacks

Australia is host to numerous the globally renowned shorelines. Above 80% of the residents resides on the coast, so an dawn dip or surf is typical for many of beachgoers every day.

But there are people who feel that daily ritual is becoming more risky.

A Sydney resident is one of them.

The 66-year-old Sydneysider recalls looking at enormous great white sharks caught by fishermen as a child, in the era the now-protected marine life could still be permitted to be caught.

Observing these deceased animals suspended by their tails caused a "execution-style" emotion, he explains, but not anxiety. Sharks were animals of the marine depths, he believed, and he boarded in the more shallow inlets.

Yet several years past, his child his daughter was nipped by a marine predator while free-diving on the marine park. Even though she was not fatally injured, it caused him concerned about the creatures – something that escalates with each dramatic report about an incident.

"These events affect me… I'm terrified," he admits.

While 'The victim was only the next victim lost by a marine incident in the city over the past six decades, it's small consolation to those who regularly visit the urban shorelines.

Every wave rider interviewed in the period after Psillakis' fatal encounter stated they believe shark sightings in shallow waters are turning increasingly common.

"Periodically we could have spotted a unidentified shape, but it might have been a ocean creature," explains the resident. "Presently, I see them frequently."

Certain fear that shark counts are growing exponentially, after various kinds - featuring the world's two deadliest shark species, white sharks and tiger sharks - were given multiple types of protection in local marine areas.

There's little investigation on marine predator statistics to accurately assess the situation – but specialists argue an growth in observations doesn't necessarily mean there are additional predators.

Conservation specialists propose that heating marine waters are changing the migration and hunting habits of sharks. But scientists note any increase in sightings is mainly due to more and more individuals venturing into the sea, and they are enhanced by digital networks.

The likelihood of being nipped by a marine predator in this country is still extremely small. People are numerous times higher chance to suffer drowning. Certainly, nevertheless, that the land is a marine incident high-risk area.

Australia places only behind the US - a land with significantly more the population - for marine incidents, and it tops the world for fatal attacks, according to the global database.

That database only monitors "non-induced" encounters – not including those likely encouraged by humans through actions such as underwater hunting – but a fuller collection of all documented predator incidents in the country is managed by Taronga Conservation Society.

It shows that shark attacks have overall been growing over recent decades. Thus far this period there have been multiple deadly incidents - all non-induced.

Meshes 'Similar to a Tissue in a Water Body'

The state had been about to experiment scaling back its use of shark nets – its most established marine protection technique – when the recent deadly incident occurred.

Predator meshes have been implemented in the region since nearly a century and these days are commonly installed on multiple shorelines from early spring through to March. In addition to the northern state, it is the only state that maintains them.

It's impossible to completely enclose whole shorelines – ocean conditions are too strong and would simply sweep the nets away.

Instead, the shark nets are approximately 492ft in length and rest a several feet beneath the ocean surface. Though anchored to the ocean bottom at locations, they don't reach the base. So sharks can go over, under and around them.

"It's like placing a paper into the swimming area," Academic institution Professor Chris Pepin-Neff stated.

Local authorities explains predator meshes are "not intended to create a full barrier between swimmers and marine animals" but alternatively seek to "trap certain species" during any {hunts