Sydney reopens beach under heavy patrols after shark attack

SYDNEY — Sydney’s Coogee Beach reopened on Monday under the watch of lifeguards and jet ski patrols after a shark attack over the weekend left a woman critically injured and prompted a safety review at Australia’s popular coastal areas.

The 35-year-old victim was swimming about 30 meters (100 feet) from shore on Saturday morning when she was bitten by a three- to four-meter-long shark, sustaining serious injuries to her arms and lower left leg. She remains in the hospital in stable condition.

Local authorities urged swimmers to exercise caution as safety measures were stepped up.

“Our lifeguards will continue jet ski patrols throughout the day, and Surf Life Saving NSW is operating a shark-spotting drone at Coogee Beach,” Randwick City Council said in a statement.

The council said it will hold a community meeting on the incident on Saturday.

Coogee, located south of iconic Bondi Beach, is emblematic of Sydney’s coastal lifestyle. The beaches east of the city are known for their golden sand and dramatic cliffs, drawing millions of tourists each year and making water safety a key priority for authorities.

Saturday’s attack is the latest in a series of shark encounters off Australian beaches. The week before, a man died after being attacked while fishing off the coast of Western Australia.

Last month, a 39-year-old man died after a shark attack while fishing on Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef. Ten days earlier, a 38-year-old was fatally mauled off an island near Perth in Western Australia.

Dozens of beaches along Australia’s east coast, including in Sydney, were closed in January after four shark attacks in two days. The closures followed heavy rain that created murky waters, which reduced visibility and may have contributed to increased shark activity.

While shark encounters remain statistically rare, a Reuters analysis of data from the Australian Shark Incident Database shows a gradual rise in incidents. The country has averaged nearly 29 shark encounters per year over the past decade, up from about 16 per year in the 2000s.

SHARK CULL DEBATE

The attack has prompted a regulatory review of aerial surveillance measures. Emergency drones were deployed on Monday, though Coogee typically faces strict flight restrictions because it sits directly under the flight path for Sydney Airport.

New South Wales Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said on Monday it had been a “really tough summer” for shark activity and that no options were off the table as authorities consider additional safety measures. She added that any response would prioritize technology such as drones.

Some experts have suggested the shark involved may have been a white shark, a species classified as vulnerable and protected under environmental laws that make it illegal to target, capture, or kill without approval.

The incident has also renewed calls from some quarters for a cull, a highly contentious measure.

“It’s so wrong that we don’t cull sharks after attacks,” former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in a video posted on his Facebook page. -Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Kate Mayberry/Reuters