Tweed Shire Council is calling for additional NSW state funding to expand drone surveillance at 4 Surf Life Saving Clubs across the Tweed Coast after a large shark was involved in an incident at Cabarita Beach on Monday (18 August).
At around 7.30am a local surfer had a large chunk bitten out of his surfboard. While he did not sustain any major injuries, it is clear that there is increased shark activity in the area.
The beach reopened on Tuesday at 9am after drone surveillance showed that it was safe, but under existing funding, drone surveillance only happens at Cabarita Beach during school holidays or 'as needed'.
There are also 15 SMART (Shark-Management-Alert-In-Real-Time) drumlines in the area, one of which caught a 5 metre White shark after the incident on Monday just before 10am. The shark was released.
In response to the event, 2 extra SMART drumlines have been placed at Cabarita Beach, in addition to the 5 previously in place there.
Last month, NSW Fisheries presented an update to Tweed Shire Council about their Shark Management Program and at that meeting, Mayor of Tweed Shire, Chris Cherry asked if there were opportunities for additional drone surveillance of the area.
She has now repeated that call, arguing that more drone surveillance would make both locals and visitors feel safer in the water.
"While we understand there are inherent risks in swimming and surfing in our oceans, if there are steps that we can take to make it safer, then it makes sense for us to try and take these steps, particularly at busy beaches like Cabarita Beach and Kingscliff," Cr Cherry said.
This advocacy builds on a resolution carried in December 2024, when Cr Cherry put forward a motion for Council to continue supporting drones, SMART drumlines and tagged shark listening stations in the Shire, including a request for additional mitigation drone hours in areas south of the Shire such as Pottsville and Black Rock. At that time Tweed Shire Council also undertook to continue to work with Surf Life Saving NSW and NSW Fisheries to support local marine safety programs.
The NSW Government's 2024–25 Shark Management Program includes 37 listening stations and 305 SMART drumlines along the coast, as well as a drone surveillance partnership with Surf Life Saving NSW. Drone surveillance is provided in peak swimming seasons, with operators observing potentially dangerous sharks and submitting alerts to the SharkSmart app, website map and X.
For beach status updates, visit beachsafe.org.au or download the Beachsafe app. Shark activity alerts are available via the SharkSmart app, website map and X.
