🔗 Share this article

The sea has traditionally been a significant aspect of Glen Butler's daily routine.

He's been a board enthusiast for half a century and, during that period, he says he rarely thought about sharks.

"You understand you're entering into their territory, so you're vigilant," the senior surfer stated.

Yet the surfer's assurance in the ocean was shaken recently.

He had ventured for a surf with his surfing buddies one weekend morning at Long Reef in the beach communities north of Sydney. Not long after he left of the water, companion surfer Mercury Psillakis was fatally attacked by a white shark.

"It has rattled us quite," Mr Butler confesses. Mercury and his identical sibling Mike were well-known in the local community, he adds: "You would regularly say g'day."

The nation Most Dangerous Spot for Shark Incidents

The continent is host to many of the planet's finest coastal areas. More than 80% of the citizens resides on the coast, so an early morning ocean swim or boarding is common for thousands of beachgoers every day.

Yet there are residents who think that daily ritual is turning progressively risky.

Mirek Craney is part of this group.

The elderly Sydney resident recalls gawking at huge great white sharks captured by anglers as a youngster, during the era the currently protected species could still be permitted to be caught.

Observing these lifeless creatures dangling by their rear fins caused a "macabre" feeling, he describes, but not anxiety. Marine predators were creatures of the open sea, he believed, and he rode waves in the shallower inlets.

Yet several years past, his child Anika was nipped by a pig eye shark while free-diving on the coral reef. Though she lived through, it led the father concerned about the creatures – an issue that escalates with each sensational report about an incident.

"These things trigger me… I'm frightened," he acknowledges.

Though 'The surfer was only the second person fatally attacked by a shark attack in the city over the past half-century, it's little comfort to those who frequently visit the urban shorelines.

Each surfer contacted in the weeks after the victim's fatal encounter said they believe shark sightings closer to shore are growing increasingly common.

"We occasionally might have seen a shadowy figure, but it might have been a marine mammal," notes the resident. "Presently, I observe them frequently."

Several worry that shark numbers are increasing rapidly, after multiple species - encompassing the world's two deadliest shark species, great whites and striped sharks - were granted different levels of conservation in Australian waters.

There is minimal research on shark numbers to definitively tell either way – but experts suggest an rise in sightings doesn't automatically indicate there are increased populations.

Conservation specialists propose that rising sea temperatures are modifying the migration and feeding behaviors of sharks. But scientists explain any increase in sightings is largely because of more and more beachgoers going into the sea, and they are enhanced by digital networks.

The likelihood of being attacked by a ocean hunter in Australia is still extremely small. People are several thousand times more likely to drown. It is true, however, that the land is a shark attack high-risk area.

Australia places second only to the United States - a land with significantly more the residents - for shark bites, and it ranks first the globe for lethal encounters, as per the International Shark Attack File.

This record only tracks "spontaneous" events – omitting those potentially stimulated by humans through activities such as spear fishing – but a fuller collection of all documented marine encounters in Australia is kept by Taronga Conservation Society.

Records demonstrate that marine incidents have generally been growing over modern times. Already this period there have been four fatal attacks - all spontaneous.

Meshes 'Comparable to a Napkin in a Swimming Area'

NSW had been preparing to test decreasing its implementation of shark nets – its oldest marine protection approach – when the recent fatal attack happened.

Marine barriers have been implemented in NSW since 1937 and these days are usually deployed on 51 beaches from late winter through to March. In addition to the northern state, it is the sole region that continues to employ them.

It's not feasible to completely enclose complete coastal areas – sea states are too strong and would simply wash the nets away.

Alternatively, the marine barriers are around nearly 500 feet long and rest a few metres below the sea level. Although anchored to the ocean bottom at locations, they fail to touch the seafloor. So sharks can go above, under and around them.

"It resembles placing a napkin into the water body," Research center Professor a shark researcher stated.

Local authorities says predator meshes are "not designed to form a complete barrier between swimmers and sharks" but instead aim to "trap certain species" during any {hunts