SA government announces shark attack mitigation funding following three fatal attacks in 2023
Shark bite first aid kits can be used immediately to treat swimmers. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
The South Australian government will pour half a million dollars into programs aimed at reducing the likelihood of shark attacks and improve first aid responses on remote beaches, after a horror year of fatal attacks in 2023.
What has been announced?
The state government announced the funding in partnership with Surf Life Saving SA.
"Our mainland coastline is as long as those of Victoria and New South Wales combined and our response must reflect South Australia's vast and often remote conditions," Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development Clare Scriven said.
Surf Life Saving SA will conduct safety risk assessments on stretches of coastline to examine signage, access points, water conditions and more.
It will also consider which beaches should have trauma kits containing first aid supplies like bandages and tourniquets installed to respond to shark attacks.
The Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter will monitor community swim events in regional South Australia for the first time. (ABC News)
Surf Life Saving SA CEO Damien Marangon said the kits could be lifesaving on remote beaches.
"For some of those regional communities and councils, it is hard to get medical help quickly, so anything we can do in terms of intervention to get those medical treatments quickly could just save a life," he said.
It is not yet known how many trauma kits will be installed.
Surf Life Saving South Australia CEO Damien Marangon said the new measures could potentially save lives. (ABC News)
Mr Marangon said consultation with regional communities and councils would determine whether additional drones would be purchased for at-risk areas.
Surf Life Saving SA already has 15 drones in use at beaches in metropolitan South Australia as well as Robe, Beachport and Whyalla.
Mr Marangon said drones could be used to survey the ocean before school or community swimming and surfing events, or to locate people missing in the ocean.
Surf Life Saving South Australia has a fleet of about 15 drones for surveying the state's coastlines. (ABC News)
Residents would be trained and certified to fly them.
An education program rolled out in schools would teach young people about the risk sharks pose, and the different mitigation strategies out there.
"The ranges and measures ... are about acknowledging that those sharks are in the water ... for us and Surf Living Saving, it's about 'how do we share that space safely?'" Mr Marangon said.
"So, the range of measures we're putting in place today, we think, will make a difference on mitigating against those shark fatalities."
The funding also means the Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter Service will patrol metropolitan beaches for longer, as well as attend regional events like next month's Long Cally Swim in the state's south-east for the first time.
The Surf Life Saving helicopter will monitor the south-east coast during the Long Cally Swim at Robe next month. (ABC South East SA: Bec Whetham )
Why was it needed?
A shark taskforce was formed by the state government earlier this year following three fatal shark attacks in 2023.
They included 46-year-old teacher Simon Baccanello who was surfing near Elliston in May, 55-year-old Tod Gendle surfing near Streaky Bay in October, and 15-year-old surfer Khai Cowley who was attacked on the Yorke Peninsula in December.
Several attacks in 2023 occurred alone remote coastlines in South Australia. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
The panel was tasked with reviewing shark mitigation in South Australia, which is one of only two states in the country without a program in place to protect swimmers from sharks.
Flinders University's Professor Charlie Huveneers is the director of the Marine and Coastal Research Consortium and research leader of the Southern Shark Ecology Group.
Professor Charlie Huveneers is a marine scientist and shark expert based in Adelaide. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
He said while recent global trends show an increase in shark bites, over the past 10 years in South Australia, there had been more years with no shark attacks.
"What happened in South Australia last summer is obviously very traumatic, but is also very unusual," he said.
"We are finding that there are clusters of bites occurring all around the world and all around Australia ... so while they are unusual, these clusters do occur, which is why it's important to develop and implement mitigation measures that are suitable to try to reduce the risks."
It's something academics are looking into around the globe.
They found applying strips of LED lighting to the bottom of seal-shaped decoys towed behind a boat reduced the amount of times great white sharks attacked the artificial prey.
South African authorities would not allow the researchers to conduct the experiment on surfboards, concerned it could lure more sharks to attack surfers.
Personal electronic deterrents were found to reduce the likelihood of a shark bite on the Eyre Peninsula in 2021.
In New South Wales, the SharkSmart program has seen more than 1,100 sharks tagged and released to provide real-time locations.
Surf Life Saving South Australia welcomed the funding announcement. (ABC South East NSW: Floss Adams)
What's next?
Surf Life Saving SA will work with councils on the Eyre Peninsula and Yorke Peninsula, where the three fatal shark attacks occurred, before expanding consultation.
"We're going to work with those regional communities, we're going to find localised solutions to do what we can," Mr Marangon said.
Mr Marangon said there had already been 26 confirmed shark sightings off metropolitan beaches in South Australia this year.
"That's on average for what we'd expect this time of the year... we're not worried about the numbers," he said.