Concerns raised over recent spate of shark incidents

THE end of winter has been marked by a number of concerning shark encounters on the northern beaches of Coffs Harbour.

Months after a GoPro video of a shark encounter went viral after a group of surfers were targeted by a shark at Shelleys – the backbeach of Look-At-Me-Now Headland – another incident has occurred locally.

The balmy winter conditions of an otherwise beautiful Saturday, 16 August set the scene for a visiting surfer from Western Australia to be struck by a shark from beneath, damaging his surfboard and leaving him and a group of fellow surfers shaken but unscathed.

A handwritten sign alerted beachgoers of the incident, which took place around 12:30pm, capturing the gravity of the near miss.

In a small village that experienced a fatality from a shark attack in September 2021, the emotion and sense of alarm are still raw.

This is not the only encounter in recent weeks, with a combination of variables conspiring to make the region a hotspot for the notoriously nomadic predators.

Days after the Emerald Beach incident, graphic media coverage of an incident further north at Cabarita Beach surfaced, where Brad Ross was struck violently by a four-to-five metre Great White Shark, leaving his surfboard in pieces and the small flotilla of surfers in a panic.

No one was injured, but calls for greater vigilance and further mitigation measures are being heard.

Lennox-Ballina local and surf journalist Steve Shearer told the ABC, “We need to come to terms with the fact that this is an apex, ambush, opportunistic predator and it is a very dangerous animal.

“While not perfect, smart drum lines were probably the best technology to mitigate risk,” he said.

*NOTA reporter Kim Satchell, a keen surfer himself, is interested in continuing the conversation on this issue. To get in touch, email satchell@newsofthearea.com.au.

By Kim SATCHELL