Dear Warriewood Members,
No doubt you are aware of the NSW Governments Shark Mitigation Program which has been in the news over the past few weeks. This program commenced this morning at 6.45am in response to the increase in activity over the past seven months. There have been a number of questions over the past week so I wanted to get the below out to you all, in the hope of answering many of the questions you may have and to provide you with the most up to date information available to us.
This program is a significant development that directly affects our beach, our club, and every one of us who uses the ocean.
How We Got Here
The past seven months have been a deeply sobering time for our ocean community. Without going into the detail of these events, of which you are all familiar with, it goes without saying that there have been multiple incidents across Sydney this season, with beaches closed repeatedly and surfers reporting increased shark activity in our waters.
The Government’s Response
On Sunday 28 June, Premier Chris Minns announced a major expansion of the NSW Shark Mitigation Program — an additional $34 million bringing total investment to over $120 million over two years. The largest funded commitment to shark management in Australian history which commences today, the 1st of July.
What the Program Involves
At its heart, is a dramatically expanded drone surveillance program, led by Surf Life Saving NSW:
Year-round coverage — From today, every beach from Palm Beach to Cronulla (38 beaches, up from 26) will have drone coverage every day of the year. This includes Warriewood — 365 days, not just our patrol season.
Dawn to dusk operations — Drones will fly from 6:45am today, expanding as days lengthen:
• July 1: 6:45am – 4:15pm
• September: 6:15am – 5:00pm
• October–November: 6:15am – 6:30pm
• December–February: 6:00am – 7:30pm
Scale — This past summer SLSNSW flew over 65,000 flights. This programme now targets up to 500,000 flights annually statewide.
Beyond patrolled hours and beaches — Coverage extends to unpatrolled beaches, for example Turimetta and outside patrol hours — meaning dawn surfers, dusk swimmers, and everyone in between.
Whilst many of our beaches on the Peninsula will have a drone operating from their club, a couple of the clubs will be covering extended areas. For Warriewood it is important to note that a drone will be operating out of Mona Vale and North Narrabeen with North Narrabeen covering Turimetta.
What This Means for Warriewood SLSC
SLSNSW Drone Operator: From 6.45am this morning Warriewood will have a permanent drone operator on site rostered on for the above timeframes. If you are down at the club during this off-season, you will see increased activity as they go about their duties. Please be aware that they will be utilising both the patrol room and the patrol shed, as there are two additional drones and their safety equipment, as part of the program.
As I know our members will do, please make them feel welcome and assist them if required. This program is here to stay for the foreseeable future and is only new to us all today with the arrival of their equipment. We will over the coming weeks work towards incorporating their role into both our operations and storage of equipment.
Shark Bite Trauma Kit — Warriewood is one of 129 NSW surf clubs who received a publicly accessible Shark Bite Trauma Kit. This kit is mounted on the external clubhouse wall next to the entrance to the patrol shed. It enables any member of the public to provide emergency first aid in the event of an incident, even outside patrolled hours. Please familiarise yourself with its location. Additionally, there are two more kits attached the fence out the front of the toilet block on the sand. One of these was installed by the Warriewood Boardriders and the other by Craig Perry our Club Captain on behalf of our club.
First responders — Our patrol members, IRB crews and Emergency Call Out Team remain the first line of response. This program supports what our members already do.
Opportunities to Get Involved and become a Drone Operator
Additionally, this is a genuine opportunity for Warriewood members to be part of a world-leading safety program right here in our own backyard.
Surf Life Saving NSW is seeking expressions of interest from current SLSC members to operate UAV drones as part of the expanded surveillance programme.
It should be noted that these are paid roles.
Should you be interested please register you expression of interest at
Recruitment Link and select Australian UAV Service and employee.
No program eliminates risk entirely, what this will deliver is more eyes in the water, earlier warning, and better tools to respond.
I understand there are going to still be a number of questions outstanding, mainly around how this will affect our operations in relation to our own club’s drone, nippers and water safety. We will of course work through these and address them as we near the commencement of our season.
The drones are fitted with an onboard shark alarm plus the ability to either announce a recorded message or communicate directly with persons in the water in the event of a sighting. In the event of a sighting during the patrolling season, whilst patrol is in operation, we will communicate the course of action to be taken at the pre-season briefing with patrol captains.
It goes without saying that I am extremely proud of the role our club plays in keeping our community safe. This program is a significant step forward and our club is central to making it work.
Mark O’Connell
President
Warriewood SLSC