It has been over a month since the deadly attack of a 35-year-old at Little Bay in Sydney’s east. Simon Nellist was training for a charity swim on February 16 when he was killed by the Great-White Shark near a fishing spot.

The shark attack was filmed and shared online- gruesome scenes of the aftermath went viral around the world.

Officials estimated the Great-White to be around three to five metres long.

Unprovoked attacks and sighting of sharks on the NSW coast have been on the rise. Increase in ocean temperature and recent flooding’s have all been named as contributing factors.

As a response to the latest attack and increased shark sightings the NSW government announced an instant $4.4 million shark surveillance package.

Minister for Agriculture Dugald Saunders said that there are new ways to reduce the risk of further shark attacks. The $4.4 million mitigation package adds to the $85 million ongoing funding for shark attack prevention.

Saunders spoke to Channel 7 on Sunday.

“We know sharks can be extremely dangerous and aggressive but they’re also part of what makes NSW’s marine life so beautiful, so we need to make sure we continue to have state-of-the-art technology in place to allow them and beachgoers to coexist,” Mr Saunders said.

These new technologies are expensive but are eco-friendly alternatives compared to what has been used in the past “The solutions like trying to wipe sharks out are not a part of what we talk about in 2022.”

“Actually a coincidence we’re talking today because we spotted what’s the better of a 16-foot shark off Narrabeen today (Monday) around the lagoon outlet”.

Already the NSW government have the largest shark management program, deployed to NSW beaches, in the country. Minister Saunders emphasised that “there is no other jurisdiction in Australia or across the globe which has done as much testing and trialling of technology and approaches to mitigate shark interactions, and our shark program is now the largest and most comprehensive in the world.”

Here is what the additional $4.4 million package includes:

• 60 additional SMART drumlines
• 500 shark tags to trace with the drumline roll out
• 4 more rapid response vessels
• 10 extra VR4G Listening Stations
• Further investments into Surf Life Saving NSW for drone surveillance & other equipment such as Jet-Skis
• Research into wetsuit materials and its role in Shark attacks

Tracks spoke to NSW Surf Life Saving Association (SLSA) CEO Steven Pearce on their role in the additional funding. The Stanwell-Park local and surfer tragic oversaw the trialling of drone surveillance around NSW before the fatal attack on February 16. 

Following the death of the Sydney swimmer in March, Pearce “had discussions with the Department minister’s straightaway to say that, if needed, we do have the capacity to expand the programme”.

The government authorities have agreed and “wanted them to try and cover these other spots such as Sydney metropolitan”.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) drones are known to be sensitive to any shark-like movements, such as harmless species and it is not always correct in identification. It is speculated that beaches like Bondi have opted out of the UAV drones due to the constant shark alarms it could impose and unnecessary chaos from the noise.

Pearce said that “because we have the drones up all the time, we just spot so many sharks and the drones have been so highly effective in this because our drones are filled with speakers. So, we actually talk to the surfers and the swimmers in the water when we see danger approaching”.

We asked Pearce if surfers were involved in the discussion of the government funding?

 “That we have a memorandum of understanding with Surfing NSW, we work with Surfing NSW in a lot of these areas such as the Surfer rescue programme and providing drones for a lot of surfing competitions”, Pearce said.

The recent floods and storms have polluted the ocean all along the east coast which can bring in sharks closer to the beaches.  We asked if there has been an increase in shark sightings around NSW from the water conditions affected from the floods?

Peace said it is, “actually a coincidence we’re talking today because we spotted what’s the better of a 16-foot shark off Narrabeen today (Monday) around the lagoon outlet”.

Stay safe out their surfers!