Drone trials are under way on Sydney’s beaches as our eyes in the sky searching for sharks close to shore.
A close encounter between three surfers and a shark was captured above Maroubra Beach with the aerial technology.
Video shows the surfers paddling into the surf as a dark grey shadow approaches them from beneath the water.
The shark swam peacefully below the surface, but the video is a warning on how critical the technology will be in providing early alerts of shark sightings.
The drones provide real-time aerial surveillance of coastal waters and may soon become part of standard safety equipment used by Surf Lifesaving NSW.
If a shark is spotted within 100m of swimmers, lifeguards will begin an evacuation of the beach.
The NSW government has responded to recent shark attacks with an $85m package aimed at mitigating the risk to humans.
Another 10 listening stations will be deployed in the ocean to record tagged sharks swimming within a 500m radius.
If a shark is nearby, the device will instantly send out a tweet on the NSW Shark Smart Twitter with details of the shark sighting.
Five hundred more sharks will be tagged and 51 existing shark nets will be extended.
The injection of funds comes a month after Sydney was rocked by the first fatal shark attack in almost 60 years.
An ocean swimmerxjmtzyw died in a gruesome shark attack as witnesses looked on in horror at Little Bay in February.
The victim, Simon Nellist, was a British diving instructor who swam regularly at the spot and was engaged to be married later this year.
“The tragic event that happened at Little Bay earlier this year was a tough reminder that while we’ve been able to coexist for decades relatively safely, sharks do exist and they can pose a significant risk to humans,” Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders said.
Earlier this month, a surfer narrowly escaped a shark that took a swipe at his surfboard just around the corner at Maroubra Beach.
Luckily, the surfer was unscathed and the only sign of the shark was a small indent from its teeth on his surfboard.
